Nature, food, and water 251(5) String of pearls:anarrow linear vegetation-lined walkway with attached
small natural-vegetation patches as ‘‘rest stops” to enhance wildlife
movement.Major food areas for the future
Thevalues of agriculturein a urban region are striking. In the Greater
Barcelona Region it provides food products for today’s residents, as well as long-
termflexibility and stability for the region through periods of major change.
Urban agriculture benefits include the historical symbolism or heritage of farm-
land, the active roles of farm families, the educational dimensions of farms,
aesthetics and rural character of landscapes, enhanced game populations, impor-
tant wildlife species and biodiversity, and the ethics of protecting prime food-
producing areas in a world with growing hunger. Protecting the best soils
is a priority -- a nation stands on its soils. Three solutions were outlined:
(1) the large productive agricultural landscapes; (2) agriculture-nature parks; and
(3) concentrated greenhouses.
The large productive agricultural landscapes
Large agricultural landscapes are much better than the same area in
small pieces. Farm operations are more efficient, negative impacts from other
land uses and people are less, large open areas support key open-land wildlife
species, and long-term protection is easier and less expensive. The large agri-
cultural landscapes of the GBRegion -- vineyard area (Penedes), grain area (Calaf
Valley, including today’s fields-and-woodland around it), livestock and grain area
(Vic Valley including western portion to Prats de Llucanes), small-market and
family-food-garden areas (Tordera floodplain and Llobregat floodplain and delta),
and concentrated greenhouse areas (certain Maresma valley bottoms) -- provide
highly diverse products and income (Color Figure42)(Acebillo and Folch2000,
Forman 2004a). As markets and other factors change over time, the prime soils
and local farming cultures of large agricultural landscapes maintain the flexi-
bility and stability critical to the region.
Each major agricultural landscape has significant problems, but the basic via-
bility of the Vic agricultural land and the Lower Llobregat floodplain and delta
are now threatened. Spread of Vic and nearby towns, plus fragmentation of the
land into pieces, threatens the Vic Valley. Urbanization on the Lower Llobregat
floodplain would eliminate significant productive land, and probably accelerate
contraction and loss of the key water-related resources of the delta. Currently
the Penedes land is of exceptional economic importance, and the Llobregat
floodplain/delta is of combined major ecological and economic significance. In
such circumstances, every hectare counts.