Conducted a protection drive?

Does "drive" mean "a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end"?

Background info:

The new spawning site, alongside relevant conservation areas, have all suffered under new engineering projects. An embankment was set up downstream in 2004, which directly destroyed spawning grounds. Besides, local government decided to reduce the reservation size in 2008, making it harder for sturgeon to reproduce in the region.
China has conducted a protection drive for the rare species since the 1980s. Scientists have since tested both artificial breeding and reintroduction into the wild. However, monitoring of the Yangtze estuary showed the population of artificially reproduced fish accounted for only 5 percent of the total population.
The Chinese sturgeon, dating back to the Cretaceous period, is listed as being under top national protection. The species usually spawn in fresh water and migrate to salt water to mature.