Young Tibetan women produce woolen blankets in a workshop, which is part of the Tibetan Dike Animal Husbandry Cooperative in Qumarleb county of Yushu, Qinghai province. WANG ZHUANGFEI/CHINA DAILY

In Yushu, Northwest China's Qinghai province, ecological protection has entered policy planning, including on poverty reduction.

In recent times, protecting the environment and ensuring livelihood have become the focus of local authorities in this prefecture-level city.

In Qumarleb county of Yushu, for example, herdsmen have joined government-supported animal husbandry cooperatives, leaving behind traditional ways.

The landlocked county, at an altitude of 4,550 meters above sea level, is heavily dependent on animal husbandry, according to county chief Nyima Tashi.

The county has established 65 cooperatives that are believed to help integrate labor and natural resources, increase people's incomes, ease pressure on the grasslands and lower the risks from extreme weather.

Local herdsman Zhaxi Gongbao, 38, joined the Tibetan Dike Animal Husbandry Cooperative in Liyue, a remote town in Yushu, in 2013.

He has 60 yaks and 50 goats in the cooperative, and earns about 3,000 yuan ($450) a month from the cooperative's profit-sharing mechanism. Members take turns to look after the animals in the cooperative and get paid by the day.