Chinese actress Hai Ling injected biological agent into a tree to control the produce of catkins. [Photo provided to China Daily]

About 200 government officials, scholars, enterprise representatives and volunteers recently gathered at Beijing Forestry University for the 2016 Green Citizen Initiative.

Last year, the United Nations Environment Programme, the National Afforestation Committee, the State Forestry Administration and the China Green Foundation launched the event to improve the public awareness about ecology preservation and to raise money for green programs.

This year, the event aims to promote itself in universities in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province through different activities, call on people to donate money online to plant trees and to organize trips for donors and volunteers to wetlands to explore biodiversity.

Singer Yu Tian and actress Hai Ling were presented awards for being campus pioneers. Both of them called for more college students to join the initiative.

Yu Tian and Hai Ling were awarded with certifcates as Campus Pioneers of the Green Citizen Initiative. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chen Peng, deputy secretary-general of the China Green Foundation, says college students are energetic and full of new ideas. He hopes that they can spread the idea of the Green Citizen Initiative and impress others as they move on to the next stage of their lives after graduation.

Song Weiming, the president of the Beijing Forestry University, says it is important to inculcate the green idea among college students and to create a green culture on campuses.

Meanwhile, the university's teachers and students take part in many green activities.

For example, they make small signs for flowers and trees on campus so that one can scan QR codes to get basic information about the plants.

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