"Mongolian herdsmen have made great sacrifices for grassland vegetation recovery. It's a noble deed for the good of humankind," said Ji Dacai, vice chief of Agriculture and Husbandry Department in north China's Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, in Hohhot Tuesday.

Ji briefly introduced the Mongolian Herdsmen Ecological Immigration Project during an interview with CnDG. The project encouraged about 450,000 herdsmen to begin a new life in settled locations in order to rehabilitate vegetation and avoid grasslands' further deterioration.

If the grasslands recover someday, herdsmen will be able to return to their homes and pick up their former way of life.

'We had to change'

"The condition of grassland vegetation in Inner Mongolia worsened around 2001, due to severe droughts since 1999. Meadows were withered and a large number of livestock perished. The nomad lifestyle that existed for a thousand years proved to be unsustainable," she added, "We had to change."

She admitted that it was a hard transition for the Mongolia herdsmen. Nobody wanted to leave their hometown. However, if the condition got worse, the trend of desertification would be irreversible.

"What's more, the increasing sandstorms have had negative impacts on nearby areas, such as Beijing and Tianjin; the sand could have even caused particle pollution in South Korea and Japan," she explained.

Efforts to help increase herdsmen's income

The Inner Mongolian Autonomous Regional government has devoted over 2 billion yuan (US$295 million) in the past 10 years to relocate Mongolian herdsmen into water-plentiful areas and has made crucial efforts to help them adapt to a new life.

Herdsmen are able to obtain subsidies in exchange for fallow farmlands. Such funding can come from many channels: the central government granted 10 yuan (US$1.48) per mu (0.17 acres) to encourage them to plant trees in their former feeding areas; in addition, the regional government offered a farming subsidy with an upper limit of 3,000-5,000 yuan (US$442.97 to 738.29).

Furthermore, the local government will continue to help herdsmen solve financial problems. For example, young people are able to receive free vocational training, which is beneficial for obtaining a job. Also, elderly herdsmen collect monthly annuities of about 300-500 yuan (US$44.297 to 73.829) to fund their daily spending needs.

"It's true that such a new policy attempting to ensure environmental conservation is not perfect,” she said, “but we will continue to make adjustments to guarantee its success."

(China Development Gateway by Jiao Meng July 14, 2010)