More than 68 million mu, or 11. 4 hectares, of meadow in Tibet have been cordoned off as protected reserves over the course of four years to prevent from the damage of over-grazing, local officials said.
Herding is only allowed in part of the reserves and for a certain period of time. The government has offered cash remedies and job training to herdsmen who are no longer allowed to herd.
The authorities have spent 1.57 billion yuan (232 million U.S. dollars) promoting the cordoning-off-meadow program in Tibet since 2004 to repair the deteriorating ecological system there.
