XINING - A pasturing province in Northwest China has earmarked 1.95 billion yuan ($309 million) for the restoration of degraded grasslands this year, local authorities said.

The bulk of the fund will be spent on subsidizing herders who have observed pastoral bans on degraded grasslands, said Zhang Huangyuan, head of the Qinghai Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

Expanding human settlements and excessive herding have degraded Qinghai's 3.6 million square kilometers of grasslands, threatening the local agricultural development and the fragile eco system in the headwater area of the Yangtze, Zhang said.

The provincial government has said it plans to cut and resettle cattle in the overgrazed area by 6 million in three years.