Who Is Waterkeeper: Xiaojing Wei, Upper Yellow River Waterkeeper

October 21, 2024

Xiaojing Wei is the Upper Yellow River Waterkeeper in China. From a very young age, growing up in Henan Province, she was always interested in nature. It motivated her, as an adult, to pursue a career in environmental protection. In the last year of her college in Lanzhou, she worked as an intern for Green Camel Bell where she took part in many environmental projects surrounding water resources protection. It was here that she met Min Zheng of Waterkeeper Alliance. She then went to Shanghai to pursue her masters degree in social work and to study community methods and feminism. Soon thereafter, she became Upper Yellow River Waterkeeper in 2019.

Upper Yellow River Waterkeeper exists under the mother organization of Green Camel Bell, which itself was founded in 2004, as the first environmental organization in the Gansu region of China. The group is devoted to environmental protection in Western China. Suffice to say, bringing on a Waterkeeper group was a natural fit.

The Yellow River is the second largest river in China, and the fifth-longest river in the world. It originates at the Tibetan Plateau and terminates thousands of miles away in the sea. Xiaojing’s jurisdiction sits at the crossroads of the Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai provinces. It covers 630 square miles, traversing through over a dozen cities, and is home to over 25 million people.

It’s hard for Xiaojing to identify just one thing that she loves about her river. The views of the river are spectacular, even breathtaking. There is also cultural significance along the river, including several temples as well as a world renown Tibetan horse races that occur along the river every year. It’s quite biodiverse, too, home to yaks and many other unique species. The area is also home to extensive grasslands and wetlands which made her feel nostalgic.

Though picturesque, the area is home to plenty of threats.

Another threat comes by way of local herders who often overgraze the landscape causing degradation. Xiaojing understands the herders’ position as it is one of the few ways they can earn income. However, her organization suggests an alternative by way of eco-tourism. To encourage this, she helps bring students and teachers to the grassland areas for receptions with the local herders. It’s educational for the students, but also the herders who see that leading tours through this beautiful landscape is another way to earn money.

Hydropower also poses a threat to the Upper Yellow River. In 1952, the Heishan Gorge was identified as having significant hydropower potential. Fortunately for the health of the river, the plan faced years of delay. There were difficulties coordinating the resettlement, construction, and inundation issues. There were engineering challenges and changes in the national development strategies.

There were also several environmental concerns as the project would affect seven environmentally sensitive areas, including the Gansu Jingtai Yellow River Stone Forest National Geopark. There are fears that fish populations, specifically the Northern Copper Fish and the Yellow River Minnow, would be dramatically harmed.

As Xiaojing demonstrated at the 2024 Water and Climate Conference in Milwaukee, the project may not even be necessary. The original plan for the Heishanxia assigned it functions of power generation, irrigation, flood control, ice jam prevention, and consideration for downstream water use, with some functions no longer existing. The huge losses from reservoir submersion and resettlement costs directly affect the project’s economic feasibility, and the construction of the Dam faces significant geological and engineering risks, thus making construction unnecessary. She and her organization will continue to make efforts to stop this unnecessary project,  and keep the wave of the Upper Yellow River for the creatures and humans.

Pesticide packaging waste is another challenge. The farmers knew the packaging waste was toxic but were not sure what to do about it. So Xiaojing and Green Camel Bell gave them incentives to help them recycle. They also had a dialogue with the manufacturer of the pesticide packaging. Some companies did not respond, but Xiaojing’s organization keeps speaking for this issue, and will continue to keep up awareness.

“Our organization also suggested that Yellow River protection laws should give the corresponding attention to this issue,” says Xiaojing. “The suggestion has been adopted, and the law was officially implemented in April of 2023. This was a huge, big step for the Upper Yellow River Waterkeeper. Because it can reduce the source of the pesticide packaging waste.”

One of the gratifying things for Xiaojing is to see the herders’ perseverance and response to environmental protection. In 2016, an engineering team came to the herder community wanting to open up the mountain and dig up rocks for road construction and was willing to give 70,000 yuan in compensation, which is a huge economic temptation for most herder families. But the herders did not forget their environmental commitment with Green Camel Bell, and they decisively refused the engineering team, preserving a fresh piece of grassland.

As a feminist, the change of women in the community is most gratifying to Xiaojing. The herder women are gradually moving from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, and although they still can’t communicate with tourists in Mandarin, eco-tourism has given the women and children the opportunity to participate in public affairs in the community.

In some villages on the Loess Plateau, women who have never left their local area have had the opportunity to visit universities and museums  as a result of the Green Camel Bell program. Although there have been some male obstacles, such as hiding the identity cards of women who want to go out, in the end, the rural women have been able to make their own decision to go out and see a wider world, and are brave to express themselves in front of the public. These projects related to water conservation are also influencing gender power relations in the community.

Xiaojing hopes to continue building trust with local communities as she works to protect grasslands, fight destructive hydropower projects and keep this gorgeous landscape safe for future generations. She feels determined to continue this work despite the many obstacles.

“We do not have enough funders yet for our work, but we just do it year after year,” says Xiaojing.