The Tibet Plateau environment is so fragile that the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is taking on volunteers to educate passengers and staff about maintaining the pristine environment and not tossing out their rubbish.

The first train leaves for Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, from Shanghai on July 1.

Shanghai's first environmental protection volunteer is a woman in her 30s. She and 14 other volunteers from all over the country will board the train and spread the message on July 7.

Volunteers' safety is a concern for organizers as China lacks national legal protection for them.

The completion of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway enables people to travel in the mostly untouched Tibet for the first time. Possible environmental pollution from train tourists - such as random garbage disposal - has aroused concern.

Volunteers are to distribute environmental protection handouts and hold interactive activities on the trains to Tibet for 20 days.

Greenriver, the Sichuan environmental organization, said that the first woman volunteer from Shanghai is a swimmer with outdoor activity experience in Yunnan, Gansu and Liaoning provinces -- essential requirements for volunteers to withstand the harsh conditions in plateau area.

Years of working as an English teacher also helped the woman to stand out among 300 applicants, said Yi Xiaohua, a Greenriver official.

Volunteers must have a recent physical and sign a safety agreement.

The agreement states volunteers were not allowed to walk unaccompanied beyond 500 meters from the train.

Besides buying commercial insurance, volunteers must pay 50 yuan (US$6.17) for accident insurance.

(Shanghai Daily June 26, 2006)