ULAN BATOR, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia's pasture was overloaded with livestock animals with 41.2 percent more than its carrying capacity, the country's parliament speaker Gombojav Zandanshatar said Tuesday.

Zandanshatar made the remarks during the opening ceremony of a national conference under the theme of "Creating legal environments for pasture usage and protection."

"Now, Mongolia has around 66.5 million of livestock animals which exceeded the carrying capacity of pastureland in the country by 41.2 percent," Zandanshatar said.

As of the end of 2018, agriculture land accounted for 73.8 percent of the country's total land area, according to the parliament speaker.

"Around 90 percent of the agriculture land in the country has been used for pastoral pursuits. Nearly 57 percent of the pastureland has been degraded in certain extent by a combination of climate change and mining," he said, noting that relevant agencies of the country need pay special attention to prevent further pasture degradation.

A total of 850 people, including members of the Mongolian parliament and government as well as officials and herders from all 21 provinces of the country attended the conference to explore ways to protect pasture, rehabilitate degraded pastures and adjust the number of animals to the existing pasture carrying capacity.