Conceptual Outline
The Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) is a provincial land use zone that designates areas in BC that have agricultural capability. Established by the province in 1973, the ALR not only ensures a supply of agricultural farmland for the future, it provides a number of economic and environmental benefits.
Among the benefits of the ALR listed in a 2005 report published by Smart Growth BC , the ALR:
- has helped the province to support a thriving agricultural and food processing industry.
- has an effect on our food supply. Food production in BC provides over 50% of our food supply in the province.
- acts as a boundary to urban expansion, minimizes sprawl and contributes to the emergence of compact communities.
- is essentially "open space" and forms a part of the green infrastructure (2005).
Despite the benefits of the ALR, its status is under threat as agricultural land is favoured for urban development. Since 1974 6,159 ha of the ALR have been excuded for development at the request of local governments and private entities (Metro Vancouver 2008).
A July 2008 growth strategy report published by Metro Vancouver cites several challenges to the to Agricultural Land use in the region:
- Conventional farming practices are often incompatible with urban land use.
- Parcels that are fragmented and isolated by communications and transportation infrastructure make the cost of agriculture very high.
- The cost and safety considerations of transporting equipment and supplies on busy urban roadways are problematic.
- juristictional rules that favour urban land use can negatively impact farming operations in the same areas.
- urban land use affects drainage patterns, resulting in flooding and a higher amount of runoff (Metro Vancouver 2008).
In a study related to the economic impacts of urbanization on farmland in Oregon, USA, author Marin describes the concept of "impermanance syndrome" involving the vacancy of land and a lowered interest in farming due to the expectations and uncertainties created by the rural/urban interface (Marin 2007).
Athough the ALR is administered at a Provincial Level, Smart Growth BC maintains that local municipal governments typically see the ALR as a obstacle to economic development rather than a limited resource (Smart Growth BC 2005).
The chart above, generated from an ALR coverage data set and its intersection with the coverage areas of local municipalities in Metro Vancouver, display the varying distribution of ALR lands in each municipality. This chart, as does the map showing the same data cartographically is a poor metric with which to gauge of the kinds of relationships each municipality has with ALR lands within its boundaries with respect to urban development.