News on Land

On March 20, 2017, a group of individuals from a broad range of institutions and organizations that focus on improving land governance around the world hereby commit to promote and bolster data-sharing efforts within the land sector, with the hope that such action will catalyze positive changes in the area of land governance and lead to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These individuals agreed on the following declaration:

Cross River set up one of the world’s protected forest reserve, raised a high standard for conservation, but Governor Ben Ayade still draws environmentalists’ ire for his stance on converting part of the area under the United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation  (UN-REDD) scheme for a 260-kilometre Superhighway project.

After three years of working with local governments and indigenous communities, the Provincial Council of Pastaza established the Pastaza Ecological Area of Sustainable Development in the center of the Ecuadorian Amazon region. The area covers more than 2.5 million hectares (about 6.2 million acres) and occupies about 90 percent of the area of ​​the province of the same name.

Pastoralism is the main production system practised by communities who live in range lands and dry lands which are usually arid or semi-arid. But pastoral communities are facing increasing pressure on their land.

Land reform has been much talked about lately, but not everyone understands what it really means. The term is interesting because it is related to what is really needed to be revised in our existing agrarian field.

When talking about agrarian reform, it is not only about land aspects but also has a wider scope, such as water, forestry and other natural resources. Some experts often refer to it as land reform instead of agrarian reform, and this could limit its meaning to be just about land.

Thailand is aiming to increase its domestic palm oil production by up to 50 per cent over the next nine years while at the same time trying to reclaim encroached peat forest from smallholders.

“Look, the peat here is so deep” 61-year-old Preecha Chimtong, a smallholder farmer growing oil palm on his 49-rai (about 20-acre) farm in southern Thailand’s Chumphon province.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Only 30% of the world’s population has a legally registered title to their land.

• As discussed at the Land and Poverty Conference 2017, secure land rights are important for reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity at the country, community, and family levels.

• The World Bank supports countries to secure land rights for their populations, especially women, Indigenous Peoples, and other vulnerable groups.

Nimba County – Mariame Kamara had travelled from across the border in Djeke to Saclepea upon hearing that Liberian opposition Liberty Party was holding a political gathering in that town.

Her hope was dashed as nothing was mentioned concerning the reason she travelled to this place. She could not even speak to politicians she had hoped to meet.

The event was all about naming Harrison Karnwea as vice running mate to Cllr. Charles Brumskine. It was not about the Nimba land dispute.

The taro leaf prevents seepage and holds water for more days.

Somewhere in a mountain village in the Himalayas, a woman folds a taro leaf into a cone, fills it with soil, and sows a seed. She waters her little cone with waste water from the kitchen, creating an enabling environment for the seed to germinate in, says a woman researcher of an international institute.

Since the inception of World Water Day 24 years ago to advocate for the sustainable management of water resources, several stakeholders have come together across the world each year to increase the awareness among people about the importance, need and conservation of water.

The focus this year, 2017 is waste water.

NYASHANA, Tanzania (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As Tanzanian widow Ruth Zacharia raised her right arm to protect her skull from a volley of machete blows, her three attackers sliced through her hand.

She fell to the floor; one leg slid into the kitchen fire.

"They said: 'We have been sent by our mother because you killed our father so that you could buy that land'," the 63-year-old recalled, fidgeting with her stiff, scarred right hand.