Seeds of ecological conservation awareness now need nurturing

ZHENG NAIYUAN, A RURAL TEACHER IN XIUSHUI COUNTY, East China's Jiangxi province, strived to protect the Chinese yew for years on his own. It was due to his efforts and perseverance that a county-level natural protection area was established in 2010. Zheng received a Marsh Award for International Plant Conservation from Botanic Gardens Conservation International in 2014 and he has since become quite well-known. Thepaper.cn comments:

Zheng has received much praise for his efforts. However, he met all kinds of difficulties when trying to protect the Chinese yew and these deserve attention, too.

The leaves and branches of Chinese yew contain the cancer fighting compound paclitaxel. As a result, many people cut them for profit and when Zheng tried to stop them he was attacked. When he urged local residents to help him protect the trees, they simply ignored him.