The country has seen nearly 40 percent of people participate in voluntary environmental programs at some point or other, and such programs are booming as a result, Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu said.

There have been more than 1.3 million voluntary environmental programs across the country, representing 20 percent of all voluntary programs, he noted.

Huang made the remarks at a forum discussing voluntary environmental services, which was held on Sunday, World Environment Day.

He noted the increasingly diversified voluntary environmental programs.

In the 1980s, people mainly took part in tree planting volunteer programs, he said. In recent years, however, volunteers have devoted themselves to many other environmental activities, such as river and forest protection, biodiversity conservation and public-interest litigation.

"Volunteer teams for promoting ecological civilization have sprouted like mushrooms after the rain," he continued.

Ecological civilization is a concept promoted by President Xi Jinping for balanced and sustainable development that features harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.

World Environment Day, which falls each year on June 5, was also designated a national environment day for China in 2014 when the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, adopted an amendment to the Environmental Protection Law.

This year, under the theme of "Building together a clean and beautiful world", the celebratory event was held in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province.

More and more ordinary people have transformed themselves into guardians protecting local watercourses and ecosystems, Huang said, citing Liu Detian, an elderly resident from Panjin in Liaoning as an example.

The tireless work of Liu in protecting the Chinese black-headed gull in the past 30 years has motivated many others to participate in the bird's protection, he said. Thanks to their joint efforts, the number of black-headed gulls in Panjin has increased from 1,200 in the early 1990s to around 15,000 today.

Huang called out the huge potential that voluntary environmental programs have in helping the country's green transition.

The country is still faced with great pressures, he said, in promoting a green transition in production modes and lifestyles, where the causes of many environmental problems are rooted.

"Voluntary environmental services have a huge role to play in promoting public participation in environmental protection work, and to help form green production modes and lifestyles," he noted.

He vowed a series of measures to bolster the boom of voluntary environmental activities. The ministry, for example, will promote the establishment of regional associations for voluntary environmental services and support will be offered to set up funds dedicated for such services.

In a move to regulate the services, he said the ministry will work out a classified training system for volunteers, making full use of sports venues and schools for more education about nature.

Li Shulei, executive deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, called for teams within voluntary environmental programs to ramp up efforts in promoting Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.