About the Founder and Origins of Conservation Work

威廉－林赛

In April 1998, William Lindesay organized the first cleanup day of action on the Great Wall of China. One hundred and twenty participants spent several hours picking up garbage thrown off the Wall by tourists at the Jinshanling section of Wall, 120 km north east of Beijing.

Since the first cleanup, which caused great interest and support in the Chinese press and media, four more days of action have taken place. The lastest activity, in April 2000, on the theme of the Great Wall as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, saw 100 people from 38 nations taking part along with high-level representatives from China's State Administration for Cultural Heritage and UNESCO Beijing Office.

These cleanups were the basis of the program "Defending the Great Wall from Modern Attack" which furthered the environmental defense of the Great Wall in its natural setting with new activities that included the donation of garbage bins, the placement of "green message" notice boards asking visitors to "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints", and the setting up of a pilot ranger scheme that employs five farmers to pick up garbage from a wilderness section of Wall.

This highly visible work was used as a platform to open serious dialogue on the need for dedicated and continuous Great Wall conservation work with China's State Administration for Cultural Heritage and the Beijing Administrative Bureau for Cultural Relics.

Chronic though the garbage problem is, much more disfiguring activities have already defiled, and threaten to do even more serious damage to the Great Wall and its natural setting.

Problems are at their most acute in the Beijing Municipality, which boasts some 673-km of Great Wall north of the modern capital, a city which is home to some 15 million people.

In order to inform and alert the relevant departments as to the worsening crisis, a video film was made to illustrate some of the threats, and more recently, in June 2001, a Great Wall Conservation Seminar was convened. (The founder's biography will be seen in number7 Human Resources)

Flags of participating nationalities in the 5th Cleanup Campaign with theme of the Great Wall as a UNESCO World Heritage.	Participants promoted protection of the Wall and its environment with the slogan "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."
Participants sign the campaign banner during the 5th cleanup campaign.	William Lindesay led 120 volunteers on October 1st, China's National Day, 1998 to pick up garbage beside the Jinshanling Great Wall. Fifteen garbage bins were also donated.

Three of the team of five Wild Wall rangers employed by International Friends of the Great Wall to defend an 8 km section of Wall and 12 km of footpaths from "modern attack". Defence of the area supported by "green message" notice-boards.
	Lao Chang, 70 years old, has worked as a Wild Wall ranger for more than two years. Besides earning a welcome 300 yuan (US$37) per month he claims his health has improved with the walking that his job requires.
The 5th campaign banner was presented to Mr. Zhang Wenbin (right), director-general of the State Administration for Cultural Heritage, by the cleanup campaign organizer William Lindesay (left).