BEIJING, June 20 (Xinhua) -- A senior Tibet regional official said on Wednesday that the authorities had relocated a small number of farmers and herdsmen to protect the environment and improve their living conditions, but he denied there had been a forced resettlement.

    "Around 7,000 people who used to live in eastern Qamdo Prefecture at the source of the Yangtze River have moved to neighboring Ningychi Prefecture," said Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the southwest China autonomous region's government.

    "The conditions in Ningychi are good, and the relocated residents are living more comfortable lives than in the past," he said at a press conference.

    He said the relocations respected the will of the people and provided them with convenient living and working conditions.

    "No forced resettlement has been done," he said.

    In the core area of the Hol Xil Natural Reserve, where protected Tibetan antelopes and other species live, dozens of herding households still needed to move, but they were not quite willing to do so since the government started mobilizing them more than one year ago, he said.

    "We are still trying to persuade them to move, and they will only be relocated when they agree to," he said.

    The authorities were also relocating people who suffered from Kashin-Beck disease, also known as "big bone disease", a disabling illness of the bones and joints that leads to stunted growth and deformity of the joints. It is widely believed to be linked to local water sources and the natural environment.

    "We have resettled a considerable number of willing households to places with better conditions," said the chairman.

    "Some households are unwilling to move, and we will wait until they agree to do so."

    The disease is common in seven cities or prefectures in Tibet. More than 2,400 households need to move because of the disease, according to the regional health department.

    The regional government has resettled around 1,000 households affected by the disease with an investment of 47 million yuan (6.1million U.S. dollars).

    A housing project was also underway to provide new homes for herding and farming families.

    Last year, 290,000 such households moved to new homes in the pasture lands from poorly built older houses.

    The region still has 40,000 nomadic herding people and the government plans to build houses for them, but their livelihoods would not be affected, he said.