Marine pollution and overfishing induced the biodiversity loss and ecological degradation of the Beibu Gulf ecosystem in Guangxi,SE China.In an effort to restore the ecosystem and fishery resources,artificial reefs we...Marine pollution and overfishing induced the biodiversity loss and ecological degradation of the Beibu Gulf ecosystem in Guangxi,SE China.In an effort to restore the ecosystem and fishery resources,artificial reefs were deployed in the Beibu Gulf as the marine ranching area and their ecological performance need to be investigated.We constructed Ecopath ecological trophic models for the marine ranching area and a nearby control area to compare their ecosystem throughput and food web structure difference,and to calculate the ecological carrying capacity of various functional groups.Results indicate that the total system throughput of the marine ranching area was significantly higher than the control area,and the majority of system throughput occurred at trophic levelsⅠandⅡin both ecosystems.The system connectance indices for the marine ranching and control areas were 0.27 and 0.32,and the omnivory indices were 0.16 and 0.19,indicating simple food web structures;both areas are in a developmental stage with TPP/TR ratios of 2.69 and 9.36,respectively.Compared to the control area,marine ranching area exhibited a higher system maturity,and the ecological carrying capacity of“large and medium-sized demersal fish”and“other bivalves”functional groups in the marine ranching area increased by 43.83%and 233.62%,respectively,allowing for more high-trophic-level predators and large benthic animals.This study provided a reference for the formulation of fishery management policies in the Beibu Gulf,to maintain ecosystem stability and biodiversity.展开更多
Oyster farming provides substantial ecological and economic benefits but is often constrained by the challenges of selecting suitable sites in dynamic coastal environments.This study presents a tailored oyster suitabi...Oyster farming provides substantial ecological and economic benefits but is often constrained by the challenges of selecting suitable sites in dynamic coastal environments.This study presents a tailored oyster suitability index(OSI)for the Zhujiang(Pearl)River Estuary(PRE),developed using Landsat satellite imagery and in situ observations collected from 2013 to 2023.Key environmental parameters,including sea surface temperature(SST),salinity,turbidity,and chlorophyll-a(Chl-a)concentration,were integrated for OSI retrieval.Optimal algorithms for each parameter were identified through evaluation using field measurements,yielding high accuracy,as evidenced by strong determination coefficients(R^(2))and low root mean square error(RMSE):R^(2)=0.98,RMSE=0.74℃for SST;R^(2)=0.94,RMSE=0.50 for salinity;R^(2)=0.95,RMSE=1.21 mg/m^(3)for Chl-a;R^(2)=0.91,RMSE=1.48 NTU for turbidity.The OSI revealed pronounced seasonal and spatial variability,with the highest suitability observed during winter and the lowest during summer.Validation results demonstrated strong alignment between OSI predictions and existing oyster farming zones.These findings underscore the value of remote sensing for scalable,near-real-time aquaculture site assessments.The OSI framework provides a robust decision-support tool for optimizing oyster cultivation,promoting sustainable aquaculture development in dynamic estuarine systems such as the PRE and beyond.展开更多
[Objective] The aim was to explore the management mode on optimal re-sources al ocation of family ranch in meadow steppe. [Method] Three double repre-sentative family ranches were selected in meadow steppe of Hulunber...[Objective] The aim was to explore the management mode on optimal re-sources al ocation of family ranch in meadow steppe. [Method] Three double repre-sentative family ranches were selected in meadow steppe of Hulunber Old Barag Banner, and the study was carried out with the baseline survey. Three family ranches were selected as the demonstrative households for the corporation study, while other three family ranches with the similar conditions were looked as the non-demonstrative households for the comparison. Demonstrative households of the fami-ly ranches reduced the stocking rate, optimized the flock structure and took a winter feeding and other means to explore the different management models on plant com-munity characteristic of family ranch. [Result] The seasonal dynamic of community characteristic in family ranches showed the single-peaks curves. The seasonal dy-namics of community coverage, height and biomass in the demonstrative households showed higher compared with the non-demonstrative households, and community density in the experiment households was lower than that of the control experiment households. Community coverage, height and biomass of degraded grassland in family