Nurture nature for our future

His team members patrol by foot each day, stopping any illegal hunting of birds and dismantle bird-catching nets.

Xu knows that the "power of an individual is limited", so he has strived to get more people to join the wildlife drive.

Now, his team of volunteers has grown to around 5,000 people that includes forest officials, police, students, teachers, businesspeople, reporters and local officials and residents.

In recent years, Xu has advocated various biodiversity conservation awareness campaigns and held ecological protection activities across the district.

His "home for birds" campaign, which is dedicated to offering better spaces for the breeding of birds and overcoming the winter cold in the forests, wetlands and river estuaries in Qingdao, has engaged more than 30,000 participants so far.

Over 20,000 artificial nests, made of recycled material, have been placed in the western Laoshan forests, Jiaozhou Bay wetland and Baisha River areas, offering warm shelters to over 1,500 wild birds.

Along the winding paths up the mountain from Shaoshan village in Chengyang, several steel structures are wildlife protection stations by Xu's organization.