Joint‑region Environmental Volunteer Campaign Launched in Tianjin for Haihe River Protection

According to Tianjin Daily, the main venue of the “Beautiful Haihe · Joint Guardianship” Beijing‑Tianjin‑Hebei ecological‑environment volunteer campaign opened in Tianjin on 28 September 2026. Guided by two departments of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and hosted by environmental authorities from Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, the event brought volunteer representatives from the three regions to the banks of the Haihe River. 

Participants carried out field work including water‑quality monitoring and environmental‑protection outreach, to mobilise public engagement in river‑basin conservation and advance coordinated volunteer work across the Beijing‑Tianjin‑Hebei area.

The Haihe River acts as a vital ecological link connecting Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. Joint governance frameworks have been put in place for upstream‑downstream and cross‑bank pollution prevention. River‑basin water quality has stayed generally favourable since June this year. Five local conservation projects, covering sections of the Haihe River, have been selected as national outstanding examples for beautiful river‑lake construction.

Challenges persist at the grassroots level of water management. Pollution affecting secondary tributaries, ponds and small ditches close to residential areas continues to exert impacts on local livelihoods. Environmental authorities across the three districts are shifting focus from major watercourses to smaller water‑bodies, addressing water‑quality problems near communities so that the public can benefit from cleaner rivers and shorelines.

Separate sub‑venue activities ran in Beijing and Hebei. More than 200 volunteers from universities, enterprises and volunteer groups gathered at the Tianjin main venue. 

They took part in water‑quality testing, legal publicity for the ecological‑environment code, shoreline clean‑ups and popular‑science activities. Volunteer work is recognised as an essential component of long‑term river‑basin conservation.

A set of five key action programmes will be implemented during the 15th Five‑Year Plan period. The work covers investigation and remediation of neighbourhood water‑bodies, source‑oriented pollution control, river‑pollution discharge management, routine river‑lake maintenance and improvement of water‑ecology supervision capacity. 

These measures aim to resolve prominent local water‑environment issues, push forward the “beautiful water‑cell” initiative and achieve widespread improvement of regional aquatic conditions.