Linking Agricultural Policies with Decision-Making: A Spatial Approach

Abstract

Land-use change has been an increasing concern in most of Europe. While stakeholder's strategies of coping with land-use change have been constrained mainly due to socioeconomic pressures, the natural landscape and fragile ecosystems are often harmed due to infrastructure and urbanization development. However, over the last 30 years, public regulations have become more explicit regarding environmental impacts at the regional level. The spatial assessment of ongoing rural and urban policies has led in the case of Portugal to concerns about the consequences of sustainable development in the context of existing legislation. A good example of this is the agricultural land loss that has occurred in Portugal over the last 30 years, in large part resulting from socio-economic pressures with which policy makers have not been able to handle. The Reserva Agrícola Nacional (RAN) -translated as the National Agricultural Reserveis an instrument for planning purposes that aims to identify and protect areas suitable for agricultural activities due do their favorable morphological, climatic and social characteristics. The RAN has changed its legal status more than four times in the last 20 years. These changes have mainly been influenced by the policies of regional development for the region. However, the ability to defend the interests of agricultural and rural communities in fragile ecosystems has been largely compromised as a result of socio-economic interactions brought about by the pressures of economic growth. The spatio-temporal analysis of current land loss and geo-statistical investigation are suitable tools to understand the dynamics of change. The spatial properties of data inventories from the RAN and the CORINE Land Cover project enables the assessment of the changes within the policy context of the Algarve. An integrated assessment of agricultural land loss compared with urban growth parameters and population density is developed to generate a rich laboratory of spatio-temporal analysis of the carrying capacity of the regional/rural environment. By undertaking a spatial analysis of the appropriation of agricultural land for urban use with overlay of population and urban data, a focus on the consequences of certain regulations on the dynamics of land-use change becomes possible. This paper aims: to further expand on the currently existing decrees which provide support to sustainable development in the region; to provide a qualitative assessment of future roles based on ethical values and economic efficiency; and to offer a feasible framework for policy makers regarding the trends of urban/agricultural dichotomy.

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