生態足跡、永續發展與台灣農地保育

ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, AND PRESERVATION OF TAIWAN'S AGRICULTURE LAND

農業是國家的基本產業，扮演著糧食供給與社會安定的重要角色。台灣農業目前面臨產業間競用農業土地資源壓力，以及未來加入世界貿易組織（WTO）等重大衝擊，國內有限農業土地資源的永續利用面臨嚴重的挑戰。妥善地規劃有限的國土資源，落實農業土地資源的保育是當前重要的工作。本文首先利用生態足跡（ecological footprints）觀念與方法，估計台灣地區各類資源消費對於土地資源的需求，並對於生態足跡分析方式的缺失與限制加以探討。進而建立適合台灣農業部門的生態足跡計算方式，進行台灣地區農業土地資源供給與需求的估算，以探討歷來台灣地區農產品消費對於土地資源需求的變化。研究結果顯示，台灣地區農業生態足跡呈現逐年擴張的趨勢，由1981年的每人0.215公頃增加到1995年的每人0.333公頃。然而，台灣農地每年減少4000公頃。換言之，台灣糧食耕地需求與供給的比例逐漸擴大。此外，本文以不同農業政策為情境分析生態足跡的變遷，預測未來國內農業土地資源面臨可能的變動與衝擊，作為研擬農業土地資源保育與國家永續發展建議的基礎。

Agriculture plays significant roles of food provision within a nation. The competition of land resources among different land use activities and the prospective participation in WTO have resulted in pressure of farmland preservation in Taiwan. Resolving the issue of preserving agricultural land is the primary concern of rational land use planning in Taiwan. This paper applies the concept and method of ecological footprint to estimate the amount of land required for different resource consumption. The drawbacks and limitation of the analysis ecological footprint is discussed. Thereafter, a revised ecological footprint analysis for Taiwan's agriculture sector is developed to estimate the trend of the supply and demand of agricultural land. As a result, the ecological footprint agricultural land has increased from 0.215 in 1981 to 0.333 hectare per capita in 1995. However, approximately 4000 hectares of agricultural land have been converted for non-agricultural use per year. Scenarios of different agricultural policies are also proposed to discuss the likely effects the ecological footprint of Taiwan's agriculture.