[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Ecological conservation

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), China’s Ministry of Finance has proposed to allocate 4.58 billion yuan ($685.91 million) to Inner Mongolia each year to designate over 68 million hectares of grasslands as ecological conservation areas, according to the Inner Mongolia Agriculture and Husbandry Bureau.

The new funding focuses on husbandry and the sustainable ecology of local grasslands. The regional government has established regulations and enforced rules concerning grazing, bringing the current vegetation coverage rate to 44 percent and reversing environmental degradation that was previously taking place.