Provincial Greenbelt legislation is a good start towards preserving agricultural lands, but if Ontario’s government is truly interested in protecting land which is becoming more and more scarce, it has to start spending some money, says a founder of the Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society (PALS).

The Greenbelt policy, which protects 1.8 million acres of prime farmland throughout the Greater Golden Horseshoe as well as the Niagara Escarpment and the Oak Ridges Moraine from the bulldozers of developers, celebrated its third anniversary in February. Now, the provincial government is also looking at expanding protection into other areas such as Niagara Falls, Guelph and Barrie, connecting them to the already established Greenbelt at the municipalities’ request.

But the policy is only as strong as the government in power, said Gracia Janes, the secretary-treasurer for PALS. While the current government has made a commitment to protecting these precious farmlands, who’s to say if future governments will as well.

“You can’t just have a land reserve, it’s not going to last,” said Janes, a past-president of the society. “If you really want it forever, you have to pay for it.”

The society figures there is between 24,000-30,000 acres of farmland left in Niagara, which features some of the best land in the country for growing grapes and tender fruit. That’s roughly one-third of the land once farmed in the region at the industry’s peak, said Janes.

She said a third has been lost to development while the other third is unprotected and under pressure.

The society has seen provincial policy meant to protect farmland evaporate before. In the mid-1990s the province worked with PALS to create restrictive covenants for farmlands, proposing to pay farmers thousands of dollars for every acre of land they chose for easements. The farmers would still own the land, but it couldn’t be developed even if it was sold.

The NDP government of the day set aside $20 million for the program and cheques were cut for seven farmers in Niagara, including two on urban boundaries. But an election was called, the government fell and the entire proposal died on the vine.

Janes said the government needs to include some sort of restrictive covenant policy to strengthen Greenbelt and further protect farmland from development.

Governments and planners also need to start thinking about other modes of transportation, like more efficient rail services, to avoid building highways, like the proposed mid-peninsula corridor, on precious farmland.

“The mid-pen would be disastrous,” said Val O’Donnell, PALS president, adding the mining of aggregates like gravel on farmland also has to stop.

“(Greenbelt legislation) is not too late, but it’s a critical time. It does give us a certain amount of protection, but certain things (like highways and mining) seem like they are still moving forward.”

While there’s not much farmland left in Niagara Falls, only about 8,000 acres, Janes said she’d like to see what is left protected under Greenbelt. However, she doubts there is a political will for it. With Greenbelt landlocking other municipalities in the region, Greenbelt has pushed development to the southern portions of Niagara.

“(Greenbelt) is the last thing (the municipality) want to do,” she said. “They like development.”

“But it’s not just farmland Greenbelt protects and there are definitely some linkages to forested areas in Niagara Falls that need to be made for protection,” said Jane Hanlon of St. Catharines Climate Action Now.

“We have to have those trees,” said Hanlon. “Our lives depend on it.”