Xinjiang's subsidy and reward mechanism makes grasslands greener and herders richer

In June, the Bayanbulak grasslands look like a photo with a filter applied, with the green grass dotted with yellow and purple flowers, a scene so beautiful it takes your breath away.

Batunasen, a herder from Wulastai Village in Harmodun Township, Hejing County, is repairing his sheep pen. While tidying it up, he says: "Last year when I built this sheep pen, the government gave me a subsidy of 28,000 yuan. When I raised sheep in the pen, the government brought me feed. Now I have also received the corresponding grassland subsidy. The Party's policy of enriching the people is truly wonderful."

Mangkai, a herder who also used to graze livestock freely on the Bayanbulak grasslands, says: "In the past, we grazed too many sheep in this area, and the grassland was not enough. Now after the implementation of returning grazing land to grassland, the grass grows very well and the ecology has improved."

Hejing County, long known as the "dream grassland," has in recent years promoted the return of farmland to grassland and focused on improving the grassland ecology. Through measures such as relocating herders, fencing off areas to ban grazing, grassland ecological subsidies and rewards, and protection of water conservation areas, the ecological protection function of the Bayanbulak grasslands within its territory has been effectively restored, and the grassland ecological environment has improved markedly.

Hejing County is not an isolated case. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Xinjiang firmly establishes and practices the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and ice and snow are also invaluable assets." It protects the ecological environment as it would protect its eyes and treats the ecological environment as it would treat life itself. A beautiful picture of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature is unfolding across the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains.

Data provided by the Grassland Division of the Autonomous Region's Animal Husbandry Department shows that since the grassland ecological protection subsidy and reward mechanism (hereinafter referred to as the "grassland subsidy and reward mechanism") was implemented in 2011, the natural grassland ecological environment in Xinjiang has improved significantly. In particular, since the launch of a new round of grassland ecological protection subsidies and rewards in 2016, our region has further increased grassland protection efforts. The grazing ban subsidy standard has been raised from 5 yuan per mu to 6 yuan, the grass-livestock balance reward standard has been raised from 1.5 yuan per mu to 2.5 yuan, and the area of water conservation zones has also increased from 1.5 million mu to 5.1 million mu. The region has implemented a grazing ban on 150.1 million mu of grassland and grass-livestock balance management on 540.9 million mu.

Xiong Ling, director of the Grassland Division of the Autonomous Region's Animal Husbandry Department, says that through the implementation of grassland ecological protection subsidy measures, grassland ecological degradation has been effectively curbed. The ecological function of grasslands is gradually recovering, strongly promoting the region's ecological civilization construction. In 2017, the overall growth of natural grassland forage across Xinjiang was stable, with comprehensive vegetation coverage and comprehensive vegetation height reaching 41.48% and 27.9 cm respectively, an increase of 1.71 percentage points and 2.42 cm compared with the past 5 years. Among them, the fresh grass yield in the natural grassland grazing ban areas of the region increased by 32.66% compared with 2010, the fresh grass yield in the natural grassland grass-livestock balance areas of the region increased by 26.53% compared with 2010, and the overloading rate of natural grasslands in the region dropped from 33% in 2010 to the current 8.7%.

The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed that we must establish and practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, adhere to the basic national policy of conserving resources and protecting the environment, treat the ecological environment as we treat life itself, coordinate the systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes and grasslands, and implement the strictest ecological environment protection system.

This year, the state has allocated 2.477 billion yuan in grassland ecological protection subsidy and reward funds to Xinjiang, which has already been disbursed in advance to all prefectures and cities, to provide reward subsidies to herders who fulfill their grass-livestock balance obligations. Xiong Ling says that this year Xinjiang's grassland ecological protection policy covers a total area of 691 million mu for subsidy and reward implementation. Among them, grazing ban grassland accounts for 150 million mu, and grass-livestock balance management covers 540 million mu.

"This year's grassland reward subsidies focus on favoring southern Xinjiang. The ecological subsidy and reward funds involving southern Xinjiang have reached 600 million yuan in preferential allocation. The grazing ban areas include 5.1 million mu of water conservation zones, an increase of 3.6 million mu on the basis of 1.5 million mu during the '12th Five-Year Plan' period," Xiong Ling says.

The reporter learned that since the implementation of the new round of the grassland subsidy and reward mechanism in 2016, as of now, the region has cumulatively distributed more than 7.43 billion yuan in subsidy and reward funds, benefiting about 300,000 farming and herding households across Xinjiang, with an average annual income increase of about 8,000 yuan per household.

Xiong Ling says: "In the future, we will deeply practice the concept of green development, further increase grassland management efforts, strictly implement the grassland subsidy and reward system, firmly grasp the grass-livestock balance, achieve both grassland economic development and 'recuperation and regeneration,' and make Xinjiang's grasslands greener and more beautiful."