Herders face five year ban on grazing

HAMI, Xinjiang - In a bid to protect eight key scenic spots in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, pasturing is now banned for five years, according to the regional animal husbandry bureau.

The five-year-long "returning grazing land to grassland" project, which began this year, covers 100,000 hectares of grassland in eight key scenic spots, including Kanas and Tianshan Tianchi, said Zhao Xinchun, chief specialist of pasturage at Xinjiang Animal Husbandry Bureau.

Local herdsmen are being compensated for their loss of grazing and get an annual subsidy of 750 yuan ($116.5) per hectare of grassland.