In Azha Town, Lhari County, Nagqu, Xizang, on the plateau with an elevation of 4,500 meters, there is the lake of Jianaiyucuo, which looks like a blue gem. With mountains as the boundaries, the blue sky above and the lake below are blue, clear, and vast. They add radiance and beauty to each other and bring the visual enjoyment of the water in winter with the same color as the sky. Such beauty not only is a miracle of nature but also cannot go without the long-term protection of local people.

The lake of Jianaiyucuo always generously nourishes the creatures beside it. Diversified wild animals and plants gather here because of water, including brushes, meadows, mire vegetation, aquatic vegetation, golden eagle, snow leopard, wild Tibetan donkey, and black-neck crane, forming a complicated and rich biological environment. However, the ecosystem on the plateau is weak and sensitive. Once it is destroyed, it is difficult to restore. Every inch of change in the lake Jianaiyucuo affects the survival of these cute creatures and is related to the healthy development of the ecosystem in the surrounding area.

Similarly, the lake Jianaiyucuo is also a water source cherished by herders living in the neighborhood generation after generation. “Since we were young, our family taught us that bad luck would be brought to ourselves and later generations if we did not protect the environment properly.” Dampa Trinley, who is 52 years old this year, is both a herder in the neighborhood and a Water Body Conservator of Jianaiyucuo. Due to simple awareness of environmental protection, since 2009, Dampa Trinley started to patrol the lake regularly and voluntarily, pick up wastes, and encourage tourists to travel in a civilized manner. He has worked there for 15 years.

In the beginning, Dampa Trinley's work was often hampered. Without official position and communication skill, Dampa Trinley's kind persuasion of tourists would inevitably receive some bad feedback. “What's it to you......”... Tourists’ lack of co-operation increased unnecessary work and sometimes stung Dampa Trinley's heart. The turnaround happened in 2016. With the raising of the awareness of environmental protection, the quality of tourists has been improved and there has been less waste. More importantly, a series of policies and systems for the protection of water, forests, and grasslands have been implemented gradually in different places in Xizang. In 2016, the “ecological position” policy with objectives of environmental protection and income increase was implemented first. After that, in 2017, the river and lake chief system was fully implemented in the Xizang Autonomous Region, forming the management mechanism at the provincial, municipal, county, township, and village levels with grass-roots ecological positions, and providing a complete and systematic protection network for water sources on the plateau. In the last two years, a river and lake patrol check-in app specially produced has been installed in the mobile phones of river and lake chiefs at each level to supervise their work, convert it into detailed and accurate data, and contribute to the implementation of the river and lake chief patrol mechanism.

Today, Dampa Trinley has an official and honorable identity—Water Conservator of the Lake Jianaiyucuo. Every week, he patrols in the surrounding area of Jianaiyucuo with the other four Water Conservators in the village. “I feel very happy and proud to be down-to-earth and see the mountains and waters in my hometown become better and benefit later generations.” Yes. Walking in such beautiful scenery, keeping the lake Jianaiyucuo a sapphire on the plateau, peaceful and clean, and creating a bright future for wild animals and plants and humans, how can we not be happy when we are engaged in such a major undertaking?