ranch have a great improve after optimization of management. Community coverage, height , density and biomass were increasing in fencing plot, but decreas-ing in free grazing area. Enclosure improved grassland coverage, vegetation height, density and forage yield. Leymus chinensis played an important role in plant com-munity. The important values of Leymus chinensis, Stipa baicalensis, Cleistogenes squarrosa, and Carex duriuscula were high. Leymus chinensis important value in the demonstrative households of optimal management was higher than that in the non-demonstrative households, and Carex duriuscula important value of the non-demon-strative households was significantly higher than that of the demonstrative house-holds. The indexes of Margalef richnes,Shannon-Wiener diversity, Simpson diversity and Pielou uniformity showed that the demonstrative households were higher than the non-demonstrative households. [Conclusion] The research provides theoretical ref-erences for sustainable development of pastures dominated by family ranch.展开更多
The ecological suitability of marine resources and environmental conditions for marine ranching in Guangdong,South China was evaluated.Niche theory was used to establish an ecological suitability evaluation model for ...The ecological suitability of marine resources and environmental conditions for marine ranching in Guangdong,South China was evaluated.Niche theory was used to establish an ecological suitability evaluation model for marine ranching site selection,and suitability evaluation of marine ranching was conducted in.Results show that the ecological suitability index of marine ranching site selection was greater than 64.0 in 20 sites,including offshore Shantou Bay,offshore Zhanjiang Port,and Longdou Bay etc.,which are the priority areas for marine ranching.In other 13 sites,the ecological suitability index ranged between 8.0 and 32.0,including Houjiang Bay,Haimen Bay,and Jieshi Bay etc.,indicating the suitability for marine ranching.However,the ecological suitability index was 0 in Shantou Bay,Zhujiang(Pearl)River estuary,Huangmao Sea,Guanghai Bay,Zhanjiang Port,Qiongzhou Strait,and Anpu Port.These sites are thus unsuitable for marine ranching.This study provides a theoretical basis for site selection and planning of marine ranching in Guangdong Province.展开更多
This study aims to assess ecological effects of the construction of marine ranching in the eastern Guangdong waters. Variations in sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll a concentration (Chl-a), catch per unit eff...This study aims to assess ecological effects of the construction of marine ranching in the eastern Guangdong waters. Variations in sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll a concentration (Chl-a), catch per unit effort (CPUE), biodiversity, biomass and density of benthos were compared during the pre- (August in 2011) and post- (August in 2013) marine ranching. These were based on satellite remote sensing and survey data. Results showed that the ratio of Nitrogen (N): Phosphorus (P) was closed to 16, Chl-a increased from 7.5 - 12.3 mg·m-3 to 10.4 - 16.2 mg·m-3, and CPUE increased from 2.1 - 5.5 kg·h-1 to 5.8 - 14.5 kg·h-1. The species number of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and shellfish increased by 25, 3, 2 and 3 respectively. Shannon-Wiener biodiversity index of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and shellfish increased by 0.5, 0.4, 0.1 and 1.0 respectively. Both biomass and density of benthos increased also. The construction of marine ranching in the eastern Guangdong had restored the habitat to some extent, and played positive effects in the conservation and proliferation of fishery resources in local area.展开更多
As a new fishery mode of low-carbon economy, marine ranching has played an important role in promoting sustainable development of fishery and construction of ocean economic zone in China. Since the year of 2000, envir...As a new fishery mode of low-carbon economy, marine ranching has played an important role in promoting sustainable development of fishery and construction of ocean economic zone in China. Since the year of 2000, environment improvement, stock enhancement and mariculture development have been given very high degree of importance along the coast of Shandong Province of China. Studies and tests on artificial reefs and marine ranching, including effect investigation of artificial reefs set up in Jiaonan coastal areas in 1980s, hydrodynamic characteristics experiment of artificial reef, study on material and configuration of artificial reef models, algae transplantation and seaweed beds construction, stock enhancement and releasing etc., have been carried out in recent years. Furthermore, the Restoration Plan of Fishery Resources of Shandong Province has been implemented since the year of 2005, which greatly boosted the construction of artificial reefs and marine ranching along the coast of Shandong. By June of 2010, the total investment on the construction of artificial reefs and marine ranching is over $77 million USD. One hundred artificial reef districts, with total area about 33,350,000 m2 have been set up. The construction of marine ranching along the coast of Shandong Province has been in certain scale and the economic, social and ecological effects are obvious.展开更多
