Volunteers save oriental white storks in Tianjin and set them free 

With the bulk of its territory located in the North Temperate Zone, China sees millions of migrant birds flying south over its vast land mass in autumn and heading back north in spring. Of the eight major channels for migrant birds worldwide, three traverseChina.

However, owing to illegal hunting, the number of migrant birds flying overChinahas dropped dramatically in recent years. According to figures released by China Central Television, in the 1970s, more than 1.6 million wild birds made up of more than 300 species flew overChinathrough the channel fromRussia's Siberia toAustraliaandNew Zealand; in 2012, the number through the same channel was less than 500,000.

"This [hunting of migrant birds] is illegal inChinaand the government has taken severe measures to crack down on this behavior. But many people still take the risk of hunting migrant birds and sell them to restaurants for profit,"  said Deng Fei, Dean of the Journalist Department of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Weekly and an activist promoting public welfare and environmental justice.

 Stopping the hunt

Deng said that apart from the government's efforts, more individuals and social organizations should be standing up to stop the illegal hunting.

Deng was born near Dongting Lake in Hunan Province. "Every winter, thousands of migrant birds flew to the lake. They were my good friends in my childhood. I hate [the thought of] people hunting and eating them," Deng toldChinAfrica.

In October 2012, Deng saw pictures online of people in Hunan selling migrant birds at local fairs. Some of the birds in the pictures were bleeding.

"I was quite upset by a picture of a seller carrying a swan and a mallard with a pole on his shoulder. These birds flew from the north to Hunan in the hope of surviving the chilly weather, but they failed," Deng said.

Deng decided to help the birds. In late 2012, Deng joined hands with the China Social Assistance Foundation and establishedChina's first public welfare program addressing the plight of migratory birds, called Let the Migrant Birds Fly. Since that time 50 city newspapers have joined Deng's call to protect migrant birds.

"Thanks to all these media outlets and our nationwide network, we can pass on our information of protecting migrant birds throughoutChina," Deng said.

The program raises funds via the Internet and financially assists volunteers working in places where migrant birds gather every year, such as Dongting Lake in Hunan Province, Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province and locations around Bohai Bay. Deng's group persuades people not to eat migrant birds by spreading related information and also alerts the police when they come across people hunting or netting birds.

 Walking the walk

Before launching Let the Migrant Birds Fly program, Deng had become a famous public welfare activist. Today, his name is connected to seven nationwide public welfare programs, five related to helping children and two related to protecting nature.

"By launching these public welfare organizations, I have changed from a talker to a walker," Deng said. "That's what I want to be. To change something, we need people to do something, instead of solely criticizing."

Born in 1978 in Yuanjiang of Hunan Province, he worked as an investigative journalist from 2001 to 2011, first in Hunan-basedWomen Todayweekly and later at thePhoenix Weekly. During those 10 years, he wrote more than 160 investigative features.

Through his investigations, he uncovered many social problems. "Some of the problems really shocked me. But as a journalist, I could only record these problems and call people to follow and solve these problems," Deng said.

But Deng soon found that merely talking about the problems was not enough, so he set his eyes on public welfare programs.

In early 2011 when conducting interviews in an impoverished area inQianxi County, Guizhou Province, he learned that many primary school students could not afford to have lunch at school. Many of them stayed hungry at noon. He decided to do something to change the situation.

As the father of a primary school daughter himself, Deng was well aware of the need for children to have lunch at school. In April 2011, Deng launched his first public welfare program by raising funds online and providing free lunch to primary school students in impoverished areas.

"When the Free Lunch for Children program grew bigger, I knew it was impossible for me to return to being an investigative journalist; so I shifted my concentration to public welfare programs," Deng said.

Later, he went on to launch seven public welfare programs, including Let the Migrant Birds Fly.

Deng also said that managing the seven projects is an arduous task for him. Still, he is able to overcome the difficulty. "When I feel tired, I will stay with my family. Then I can relax. I am very glad that my wife and my daughter support me," he said.

 Honors

Deng has won numerous awards for his work. "I value these honors very much and am very happy to get them as they can further publicize our public welfare programs and attract more people to join us," Deng said, adding that the awards also increase the pressure on him and his colleagues to succeed.

On October 17, Deng was awarded the China Poverty Eradication Awards Innovation Award by Wang Yang, Vice Premier of the State Council. Prior to that, in April 2012, then Vice Premier Li Keqiang conferred on him the China Charity Award for his work in the Free Lunch for Children program.

"Though given to me, they also show the government's affirmation of the work of non-governmental public welfare organizations," Deng said. He is proud of what he and his team have done and is determined to continue pursuing his dream of helping others. 

∗niyanshuo@chinafrica.cn