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.
Highlights
Urbanization is occurring at an unprecedented pace around the world, especially in developing countries
These solutions include (1) controlling the sealing intensity by setting a long-term plan for converting arable land to land used for construction, such as the “General Land Use Plan”, which went into effect in 1999 [4]; (2) zoning highly productive arable land for special and stringent protection, such as the “Basic Arable Land Protection Regulation” promulgated in 1994 and 1998 [5],where prime arable land requires national approval to be used for non-arable purposes; and (3) supplementing arable land with land management, including land exploitation, consolidation or rehabilitation, such as the “Arable Land Balance Programs” that have been in place since the late 1990s [3].Among these solutions, the arable land supplementation project has been viewed as a direct and crucial attempt by the Chinese government to preserve arable land
As urbanization intensified in the Ningbo region during the past decade, a large amount of farmland was lost to urban sprawl; similar transitions are taking place nationwide [16]
Summary
Urbanization is occurring at an unprecedented pace around the world, especially in developing countries. The encroachment of arable land by built-up land sprawl has placed a tremendous pressure on already limited arable land resources and food security in China. This is true in the southeastern provinces, where land is relatively fertile and the multiple cropping index is high [1]. It requires local governments to reclaim a certain amount of land (mainly rehabilitating damaged land and reusing deserted land) to offset their loss through land development
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