On February 11, 2010, the 2009 Touching China awards ceremony was broadcast on China Central Television (CCTV). Zhang Zhengxiang, a 61-year-old environmental activist, was one of the ten winners.

Zhang, a farmer from Fushan Village in Yunnan Province, has fought for more than 30 years to protect his beloved Dianchi Lake from illegal logging, pollutants and mismanagement. Thugs hired by local factory owners have beaten him up many times, but that has never stopped him. In fact, he believes in his cause so much that his work has often come before his family. Zhang's wife and daughter eventually left him and he was forced to sell his house, yet he continued fighting for the environment.

Zhang Zhengxiang?????????? [By Wu Jiachun]

Zhang was called a lonely and stubborn fighter at the awards ceremony. According to local people in his village, Zhang's actions to protect the lake are sometimes a bit over-the-top. Despite the resistance in his hometown, his efforts have touched the hearts of 1.3 billion people in China.

Today there are more and more stories of environmental activists and grass-roots NGOs being reported by the media. What they do makes a difference for the public, yet they are often treated by the public as troublemakers.

Both activists and society should ask themselves some questions: how successful will environmental defenders be in producing change if they take radical thoughts and actions against the government and businesses? What should the government do to better cooperate with environmental leaders?

Xu Jianming, director of the Dianchi Lake Protection Bureau of Xishan district in Kunming, said Zhang was elected deputy of the Local Town People's Congress from 1998-2007. He was also honored as one of the Top Ten Distinguished Individuals on Environmental Protection in 2005. Zhang's performance was widely confirmed and appreciated by both society and the government. Environmental protection is of public interest and it's the government's duty to see that it is not ignored. Moreover, only the government has the ability to organize and arouse the masses to join in environmental-protection activities. Individuals and NGOs who work to protect the environment should serve as an arm to the government's projects.

Environmental protection is not just for passionate individuals, it affects all of human civilization. We need to treat the issue objectively and scientifically. Our environmental fighters need to learn to control their feelings and skills, so as to communicate and cooperate more effectively with the government and public.

Likewise, our government and related departments should highly appreciate environmental activities and should give guidance to those who fight for this cause.

If both sides could work toward and achieve this goal, we would have cooperation instead of resistance and communication instead of complaints.

I honestly hope that one day the people who have touched me so deeply will no longer be lonely watchmen, but rather useful assistants in a government-sponsored environmental project.

The author is a reporter with China Daily in Kunming.

(This article is translated by Wu Nanlan.)