Attracting released hatchery-reared fish to designated areas during the growth process is vital to realize the objectives of sea ranching. Based on the bottom artificial reefs and surface kelp culture facilities in th...Attracting released hatchery-reared fish to designated areas during the growth process is vital to realize the objectives of sea ranching. Based on the bottom artificial reefs and surface kelp culture facilities in the Xiangshan Bay sea ranch, we proposed systematic techniques related to acoustic conditioning of the black seabream(Sparus macrocephalus). Experiments conducted in 12 m × 10 m × 1.6 m ponds on Xixuan Island showed that black seabream was positively sensitive to 500–600 Hz periodic signals. Conditioned responses were apparent after 8 d. Two to three days were required for recovery of the memory of a conditioned response after a 20-day interval. According to the practical application requirements in the open sea, unattended acoustic conditioning equipment was developed. The ranching equipment was used in 12 m × 12 m × 2.5 m cages, and the behavior of black seabream juveniles was successfully guided after 7 days. Of the 16000 released fish, 82.5% of them were conditioned with a flexible grading net. To avoid inducing a stress response, the juveniles were released into the sea ranch in situ from the net cage. The acoustic conditioning equipments were moved into the open sea and the aggregation phenomenon of the released fish was observed when the sound was played. After 6 months of investigation and based on Sr+ marking, only one acoustically conditioned fish was found outside the 3.5-km^2 sea ranch area, thereby reached the goal of guiding activity. The practical effect in the Xiangshan Bay sea ranch showed the validity of the acoustic conditioning system, which may contribute to improve the operation of the sea ranches in the East China Sea.展开更多
As a resource development model with both economic and ecological functions,the environmental friendliness of marine ranching products meets the environmental needs of consumers.However,the lack of technological innov...As a resource development model with both economic and ecological functions,the environmental friendliness of marine ranching products meets the environmental needs of consumers.However,the lack of technological innovation ability limits the development of marine ranching.Therefore,this research builds a marine ranching collaborative innovation system with multi-agent participation.Evolutionary game theory is used to analyze strategic choices of all parties and the conditions of system equilibrium,and numerical simulation is used to analyze the effect of relevant factors.This paper integrates the benefits from the improvement of environmental friendliness into the payoff matrix,and explains the significance of collaborative innovation to the development of marine ranching from the perspective of ecological environment.The results showed:the participation willingness of marine ranching enterprises is positively related to open innovation subject,while the participation willingness of the other two parties is negatively related to the government;The incentive effect of collaboration is negatively correlated with the government’s will,positively correlated with the other two parties;The incentive effect of government subsidies positively affects the willingness of the three parties to participate.Finally,suggestions are provided for each participant to maintain the strategic choice of marine ranching collaborative innovation system.展开更多
The ten provinces of Zambia were surveyed to determine number and size of game ranches situated in these areas up to the end of 2012/early 2013. Three classes of game ranches were developed as;1) ≥500 hectares as gam...The ten provinces of Zambia were surveyed to determine number and size of game ranches situated in these areas up to the end of 2012/early 2013. Three classes of game ranches were developed as;1) ≥500 hectares as game ranch proper, 2) ≥50 - <500 hectares as game farm, and 3) <50 hectares as ornamental. A total of 200 game ranches keeping large mammals from the size of common duiker to eland were recorded with a growth rate of 6 per year for the period 1980-2012. The largest number was ornamental 98 (49%);large game ranches were 75 (38%) and the least was game farms 27 (14%). Thirty seven species of large mammals were recorded, of which, 15 were the most abundant with impala topping the list with 21,000 individuals (34%). It was found that of the ten provinces, Luapula, Western and Northern Provinces despite being largely rural with low population densities except for Luapula did not have any game ranch. The province with the largest number was Lusaka 71(36%), Southern 59 (30%), Central 31(16%), Copperbelt 19 (10%), Eastern and Northwestern 9 (4.5% each) and Muchinga was the least with 2 (1%). The rapid increase in the number of ornamental category is mainly attributed to the rise in the development of tourist accommodation facilities and high cost residential properties. This growth provides an opportunity to convert to game ranching schemes abandoned farmlands which are not currently useful to agriculture due to loss of fertility and other forms of land degradation. Similarly, parcels of land with natural ecological limitations should also be considered for such schemes. Rehabilitation of degraded land through ranching could also enhance carbon sequestration, a factor critical in minimizing carbon emissions and other green house gases.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2022YFD2401301)the Primary Research and Development Plan of Guangxi Province(No.GuiKe AB21220064)+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.42106102,42306151)the Shandong Postdoctoral Science Foundation(No.SDCXZG202301009)。
文摘Marine pollution and overfishing induced the biodiversity loss and ecological degradation of the Beibu Gulf ecosystem in Guangxi,SE China.In an effort to restore the ecosystem and fishery resources,artificial reefs were deployed in the Beibu Gulf as the marine ranching area and their ecological performance need to be investigated.We constructed Ecopath ecological trophic models for the marine ranching area and a nearby control area to compare their ecosystem throughput and food web structure difference,and to calculate the ecological carrying capacity of various functional groups.Results indicate that the total system throughput of the marine ranching area was significantly higher than the control area,and the majority of system throughput occurred at trophic levelsⅠandⅡin both ecosystems.The system connectance indices for the marine ranching and control areas were 0.27 and 0.32,and the omnivory indices were 0.16 and 0.19,indicating simple food web structures;both areas are in a developmental stage with TPP/TR ratios of 2.69 and 9.36,respectively.Compared to the control area,marine ranching area exhibited a higher system maturity,and the ecological carrying capacity of“large and medium-sized demersal fish”and“other bivalves”functional groups in the marine ranching area increased by 43.83%and 233.62%,respectively,allowing for more high-trophic-level predators and large benthic animals.This study provided a reference for the formulation of fishery management policies in the Beibu Gulf,to maintain ecosystem stability and biodiversity.
基金The Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory(Zhuhai)under contract No.SML2021SP308the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 42176173 and 42476268+1 种基金the Innovation Group Project of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory(Zhuhai)under contract No.311020004Guangdong Geographical Science Data Center under contract No.2021B1212100003.
文摘Oyster farming provides substantial ecological and economic benefits but is often constrained by the challenges of selecting suitable sites in dynamic coastal environments.This study presents a tailored oyster suitability index(OSI)for the Zhujiang(Pearl)River Estuary(PRE),developed using Landsat satellite imagery and in situ observations collected from 2013 to 2023.Key environmental parameters,including sea surface temperature(SST),salinity,turbidity,and chlorophyll-a(Chl-a)concentration,were integrated for OSI retrieval.Optimal algorithms for each parameter were identified through evaluation using field measurements,yielding high accuracy,as evidenced by strong determination coefficients(R^(2))and low root mean square error(RMSE):R^(2)=0.98,RMSE=0.74℃for SST;R^(2)=0.94,RMSE=0.50 for salinity;R^(2)=0.95,RMSE=1.21 mg/m^(3)for Chl-a;R^(2)=0.91,RMSE=1.48 NTU for turbidity.The OSI revealed pronounced seasonal and spatial variability,with the highest suitability observed during winter and the lowest during summer.Validation results demonstrated strong alignment between OSI predictions and existing oyster farming zones.These findings underscore the value of remote sensing for scalable,near-real-time aquaculture site assessments.The OSI framework provides a robust decision-support tool for optimizing oyster cultivation,promoting sustainable aquaculture development in dynamic estuarine systems such as the PRE and beyond.
