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Preserving British Columbia's Agricultural Lands

British Columbia, like the rest of Canada, has vast land area with overall low population density. Although abundant, only around five percent of the land in the province is suitable for agriculture. Fertile soils can take thousands of years to develop. Land suited to agriculture is often the most desirable for other human uses as well. Recognizing that BC's agricultural land was a precious limited commodity that would come under increasing pressure for development, the provincial government established the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), in the mid 1970s.

The approximately 4.7 million hectares of the ALR are governed by the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC), whose members are appointed by the Province to represent the needs of their area in one of six geographic regional panels.

Land use decisions are not always based on the productivity of the land. About eighty percent of BC residents live in or adjacent to agricultural land. Applications for exemptions are increasing, especially from local governments trying to meet the needs of residential and commercial development. The provincial government's recent decentralization of the ALC and its interest in transferring some of the decision-making responsibility to local governments is cause for concern.

Agriculture is a significant part of British Columbia's economy and is especially important to the stability of rural areas. BC agriculture produces about half of the food consumed in the province. Protecting the Agricultural Land Reserve is essential to meet the future needs of a growing population.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:16 PM on November 21, 2005