Sheep and cattle will no longer be allowed to graze freely in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, after they were banned from its grasslands on Thursday.

The ban aims to protect the region's grasslands, which are among the 10 biggest pasturelands in China.

No sheep or cattle were visible on Ningxia's 2.62 million hectares of grassland on the first day of the ban.

Ningxia is the third region in China to institute a complete ban on herding. All of the 2.9 million sheep in Ningxia will be raised in fenced yards to relieve pressure on the grasslands.

Dai Cun, a 72-year-old herdsman, agreed the ban was necessary.

"Although I feel idle, I support the ban on herding."

Eight other areas, including Xinjiang, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia, have pledged to bring in the bans in the near future.

Zhao Tingjie, vice-chairman of the Ningxia regional government, said the prohibition or herding was a major step forward in stopping grassland deterioration and sandstorms.

China has 331 million hectares of grassland, second only to Australia. But over 90 per cent of its grassland have been damaged by overgrazing. Sandstorms caused by erosion have become a major problem for Chinese environmentalists.

The State Council, the country's cabinet, last year approved a plan in 11 provinces and autonomous regions in western China to convert low-yielding farmland into grassland. About 6.67 million hectares of farmland have been set aside so far this year.

In Wuqi County in northwest China's Shaanxi Provice, where China's first herding ban was introduced, bleak mountains are being transformed into lush woods and grassland.

Wang Peng, director of the Wuqi County Bureau of Agriculture, said more than 3,700 square kilometers of vegetation in the county had been restored and about 49.6 percent of its territory had been rehabilitated since the herding ended five years ago.

Vegetation began growing back after only one year in areas where the ban was in place.

(China Daily May 7, 2003)