Herders hope for greener pastures

Grassland responsibility

Xinjiang has 57.3 million hectares of grassland, 40 percent of which is severely degraded, according to Zhao Xinchun, chief livestock engineer at Xinjiang's department of animal husbandry.

The herdsmen have to realize that they have a responsibility to protect the grassland, according to Lu Yang, secretary of the Yiwu animal husbandry and veterinary bureau. Qianshan was home to around 40,000 sheep in 1995, but now there are 100,000 and the herdsmen keep raising more as the market price continues to rise, he added. "We have to keep the number of livestock and usable grassland in balance otherwise the result will be unimaginable," said Lu.

The depletion of the land greatly concerns Ajey, who likes to be called "Cowboy". "In the 1980s, you wouldn't be able to see a herdsman on a horse, because the grass would grow high enough to completely cover both of them. But now I would be jumping for joy if the grass grew as high as my ankles."

He feels uncomfortable with all the restrictions, even though he has received compensation, but is a realist: "I know something has to be done. Otherwise, the grassland that my ancestors revered might turn into desert one day."

That view is echoed by the authorities. "Corporations are required to invest in environmental protection programs if their activities damage the environment. It's called social responsibility and should apply to the herdsmen as well," said Lu.

However, the program has divided the men. It was welcomed by those who own a small number of livestock, because the subsidy ensures that their incomes will rise. But for owners of large flocks it's bad news, and the bureau has received plenty of complaints, he added.

Water security

In Xinjiang, each herdsman received an average subsidy of 1,380 yuan in 2011, almost half their average annual income the previous year, according to Zhao. Since the start of the year, the program has guaranteed an annual national subsidy of 90 yuan per hectare of prohibited grassland, but the policy was adjusted in Xinjiang to help fund a water conservation project in the area.

The subsidy for normal prohibited grassland in Xinjiang is now 82.5 yuan per hectare. That will free up around 75 million yuan as a special subsidy to safeguard water supplies on 100,000 hectares of prohibited grassland, said Zhao.

"We have to make sure the water conservation area isn't damaged, because water security is crucial to the future of both the grassland and people who live on it, so we've increased the special subsidy to 750 yuan per hectare," he explained. "The subsidy is like giving the grassland a paid holiday."

The Xinjiang authorities have stipulated that the grassland protection subsidy each herdsman receives should not be more than double the local annual income. In Qianshan township, a herdsman can receive a maximum of 3,200 yuan and a minimum of 1,800 yuan, no matter how many hectares of grassland he owns.

"The policy is designed to ensure that the distribution of the subsidy is fair, because the national subsidy program doesn't take the quality of the grassland into consideration," said Zhao. "Some herdsmen might own more than 660 hectares of depleted grassland, which means they couldn't even keep 100 sheep on it, but would be eligible to receive a subsidy of more than 54,450 yuan. On the other hand, some herdsmen might only own 33 hectares of rich grassland, meaning they could raise 100 sheep, but would only receive 2,700 yuan in subsidies. That would cause huge inequality among the herdsmen," he explained.

A rise in crime

Inequality is unlikely to be the only problem thrown up by the new regulations. There are growing concerns that the prohibition on grazing could lead to a rise in crime, according to Junjuma, president of the People's Court of Barkol Kazak autonomous county, less than 100 kilometers from Yiwu.

"Because of a lack of enclosed herding facilities, the prohibition might cause livestock numbers to decrease over the short term, and that could lead to a higher retail price. As a result, more criminals would set their sights on the animals," he warned.

The numbers and scale of livestock theft have already increased during the past two years, and rustling has become the top crime in Barkol. In 2011, the court dealt with a case where a group of 12 people stole livestock, including sheep and cattle worth 220,000 yuan. The authorities took the case seriously and the ringleader of the gang was sentenced to 13 years in prison. The harsh sentence didn't prove to be much of a deterrent, however, and earlier this year a separate group of rustlers was caught red-handed, stealing more than 100 cattle and horses.

The criminals confessed that the livestock are easy to steal and will always sell for a good price. They simply drove a truck onto the remote grassland and loaded it with whatever they could catch. Then they transported the animals to distant areas to prevent local herdsmen from recognizing the distinctive branding marks, said Junjuma.

Some of the thefts speak of a combination of ingenuity and desperation: When a young man carrying a "woman" on the pillion seat of his motorbike was stopped for speeding by traffic police, the officers were astonished to discover that the "woman" was actually three sheep tied together. The man had simply slid a dress and a headscarf over the animals before binding them to himself and attempting to make his getaway.

In another incident, a herdsman discovered that one of his cows was missing. By coincidence, his neighbor had bought a new heifer that very day, although it was a different hue from the one that had disappeared. Later the police discovered that it was the same cow: The neighbor had simply used domestic paint to change its color from brown to black.

Settlement life beckons

Away from security concerns, Ajey has just spent 1,000 yuan on a new tent for the summer grazing season. It's traditionally Kazak in style, round and with a spire-shaped top, but this is likely to be the only year he will have an opportunity to use it. In September, he will move into a new settlement where the houses have been built especially for the herdsmen. "I will ask the others to graze my sheep for me and I'll stay at the settlement to take care of their sheep."

Ajey's new home - equipped with electricity, running water and a sheep shed alongside each house - may be a far cry from the nomadic world of his ancestors, but he remains a herder at heart: "I still believe animals that run wild on the grassland taste much better, but as long as my sheep are close by, I'm happy."

Contact the writer at cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn