we need to take _____ measures to make the rivers clean (protect)

we need to take _protective____ measures to make the rivers clean (protect)我也是这么想的，可老师说是protection，理由是如同health problem。请解释一下，好让我去反驳。protective measures 形容词修饰measures，合乎语法，意思也是正确的。protection measures 名词作为定语修饰measures，此种用法多见于科技论文中。意思也正确。也就是说，两种说法都对。