Assessment on the Impact of Arable Land Protection Policies in a Rapidly Developing Region

Abstract

Abstract:To investigate the effect of arable land protection policies in China, a practical framework that integrates geographic information systems (GIS), soil quality assessment and landscape metrics analysis was employed to track and analyze arable land transformations and landscape changes in response to rampant urbanization within the Ningbo region (China) from 2005 to 2013. The results showed that arable land loss and degradation have continued, despite the development of a comprehensive legal framework for arable land protection. The implementation of arable land protection policies is judged to be effective, but not entirely successful, because it guarantees the overall amount of arable land but does not consider soil quality and spatial distribution. In addition, there are distinct variations in arable land change dynamics between two temporal intervals. From 2005-2009, the transformation of arable land was diversified, with intensified conversion among arable land, built-up land, water and orchards. Moreover, many new arable land parcels were adjacent to built-up land, and are in danger of being occupied again through urban sprawl. By 2009-2013, most of the arable land was occupied by urban expansion, whereas a majority of newly increased arable land was reclaimed from coastal tideland. Although the newly increased arable land was contiguous and far from the urban area, it is of poor quality and has limited use. The permanent loss of high-quality arable land due to intensified urban sprawl may threaten sustainable development and food security on a larger scale.

Land Use Change in Coastal Cities during the Rapid Urbanization Period from 1990 to 2016: A Case Study in Ningbo City, China

“…Concurrently, construction land expansion has become one of the major land use change trajectories in Ningbo city, and has mainly been achieved through the conversion of agricultural land and forests. However, the implementation of farmland protection policies have proven to be effective in controlling the expansion of construction land and in protecting agricultural land from being occupied by non-agricultural use [46], so manifestations of land use change may be different in Ningbo city over time.…”

“…Additionally, we examined why water bodies first expanded during 1990-2000 and then shrunk during 2000-2016. The expansion was caused by two factors: (1) The construction or expansion of reservoirs when the Lianghui, Sizaopu, and Yangmeiling reservoirs were constructed, and the Siminghu and Meixi reservoirs were expanded; (2) the expansion of existing water bodies, such as rivers, lakes, and sea areas (mainly from agricultural land), which were mainly used for aquaculture [46]. In comparison, the shrinking of water bodies was mainly caused by sea reclamation, which was encouraged by central and local governments in China as a major source of supplementation of agricultural land and construction land in coastal cities [74].…”

“…The good news is that during 2005-2016, a large amount of construction land was reclaimed back to agricultural land concurrently with the occupation of agricultural land by construction land, and agricultural land experienced a net increase overall. However, the newly gained agricultural land plots from construction land reclamation were usually small in size and distributed discretely: They were at considerable risk of being reconverted to non-agricultural use or being abandoned [46,75]. As prime agricultural land can be strictly protected by agricultural land protection policies, the identification of reclaimed construction land as prime agricultural land is suggested as one of the key issues in spatial regulation when aiming to guarantee the agricultural use of reclaimed construction land.…”

“…Change from forest to agricultural land was identified as a major land use transition type, both during 1990-2005 and 2005-2016, and it mainly occurred in low-hilly regions with slopes ranging between 2 and 6 • and elevations ranging between 10 and 20 m. With forest degradation in low-hilly areas, agricultural land reclaimed from forest tended to move up to hilly areas with steeper slopes (6-15 • ) and higher elevations (30-40 m). However, the transition of agricultural land from plain regions with good land quality to hilly regions with poor land quality could decrease local land productivity and negatively affect food security [46]. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the protection and improvement of agricultural land quality.…”

Land Consolidation Suitability Ranking of Cadastral Municipalities: Information-Based Decision-Making Using Multi-Criteria Analyses of Official Registers’ Data

“…The process of the determination of the mentioned indicators is automatized [19,20] using spatial analyses and connected procedures or assessed by interested parties using collaborative geodesign [21]. Some of the results can also be used for the LC project's mass property valuation [22] or to measure LC participants' satisfaction [23] and consolidation effectiveness [24]. However, finding the optimal solution must include some cost-benefit considerations and fit-to-purpose approach [25].…”