In Brazil, indigenous and Afro-descendant communities face unprecedented threats to their hard-won territorial and constitutional rights.
Nicholas joined the Land Portal in September 2016 as a Research Analyst. Previously, he worked at the World Resources Institute (WRI), an environmental think tank in Washington D.C. At WRI, he assessed the land tenure security of indigenous and community lands for LandMark, a global platform of community lands. He also examined and wrote about expropriation laws and practices as well as environmental regulatory frameworks for WRI's The Access Initiative. In 2012-2013, Nicholas worked for the Law Reform Commission of Liberia in Monrovia and Oxfam India in New Delhi, where he conducted legal research related to land tenure, local governance, and other issues. He has a B.A.in Economics and Political Studies from Pitzer College and Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Currently, he is pursuing at PhD at the University of Groningen Faculty of Law. His dissertation will focus on whether national expropriation, compensation, and resettlement laws in developing countries are adopting international standards designed to secure tenure rights and ensure responsible land governance.
Who owns the world’s forests, and who decides on their governance? The answers to these questions are still deeply contested. To many Indigenous Peoples and local communities who have lived in and around forests for generations, the forests belong to them, under locally defined systems of customary tenure. In most countries, however, governments have claimed ownership of much of the forest estate through historical processes of expropriation, and those claims have been formalized in statutory laws.
NRMC is a technical and managerial advisory firm in the development sector that provides evidence-based solutions for sustainable, equitable and inclusive development.
Established in 2004, NRMC is engaged in creating impactful solutions that make a difference to the society. We achieve results at scale by catalyzing partnership with clients and communities. We believe in ethical business, nurturing talent to be courageous to push the limits of knowledge and discovering new ways of doing things.
The World Bank Group and UN-Habitat as co-custodians of the SDG Indicator 1.4.2, in collaboration with the Global Land Indicator Initiative (GLII) organized an international Expert Group Meeting (EGM) at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington D.C. from 25 -26 May 2017 in preparation for the reclassification process of the SDG Indicator 1.4.2.
The Abyei Administrative Area (AAA) is a contested zone located on the central border between South Sudan and Sudan. Its status has remained unresolved since South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011, and the governments failed to agree on the border division. A United Nations peacekeeping mission, the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), has since monitored the situation. It is entrusted with overseeing demilitarisation and maintaining security in the area.
BLOG | 19 .07. 2017 | LINDSAY BIGDA, RRI COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
In Brazil, indigenous and Afro-descendant communities face unprecedented threats to their hard-won territorial and constitutional rights.
The Land Journal is published six times a year for members of the Rural, Geomatics, Minerals & Waste Management, Environment, and Planning & Development professional groups.
The journal emphasises the crossovers in these practice areas and their global nature, with articles contributed by experts from all over the world.
Current and recent issues of Land Journal can be downloaded below. Earlier archived issues can be obtained from our library (e library@rics.org).
Until now, a comprehensive study of national-level expropriation, compensation, and resettlement procedures in 50 countries across has not been conducted. My PhD research project, facilitated by the University of Groningen Faculty of Law, aims to bridge this gap by providing a broad comparative analysis of nation legal frameworks in 50 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America to determine whether legal procedures in these countries adopt internationally recognized standards on expropriation, compensation, and resettlement.
From November 28 to December 23, 2016, Land Portal hosted a successful Land Debate on land valuation and fair compensation. The debate focused on the question of what is fair compensation for land in cases of land tenure changes (e.g. expropriations and voluntary land transfers), and what measures are sufficient to ensure the livelihoods of affected landholders are restored.
The Rethinking Expropriation Law initiative hosted a Conference on Compensation for Expropriation in Cape Town, South Africa on December 7-9, 2016. The final session of the Conference took place on December 9 and aimed at discussing the development of a protocol on fair compensation.
For the final session in Cape Town, scholars, judges, activists, and government officials from around the world sat together to provide input on what guidance and principles should be included in the protocol on fair compensation.