News on Land

In the run up to COP28, the Land Portal Foundation has published a completely revised and updated Indigenous and Communities Land Rights thematic portfolio. While world leaders attending COP28 have recognized the important role of indigenous communities in the fight against climate change, most governments have failed to live up to their commitments.

Control of Africa’s forests must not be sold to carbon offset companies (commentary)

A country with major recent troubles, Iraq also has a history of land laws that goes back thousands of years, starting from the Babylonian period in 1810 BC. The country profile examines land issues in Iraq in the context of its long history, post-war development goals, land conflicts, legal system, population change, and more.   

We are celebrating the Land Portal's 80th country profile -- Iraq -- and the 79 that stand behind it. This rich collection represents seven years of work and underpins the Land Portal's commitment to making land information open and accessible. We publish profiles in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, and recently added Arabic to meet users' needs in the Arab region.   The 80 countries in our compendium amount to a story about the land that is home for 73% of the global population. Country profiles on the Land Portal are some of the best gateways to understanding land governance in a given country. Rigorously researched, written, and peer-reviewed, these comprehensive guides touch on history, politics, and culture, and are aimed at experts and casual readers alike.  As the Land Portal develops the State of Land Information Index (SOLIndex), these profiles will provide important context to understanding country scoring. They clarify what roles land plays in the economy, politics, culture, and the environment.    "If you want to understand the situation of land governance in a country, the Land Portal has the best resources anywhere. We dare you to not learn something new as you browse the collection!" -- Romy Sato, head of the Country Profiles initiative.

We are looking for a data curator to join Land Portal's team

TNI Angkat Udara (TNI AU) dalam hal ini Pangkalan Udara Muljono telah melakukan klaim sepihak terhadap ratusan rumah rumah di kawasan Simogunung sebagai Rumah Dinas milik TNI AU, klaim ini ditolak para warga yang selama ini telah puluhan tahun menempati rumah tersebut.

Much arable land in developing countries is inefficiently managed or lies fallow: Since this became the accepted, World Bank-endorsed narrative in 2008, it has shaped the agricultural policies of many developing countries. At the same time, it has opened the doors to private investors seeking to acquire land for the long term. A country that has relied heavily on this model is Lao PDR. The Southeast Asian country has managed to generate an economic boom, reducing poverty and creating a significant number of jobs in rural areas. A Lao researcher examined the data as part of his doctoral studies at CDE, University of Bern, – and the results are sobering.  

The Land Portal just released the completely updated Land and Conflicts portfolio, a comprehensive guide exploring the complex, multifaceted relationships between land use, rights, and conflicts across various contexts.  

On 29 September, Zimbabwe granted a UAE-based firm conservation rights over 7.5 million hectares of its forests – about 20% of the country’s landmass. Under the deal, touted to be worth $1.5 billion, Blue Carbon General Trading will run forest preservation projects that will generate carbon credits to be sold on the global market.

The Land and Development Expertise Center (LADEC) and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) are excited to announce their partnership for a new LAND-at-scale project in Burundi: "Justice pour Toutes et Tous dans la Gestion des Conflits Fonciers" (JTT-GCF) (in English: Justice for all in the management of land conflicts. Starting September 2023, the project will run for a period of three years, focusing on promotion equality and non-discrimination in the management of land conflicts.

Dhaka Declaration: Mainstreaming land rights in the narrative of climate change