Problems And Countermeasures Of Cultivated Land Protection In Taiyuan

Cultivated land resources are limited and non-renewable natural resources, which are the basisof the survival and development of human being. The protection of arable land resources is aninevitable choice for China’s scientific development, green development and sustainabledevelopment. They are also necessary for scientific development of a city.Taiyuan is an inland provincial capital city and resource-based city, existing180mu ofcultivated land. With accelerating city construction and increasing population, many worryingproblems have appeared in the process of utilization of cultivated land resources. They mainlydisplay in three aspects:(1) the quantity of cultivated land decreased year by year. The cultivatedland in Taiyuan reduced by33914hectares during1997to2005in all (mainly the ecological landand high quality cultivated land for construction surrounding the mining towns).(2) the illegal useof farmland for construction and illegal behavior including transferring collective land.(3)contaminated farmland. Cultivated land resources in Taiyuan are polluted by coal, powder layer,industrial wastewater, production and living waste, solid waste and heavy metal pollution. In2005,Agriculture and Environmental Protection Station of Taiyuan detected many soil observation points.The results showed that the area polluted by lead has reached56%. So far, the government ofTaiyuan has formulated and issued many regulations, such as Views on the Establishment of JointLiability Mechanism of Protecting Farmland, Opinions on Strengthening therequisition-compensation Balance Work of Cultivated by Taiyuan Government. However, the rulesand regulations are not perfect.To realize the effective utilization and scientific development, the route we must take is fromthe legal way. China’s current regulations, such as the Law of PRC Land Management, theProvisional Farmland Tax rules of People’s Republic of China and the Regulations about LandReclamation of People’s Republic of China, which are related to the protection of cultivated land,make a clear specification to prevent loss and pollution of land and to use them effectively.To perfect the laws related to the protection of cultivated land resources is necessary to realizethe sustainable utilization. The paper provides a positive reference for strengthening the law aboutthe protection of arable land resources of Taiyuan by consulting the regulations and rules all overthe country and choosing good experience all over the world. The author analyses the status and the problems and puts forward the following legal countermeasures to strengthen the protection ofarable land resources:(1) Pay attention to the publicity of the protection of arable land resources inmulti-level and multi-aspect way by combining one of city core values---“worship”, which finallywin support among people.(2) Complete the related system of Taiyuan, including the balancebetween occupation and compensation and separation of requisition and transference.(3) Strengthenthe enforcement of law. The government should fatherly play the role of legal constraint efficiency,carry out joint enforcement, strengthen the enforcement on the land examination and approval andpay more attention to the supervision of law enforcement. The government should also clarify theresponsibility and promote the work of the protection of cultivated land.(4) Highlight planning. Thegovernment should attach great importance to the planning of legislation and strengthen theenforcement. It’s better to control the expansion of construction land in urban and rural areas byplanning.(5) Strengthen judicial protection of cultivated land resources. With the rapiddevelopment of the industrialization of Taiyuan, the illegal occupation of land becomes a frequentphenomenon. Strengthen the administrative law enforcement, at the same time, introduce thejudicial protection system and promote illegal land case investigation by the public security and thecourt. And in the process of implementation, improve the working procedure, do a good job ofconvergence and ensure that illegal case investigation and execution.(6) Improve the legal system.Try to formulate and promulgate local regulations in time.