基金Supported by Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest(201003019,201003061,201303060)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41201199)+1 种基金International Science and Technology Cooperation Project(2012DFA31290)Modern Agricultural Technology System of Special Funding~~
文摘[Objective] The aim was to explore the management mode on optimal re-sources al ocation of family ranch in meadow steppe. [Method] Three double repre-sentative family ranches were selected in meadow steppe of Hulunber Old Barag Banner, and the study was carried out with the baseline survey. Three family ranches were selected as the demonstrative households for the corporation study, while other three family ranches with the similar conditions were looked as the non-demonstrative households for the comparison. Demonstrative households of the fami-ly ranches reduced the stocking rate, optimized the flock structure and took a winter feeding and other means to explore the different management models on plant com-munity characteristic of family ranch. [Result] The seasonal dynamic of community characteristic in family ranches showed the single-peaks curves. The seasonal dy-namics of community coverage, height and biomass in the demonstrative households showed higher compared with the non-demonstrative households, and community density in the experiment households was lower than that of the control experiment households. Community coverage, height and biomass of degraded grassland in family ranch have a great improve after optimization of management. Community coverage, height , density and biomass were increasing in fencing plot, but decreas-ing in free grazing area. Enclosure improved grassland coverage, vegetation height, density and forage yield. Leymus chinensis played an important role in plant com-munity. The important values of Leymus chinensis, Stipa baicalensis, Cleistogenes squarrosa, and Carex duriuscula were high. Leymus chinensis important value in the demonstrative households of optimal management was higher than that in the non-demonstrative households, and Carex duriuscula important value of the non-demon-strative households was significantly higher than that of the demonstrative house-holds. The indexes of Margalef richnes,Shannon-Wiener diversity, Simpson diversity and Pielou uniformity showed that the demonstrative households were higher than the non-demonstrative households. [Conclusion] The research provides theoretical ref-erences for sustainable development of pastures dominated by family ranch.
基金Supported by the Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory(Guangzhou)(No.GML2019ZD0402)。
文摘The ecological suitability of marine resources and environmental conditions for marine ranching in Guangdong,South China was evaluated.Niche theory was used to establish an ecological suitability evaluation model for marine ranching site selection,and suitability evaluation of marine ranching was conducted in.Results show that the ecological suitability index of marine ranching site selection was greater than 64.0 in 20 sites,including offshore Shantou Bay,offshore Zhanjiang Port,and Longdou Bay etc.,which are the priority areas for marine ranching.In other 13 sites,the ecological suitability index ranged between 8.0 and 32.0,including Houjiang Bay,Haimen Bay,and Jieshi Bay etc.,indicating the suitability for marine ranching.However,the ecological suitability index was 0 in Shantou Bay,Zhujiang(Pearl)River estuary,Huangmao Sea,Guanghai Bay,Zhanjiang Port,Qiongzhou Strait,and Anpu Port.These sites are thus unsuitable for marine ranching.This study provides a theoretical basis for site selection and planning of marine ranching in Guangdong Province.
文摘This study aims to assess ecological effects of the construction of marine ranching in the eastern Guangdong waters. Variations in sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll a concentration (Chl-a), catch per unit effort (CPUE), biodiversity, biomass and density of benthos were compared during the pre- (August in 2011) and post- (August in 2013) marine ranching. These were based on satellite remote sensing and survey data. Results showed that the ratio of Nitrogen (N): Phosphorus (P) was closed to 16, Chl-a increased from 7.5 - 12.3 mg·m-3 to 10.4 - 16.2 mg·m-3, and CPUE increased from 2.1 - 5.5 kg·h-1 to 5.8 - 14.5 kg·h-1. The species number of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and shellfish increased by 25, 3, 2 and 3 respectively. Shannon-Wiener biodiversity index of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and shellfish increased by 0.5, 0.4, 0.1 and 1.0 respectively. Both biomass and density of benthos increased also. The construction of marine ranching in the eastern Guangdong had restored the habitat to some extent, and played positive effects in the conservation and proliferation of fishery resources in local area.
文摘As a new fishery mode of low-carbon economy, marine ranching has played an important role in promoting sustainable development of fishery and construction of ocean economic zone in China. Since the year of 2000, environment improvement, stock enhancement and mariculture development have been given very high degree of importance along the coast of Shandong Province of China. Studies and tests on artificial reefs and marine ranching, including effect investigation of artificial reefs set up in Jiaonan coastal areas in 1980s, hydrodynamic characteristics experiment of artificial reef, study on material and configuration of artificial reef models, algae transplantation and seaweed beds construction, stock enhancement and releasing etc., have been carried out in recent years. Furthermore, the Restoration Plan of Fishery Resources of Shandong Province has been implemented since the year of 2005, which greatly boosted the construction of artificial reefs and marine ranching along the coast of Shandong. By June of 2010, the total investment on the construction of artificial reefs and marine ranching is over $77 million USD. One hundred artificial reef districts, with total area about 33,350,000 m2 have been set up. The construction of marine ranching along the coast of Shandong Province has been in certain scale and the economic, social and ecological effects are obvious.
