It's easy to miss Liang Congjie in a crowd. There's nothing immediately striking about the soft-spoken 72-year-old history professor with wire-framed glasses and silver-streaked hair. But Liang's activism speaks for itself: He is a leader in the fight to preserve China's environment.

While his counterparts in the West were chaining themselves to trees and challenging whale boats in rubber dinghies, Liang -- a Beijing native whose name means "heed warning" -- began promoting environmental protection by educating China's public and working with the State-run media.

Looking like anyone's grandfather well into his retirement years, Liang, a descendant of Liang Qichao (a prominent reformer of the late Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911), never expected to be the foremost spokesperson and champion of environmentalism in Asia.

10-year incubation

An ordinary man in appearance, Liang has by no means had an ordinary life. A professor of history at the Academy for Chinese Culture and an editor of China's encyclopedias, Liang founded Friends of Nature (FON) -- China's first non-governmental environmental organization -- in 1993, from his deep sense of social responsibility and a love of nature.

Hearing about international groups like Greenpeace, Liang wondered "Why not in China?" and decided to do something about China's looming environmental problems. Liang, at 62 years of age, and a group of friends began exploring ways for public involvement in environmental protection in 1993. He found that creating a non-governmental organization (NGO) would be the most effective way to reach the largest number of fellow Chinese.

Liang used his personal status to gain governmental approval. After a long, difficult year of meetings, his plea was finally approved and registered as the Academy for Green Culture, an affiliate of the Academy for Chinese Culture. It is now called Friends of Nature (FON), with Liang as president.

That was 10 years ago. The significant role of environmental NGOs in developed countries has served as an inspiration to those in China with a passion for the field. Today, with several thousand individuals and over 1,000 corporate members, FON serves as a model and the foremost environmental advocator for many mushrooming environmental organizations in the country.

Progressive lineage

Liang has always loved a challenge. Before turning to the Green cause, he had already completed a successful career as a history professor at the Academy for Chinese Culture and had edited several encyclopedias on China. When most of his contemporaries were contemplating or enjoying retirement, Liang set his sights far higher: He decided to devote the rest of his life to cleaning up China.

Progressive thought has been a trademark of Liang's family for the past three generations. In the late 19th century Liang's grandfather, Liang Qichao, served as a western-influenced reformer in the Qing Dynasty court and also a leader of the ill-fated 1898 Reform Movement aimed at introducing western political reforms to save the corrupt and ailing imperial system. Liang's father Liang Sicheng, a renowned architect who served as a Beijing city planner after the establishment of New China in 1949, is best remembered by Beijing residents as the man who fought to salvage the capital's ancient city walls, albeit unsuccessfully.

But Liang's gradual approach to change and his fight for nature Chinese-style distinguished him from the failed efforts of his forebears.

But Liang is by no means an eco-warrior. Peering through big, wire-rimmed glasses, Liang resembles a kind grandpa. He favors knitted shirts and casual slacks that belong on a golf course. The other founding members are his fellow teachers at the Academy for Chinese Culture. To his collection of scholars, Liang has added students, housewives and taxi drivers, etc. "The membership is for everybody," he says proudly, adding: "It's less like a western environmental lobby and more like a club. We have a homey atmosphere. And I like it that way."

Today, Liang is considered as the leading authority on the subject in China and was named "environmental envoy" by the government. Liang has received numerous awards, including the 2000 Philippine Ramon Magsaysay Award. He is also a member of the prestigious Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Work to the bone

Liang is the consummate workaholic. He puts in an average 65 hours per week, most of it spent in his office, which features souvenirs from his projects across China and a banner autographed by US President Bill Clinton. As founder and president of Friends of Nature, Liang's work sometimes requires him to travel to host forums and conduct research on environmental protection and sustainable development in China.

"Liang is a charismatic role model," says Zhang Jilian, manager of the FON headquarters in Beijing, proudly pointing out that all staff business cards are printed on recycled paper. "He personifies and epitomizes the spirit of Friends of Nature. It wouldn't be what it is today without his efforts."

Liang's work leaves him little time for his wife and daughter. Yet, for Liang, as a Chinese father, it is the least he can do. "We have to ask ourselves, what kind of legacy will we hand on to our children?" Liang reflects.

Most of the financial support for the organization comes from its founding members, particularly Liang and his wife. Along with an advisory board of a dozen other scholars, they direct the operations on a volunteer basis. The non-profit, public welfare organization is funded entirely by membership fees and public support. Liang's success is all the more startling given that his 10-year-old group functions, with only four paid staff members and an annual budget of about US$80,000. Liang only accepts a token honorarium, surviving on his teaching salary of 500 yuan (US$60) from the academy.

Befriending Blair and Clinton

Yet few people in China take the nature club lightly. Since its inception in l993, a string of high-profile activities has earned FON a reputation as China's most influential environmental organization.

This did not happen with an "eco-warrior" activism that characterizes other environmental NGOs, but in a style more suitable to the Chinese context. Through effective partnerships with senior journalists, FON has been able to expose illegal logging that nearly caused the extinction of a rare monkey species, illegal poaching of the endangered Tibetan antelope, and large-scale deforestation and pollution threatening the steppe in Inner Mongolia. The group is also an outspoken critic of industrial pollution around the country.

