15 Aug 2011 14:21

China earmarks $1.5 bln over 5-year period for Tibetan grassland

Beijing. August 15. INTERFAX-CHINA - China's central government will allocate RMB 2 billion ($313.01 million) in annual subsidies over the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015) to revitalize grassland in the Tibet Autonomous Region, a Tibet agricultural official told Interfax Aug. 15.

Local authorities in Tibet are presently distributing this year's subsidies after they were granted by the central government at the end of last month, according to Kong Biao, a director at the Tibet Agricultural Department.

The subsidies are aimed at stopping herdsmen from letting their livestock overgraze on grassland. Herders who prohibit their livestock from grazing on damaged grassland will receive RMB 6 ($0.94) per mu (666.67 square meters) of rented grazing area every year, Kong said.

Herders may also receive RMB 1.50 ($0.23) per mu to prevent grazing overload, and RMB 10 ($1.57) per mu for planting grass, Kong added.

Tibet began pilot testing subsidies for herders in five counties in 2009 in a bid to protect the region's ravaged pastures, Kong noted. Tibet contains some 1.23 billion mu (820,000 square kilometers) of grassland, equivalent to a fifth of China's total.

Up to 90 percent of China's four million square kilometers of grassland is damaged to some degree, Xinhua news agency reported Aug. 12, citing Gao Hongbin, vice minister of agriculture. Gao's comments came after the State Council said Aug. 9 it would provide tax breaks and funding for rural enterprises that have established eco-friendly projects.

-LYB