Two Beijing Forestry University students gained recognition in a China Daily report for advancing ecological efforts. Li Yanyan, majoring in Wildlife and Nature Reserve Management, spearheaded campus glass corridor retrofits with anti-bird collision decals, covering nearly 300㎡ by 2024, while inspiring nationwide university collaborations. Finance major Sheng Tiancheng, an award-winning wildlife photographer, promotes biodiversity through youth bird-watching camps and partnerships with CAS experts. Their work underscores youth-driven sustainability.

Wildlife images captured by Sheng featuring various species.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Excerpts from China Daily

Campus action

Li Yanyan, a 20-year-old from Xiangtan, Hunan province, is also a doer.

As a junior majoring in wildlife and nature reserve management at Beijing Forestry University and head of the school's environmental club, Li discovered last September that the glass buildings on campus posed a fatal threat to birds — a danger that had gone largely unnoticed.

This discovery led her to connect with broader efforts to tackle the issue, including the China National Anti-Bird Collision Network, China's largest citizen science project, with tens of thousands of participants.

Li quickly gathered data from the past three years, analyzed it, and submitted a proposal to the university president. She then began advocating for anti-collision window decals across campus.

By December 2024, nearly 300 square meters of glass corridors had been modified. In April, she and her team continued their work, expanding the project to more campus areas.

Her efforts have also inspired similar actions at other universities, including Peking University and Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong.

"Protecting biodiversity isn't just the responsibility of a few professionals — it's something everyone should integrate into their daily lives. Only then can we achieve greater goals," she said.

Joining Li in this mission is Sheng Tiancheng, a finance major at the same university. Although his academic background isn't directly related, Sheng is an experienced wildlife conservationist.

He began bird-watching at the age of 12 and has since become a wildlife photographer, capturing images of sparrows in city parks, migratory birds at reservoirs, and animals resting in forests. His work documenting the Skywalker hoolock gibbon (Hoolock tianxing) even earned him a national photography award.

"Through my camera, more people can appreciate the beauty of wildlife. That sense of wonder can spark love and compassion, and ultimately raise awareness about protecting the natural world," he said.

Sheng is also a nature educator. Each year, he organizes dozens of bird-watching activities, mainly for primary and secondary school students.

In Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, he created a bird-watching camp where he invites experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to lead lessons and incorporate biodiversity knowledge into interactive games.

Sheng believes that even in a "concrete jungle", humans and wildlife breathe the same air — so protecting nature is not a choice but a survival skill we all need to learn.

Youth for nature

Nature protection and wildlife conservation may be relatively niche fields, but young people like Zhong, Li, and Sheng are dedicated and driven by the belief that "life is not a one-way street", and their efforts are yielding results.

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Li is also grateful that she didn't follow a "standard life path" or subscribe to a purely "meritocratic "mindset but instead chose a direction she truly believes in.

Looking ahead, she plans to focus on environmental policy research.

When faced with skepticism about her "idealism", Li's answer is always clear: "Conservation work may not show results for decades, but that doesn't make it any less meaningful. We must believe the environment is improving — and we need to be part of the effort pushing it forward."

Link:

Young leaders driving environmental change - Chinadaily.com.cn https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202505/07/WS681ac0e1a310a04af22bdda7_1.html

From China Daily
Edited by Song He
Reviewed by Yu Yangyang