As for the Shatoosh scarves made from the hair of Tibetan antelope, mostly favored by fashion-conscious women in the West, Liang wrote to British Prime Minister Tony Blair in early 1999, calling on the British Government to raise public awareness to help protect this unique animal by ending the "extinction for fashion". In a letter dated October 7, 1999, the British Prime Minister replied: "I fully share your revulsion over the illegal slaughter of the antelopes and your concern about the future of the species. I will certainly bring your request to the attention of the environmental authorities in the UK and the European Union".

In July 1999, Liang also met US President Bill Clinton in an intimate round-table discussion with six other Chinese environmental campaigners. At the meeting, which was held in Guilin in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Liang injected a dose of humor as he presented the US president with a photo of the endangered golden monkey, saying that man and the golden monkey are the only two primates with red lips -- to which Clinton quickly responded: "Oh, that's my cousin!" Everyone laughed and the meeting concluded on a blissful note one hour later.

None of these victories -- not even the 2000 Magsaysay Award for his extraordinary work on environmental protection -- has slowed down this energetic conservationist. Perhaps Liang will only relax when all of society joins in the promotion of environmental protection.

Dilemmas and risks

Despite his mission to protect the environment, Liang is sensitive to the debate over human needs versus environmental demands.

"It's really a dilemma," Liang says, "but to me it's a matter of time. If you destroy your resources now, your children will suffer. You will not be so poor, but your children will be even poorer. But I know it's difficult, so I always make sure I avoid empty 'Green' words -- slogans that have no practical value. We have to work very hard to solve problems pragmatically."

Convincing peasants in their township and village enterprises to give up new and prospering -- but equally polluting -- industries isn't easy. But Liang believes that through open dialogue rather than preaching, FON can change people's habits.

"We are advocates of controlled consumption, not suspension of development," he says, adding: "Pursuing the culture of waste is a dead end for China. If everyone tries to have a life like that, our future is bleak."

Although Liang is a self-declared moderate, the very nature of his cause - which is usually unpopular -- has earned him and other colleagues many enemies, even anonymous threats.

Still, Liang is optimistic that the tide will soon turn in favor of environmental causes. "I can see a real difference since we started our work, especially in public attitudes towards environmental issues. People are more sympathetic, more thoughtful, more understanding."

Sowing green seeds

Although FON has directly taken part in several environmental efforts, Liang insists that the only way to create lasting environmental improvement is to raise awareness and educate people, particularly the youth, to "patiently sow green seeds in people's minds. We don't want to provide people just with some technical knowledge. Instead, we try to modify people's values and behavior".

FON seeks to raise awareness through education in the classrooms, colleges and via community events. Their primary target is the younger generation -- tomorrow's leaders and activists, as well as tomorrow's consumers and polluters.

Over the past 10 years, about 50,000 teachers, students and children have been exposed to FON's programmes. Each year, it offers two to three training camps for hundreds of interested students and other volunteers who go out to remote rural schools to teach children about environmental issues. Contrary to the traditional classroom approach, their style is highly participatory. FON also has two "mobile classrooms" or vans called "Wild Pony" and "Antelope". They drive around the country providing training to students and teachers.

In 1999, FON launched the "Environmental Education Van Programme" as well as an action group to further environmental awareness among secondary school students in rural areas, "The Green Hope Initiative." It also runs "The Better Environment Scheme," which is sponsored by Shell Co, to encourage primary and middle school students to design and implement environment protection projects in their own communities.

Along similar lines, FON plans to establish training centers to help teachers design new environment-oriented courses, including a variety of field trips for students that highlight the contrast between places of natural beauty and those degraded by human abuse. To disseminate information more broadly, FON plans to design a series of public-service messages for television broadcasts and local and national newspapers.

FON's quarterly newsletter has a circulation of 3,000, with the fees levied from paying members covering production costs. Additional funds for the education programme come from a broad mix of domestic and international companies, foundations and organizations.

Delivering this message to a country just waking up to environmental issues is an enormous and exciting task.

"I want to convey my gratefulness to the people who have supported us. As China rushes to modernize, awakening an environmental consciousness in the Chinese people is more important than ever."

Forging ahead -- Chinese style

Liang, unlike his ancestors, has learned to pick his battles well. Liang believes in being on good terms with the government because it has the regulatory power to improve the environment. On the other hand, FON also acts as an important watchdog of public environmental policies.

"Radical activism is not practical in China. We have to find another way of doing it -- a more Chinese way." Deciding that there was more than one way to save the Earth, Liang chose to become a critical voice of reason with an emphasis on education, dialogue and cooperation.

At present, Chinese environmental NGOs focus on three main areas: seeking to educate and guide the public, promoting public involvement and communicating with the government on environmental-protection-policy issues. They also monitor what is happening in the field of environmental protection and help enterprises develop a greater concern for environmental issues.

Liang feels that in addition to addressing environmental questions directly, FON has a unique opportunity to set a good example for NGOs in China. According to Liang, NGOs are not evil: They're potentially a great help, accomplishing things in mutual collaboration with the government that the government alone could not achieve.

Liang believes that even differences in government policies can be expressed in an atmosphere of principled compromise, if it is done properly. There are over 2,000 environmental NGOs in China and millions of participants who spend their time and money reclaiming wasteland, observing birds, planting trees and protecting endangered animals. They also work to establish green communities. Liang feels that FON can model this behavior for others to follow, and that such modeling is potentially a very important contribution in its own right.

"I can see a real difference since we started our work, especially in public attitudes towards environmental issues. It sometimes may not seem like much, but it's a seed. And from the tiny acorn, big trees grow." Now preparing for the successor selection of his cause, Liang still seems to have no plans of slowing down.