Millions of young Chinese nationwide held ecological protection activities on Sunday to mark the seventh anniversary of "Mother River Protection" Day.

On March 9 each year, China's Day of "Mother River Protection", millions of young people over the country plant trees, collect rubbish and organize exhibitions on ecological protection on campuses, in communities,and in markets. The theme of the year is to "Cherish the water of life, and realize ecological civilization".

Youngsters also name their campaigns, mostly to reflect local ecological tasks. The name for Beijing young people is "Green Olympics, Civilized Beijing"; In southern Hainan Province, the campaign is called "A young and green frontier"; In central Hubei Province, a "green" volunteer team is organized.

Other provinces include Anhui, Fujian, Guizhou, Shanxi, Jiangxi and Heilongjiang also launched similar campaigns

Initiated by Chinese Communist Youth League in 1999, the campaign of "Mother River Protection" was jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Water Resources, State Forestry Administration and China Youth Development Foundation.

The date of the campaign was chosen in 2002 as it draws near meaningful dates such as China's tree-planting day and World Water Day, which fall on March 12 and March 22 respectively.

The campaign is put forward as a drive to motivate the country's young to protect the environment of the rivers.

A fund is also named after the campaign to raise money for ecological purposes.

(Xinhua News Agency, March 11, 2008)