A new generation of young Chinese is stepping off the beaten path to protect deserts, birds, and biodiversity — turning environmental ideals into everyday action.

Standing on a sand dune in Minqin county, Gansu province, 27-year-old Zhong Lin gazed into the distance at the rows of newly planted saxaul saplings.

"Turning a desert into an oasis might not be very realistic, but we can certainly protect the existing oases," he said.

In 2021, Zhong returned to his hometown from Lanzhou, the provincial capital, to start a tree-planting business. Since then, he has become a key figure in local efforts to combat desertification.

His inspiration came from Minqin's long history of battling against encroaching sands.

"My hometown has been fighting desertification since the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties — making it one of the earliest places in China to do so," he said. "But today, with an aging population, it's up to us, the younger generation, to take up the baton."

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Zhong's path reflects a broader trend among young people who are breaking away from traditional career expectations. Instead of crowding into civil service jobs or tech firms in big cities, some are heading to deserts, wetlands, and rural areas — turning ecological protection into both a mission and a livelihood.

Of course, these choices come with challenges. "There was a lot of financial pressure," Zhong recalled. "My parents didn't understand, and my friends thought I was 'being foolish'."

The work itself is tough, too. After a sandstorm in March this year, only a few dozen of the 500 newly planted saxaul trees survived.

But Zhong never gave up. In 2022, he started a Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok) account called "Xiao Zhong — Turning Desert into Oasis", sharing short videos of his daily planting work. The account unexpectedly drew attention.

His biggest breakthrough came in 2024, when he appeared on the second season of the reality show Become a Farmer, planting trees alongside celebrities.

Since then, "Minqin Tree Planting" has become a popular public welfare activity among young people, attracting many volunteers. Zhong even built steel-framed houses for the volunteers, which have since evolved into a "Desert Home Base".

"Thinking only gives me problems, but doing brings answers," he said.

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.

According to Zhong, more than 800,000 trees have been planted this year, covering over 2,000 mu (around 133 hectares) of land targeted for desertification control.

Last year, more than 7,000 volunteers participated in the initiative, and so far this year, there have already been 34,000 volunteer visits.

Half of these volunteers are university students and young people aged 20 to 35, coming from various professions and regions.

Nan Xi, a 27-year-old art teacher from Gansu, joined the tree-planting base and brightened the surroundings by painting murals on the steel-framed buildings. She also took on organizational duties and often serves as the first person to welcome new volunteers. She even brought in her parents to help with cooking, which has greatly improved meals for everyone at the base.

Last year, after watching Become a Farmer, Wan Ci, a 25-year-old office worker from Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, traveled to Minqin for the first time. There, she saw elderly locals who had dedicated their lives to combating desertification now growing old, and a question began to weigh on her: Who would carry on their work?

Back at her desk job, Wan grew increasingly restless. The feeling eventually became overwhelming, and she quit without hesitation. Since then, she has spent over a year in Minqin as a full-time volunteer.

"Minqin doesn't just belong to the locals — it's part of the world," she said. "It plays a crucial role in the regional ecosystem. Improving the environment here can effectively prevent sandstorms from spreading to other areas."

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Wan also emphasized that the momentum behind Minqin's tree-planting efforts goes well beyond the brief fame brought by the reality show.

"It has a long-lasting impact and will continue to inspire people," she said. "The popularity of this year's campaign comes not from the show, but from the commitment of the volunteers."

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."

Pu Yiyu contributed to this story.

guiqian@i21st.cn