Farmland protection in the Netherlands

Excerpt

The Netherlands is the most densely populated country in Europe. Some 14 million people live on 33,734 square kilometers (13,177 square miles) of land, an area roughly the size of Connecticut and Massachusetts combined. Yet Dutch agriculture ranks as one of the most productive in the European Economic Community.

For many commodities, Dutch farmers are able to feed their own people. Some agricultural products must be imported. On balance, however, Dutch farmers produce a surplus of farm products (3).

This ability to export agricultural products is astounding, given the country's population density—415 inhabitants per square kilometer (1,062 people per square mile) compared to 23 per square kilometer (59 per square mile) in the United States, excluding Alaska. And with this population density, the pressure to convert agricultural land is intense, as it has been for decades.

The Dutch have developed three ways to protect farmland. One is comprehensive physical planning. A second involves land reallotment programs. Third is reclamation of new land.

Framework for physical planning

The Dutch define physical planning as the guiding of physical development in an area to promote formation of an overall pattern best suited to the community (5). …