Global Times, August 3, 2010
*By An Baijie*
Despite threats from powerful business owners and local authorities, Huo
Daishan remained focused on what is important to him: the dangerous
pollution problem in the Huai River that has sickened people.
The river, which sits midway between the Yellow River and the Yangtze
River, was polluted by nearby chemical plants and the result has been
thousands of dead fish and cancer cases.
Despite the pressure, Huo, 57, has a reason to be optimistic. He was
among three Chinese <http://china.globaltimes.cn/> who were awarded the
2010 Ramon Magsaysay Awards for their environmental protection efforts.
The award was announced Monday in Manila, in the Philippines. Some
conservationists see the award as Asia's version of the Nobel Prize.
"I don't know how much money I will get," he told the Global Times
Tuesday. "All of the money will be used to help residents along the
river to dig wells for clean water."
Pan Yue, vice minister of environmental protection and Fu Qiping, a
village chief in Zhejiang Province are on the list of awardees. Four
other people in Japan, Bangladesh and the Philippines were also given
the award. An award ceremony will be held on August 31.
Huo, who is the director of Guardians of the Huai River, a Henan-based
NGO, pledged to donate all the money from the award to protect the river.
Huo said he was shocked to see the pollution in the river. He was a
photographer for Zhoukou Daily in 1994, when he noticed countless dead
fish in the river. They died because of the runoff from chemical plants.
Four years later, he became a full-time environmentalist.
He has taken more than 15,000 photos of the polluted river, which is
China's third largest river and a source of water for millions of people.
Huo walked the route of the river, which added up to more than 4,000
kilometers. The project ate up his 200,000 yuan ($29,500) savings.
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