Wang Minghai, a humble forest ranger in Northeast China's Jilin province, receives the title of "Most Beautiful Ecological Forest Ranger" – one of 20 outstanding guardians of the forests chosen at the national level. The selection was jointly made by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Finance. Wang is the only forest ranger in Jilin province to have been singled out for the honor. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A ceremony is held to present awards to the 20 best forest rangers in the country. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Wang Minghai shows the area he looks after. In 2017, he was selected in the first batch of leading forest rangers in Wangqing town, Wangqing county in Jilin province. He patrols the woods for at least 20 days a month, patrolling 10-20 kilometers a day, come rain or shine. During the forest fire prevention period in the spring and fall, he patrols from 6 am until dark every day. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Since Wang Minghai became a forest ranger, he has dealt with more than 20 fire hazards, stopped six unauthorized excavations in shallow mountainous areas that threatened to destroy vegetation and stopped many cases of illegal logging and illegal land reclamation. There has not been a recorded case of damage to the environment – such as forest fires, indiscriminate felling of forest trees and indiscriminate hunting of wild animals – in his area of responsibility. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]