基金financially supported by the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (No. 201303047)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51309150)
文摘Attracting released hatchery-reared fish to designated areas during the growth process is vital to realize the objectives of sea ranching. Based on the bottom artificial reefs and surface kelp culture facilities in the Xiangshan Bay sea ranch, we proposed systematic techniques related to acoustic conditioning of the black seabream(Sparus macrocephalus). Experiments conducted in 12 m × 10 m × 1.6 m ponds on Xixuan Island showed that black seabream was positively sensitive to 500–600 Hz periodic signals. Conditioned responses were apparent after 8 d. Two to three days were required for recovery of the memory of a conditioned response after a 20-day interval. According to the practical application requirements in the open sea, unattended acoustic conditioning equipment was developed. The ranching equipment was used in 12 m × 12 m × 2.5 m cages, and the behavior of black seabream juveniles was successfully guided after 7 days. Of the 16000 released fish, 82.5% of them were conditioned with a flexible grading net. To avoid inducing a stress response, the juveniles were released into the sea ranch in situ from the net cage. The acoustic conditioning equipments were moved into the open sea and the aggregation phenomenon of the released fish was observed when the sound was played. After 6 months of investigation and based on Sr+ marking, only one acoustically conditioned fish was found outside the 3.5-km^2 sea ranch area, thereby reached the goal of guiding activity. The practical effect in the Xiangshan Bay sea ranch showed the validity of the acoustic conditioning system, which may contribute to improve the operation of the sea ranches in the East China Sea.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.71901199 and 72273135)the Frontier Science Research Support Program,Management College,OUC(No.MCQYZD2302)+3 种基金the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project(No.2019M660170)the Postdoctoral Innovation Project of Shandong Province(No.201902019)the Special Program for Rural Revitalization Research of OUC(No.ZX2022002)the‘Youth Innovation Team Program’Team in Colleges and Universities of Shandong Province(No.2022RW011).
文摘As a resource development model with both economic and ecological functions,the environmental friendliness of marine ranching products meets the environmental needs of consumers.However,the lack of technological innovation ability limits the development of marine ranching.Therefore,this research builds a marine ranching collaborative innovation system with multi-agent participation.Evolutionary game theory is used to analyze strategic choices of all parties and the conditions of system equilibrium,and numerical simulation is used to analyze the effect of relevant factors.This paper integrates the benefits from the improvement of environmental friendliness into the payoff matrix,and explains the significance of collaborative innovation to the development of marine ranching from the perspective of ecological environment.The results showed:the participation willingness of marine ranching enterprises is positively related to open innovation subject,while the participation willingness of the other two parties is negatively related to the government;The incentive effect of collaboration is negatively correlated with the government’s will,positively correlated with the other two parties;The incentive effect of government subsidies positively affects the willingness of the three parties to participate.Finally,suggestions are provided for each participant to maintain the strategic choice of marine ranching collaborative innovation system.
文摘The ten provinces of Zambia were surveyed to determine number and size of game ranches situated in these areas up to the end of 2012/early 2013. Three classes of game ranches were developed as;1) ≥500 hectares as game ranch proper, 2) ≥50 - <500 hectares as game farm, and 3) <50 hectares as ornamental. A total of 200 game ranches keeping large mammals from the size of common duiker to eland were recorded with a growth rate of 6 per year for the period 1980-2012. The largest number was ornamental 98 (49%);large game ranches were 75 (38%) and the least was game farms 27 (14%). Thirty seven species of large mammals were recorded, of which, 15 were the most abundant with impala topping the list with 21,000 individuals (34%). It was found that of the ten provinces, Luapula, Western and Northern Provinces despite being largely rural with low population densities except for Luapula did not have any game ranch. The province with the largest number was Lusaka 71(36%), Southern 59 (30%), Central 31(16%), Copperbelt 19 (10%), Eastern and Northwestern 9 (4.5% each) and Muchinga was the least with 2 (1%). The rapid increase in the number of ornamental category is mainly attributed to the rise in the development of tourist accommodation facilities and high cost residential properties. This growth provides an opportunity to convert to game ranching schemes abandoned farmlands which are not currently useful to agriculture due to loss of fertility and other forms of land degradation. Similarly, parcels of land with natural ecological limitations should also be considered for such schemes. Rehabilitation of degraded land through ranching could also enhance carbon sequestration, a factor critical in minimizing carbon emissions and other green house gases.
