News on Land

Dozens of private jets flew into Switzerland in late January for the 2019 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF), which convened more than 100 governments and 1,000 businesses in the Alpine ski resort of Davos to discuss globalization’s future.

Yet, climate change and inequality were two of the issues that dominated the event.

The Scottish Land Commission has launched a new toolkit to provide practical advice on how landowners, land managers and communities can make better decisions on land use.

The protocol, which defines good practice for engagement over land use and management, is the first in a series of publications from the commission aimed at encouraging practical implementation of the principles within the Scottish Government’s Land Rights and Responsibilities Statement (LRRS).

• While cities are generally considered to be poorer in biodiversity than rural areas, new research finds that urban areas could actually play a key role in conserving pollinator communities.
• A team of researchers led by scientists at the UK’s University of Bristol studied pollinators and floral resources at 360 sites in four British cities representing all major urban land uses, including allotments (community gardens), cemeteries, gardens, man-made surfaces like parking lots, nature reserves and other green spaces, parks, sidewalks, and road verges.

Authorities have claimed that some 100 families who clashed with police in Preah Sihanouk province’s Prey Nop district last week have no legal rights to the land as they do not possess proper titles.

However, the villagers claim to have lived there for a significant time after having paid for their plots – something not recognised by the authorities, with one vowing to die for his.

The Murray-Darling crisis has led to drinking water shortages, drying rivers, and fish kills in the Darling, Macintyre and Murrumbidgee Rivers. This has been the catalyst for recommendations for a Royal Commissionand creation of two independent scientific expert panels.

On 17 December 2018, the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly voted in favour of the ‘Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other Persons Working in Rural Areas’. The declaration is a major step forward for rural communities around the world, and especially in the Global South, as it recognises a wide range of rights such as the “right to land”, the “right to water” and the “right to food sovereignty”.

The Land Portal Foundation and the NRMC Center for Land Governance are partnering with key organizations to hold a series of three webinars on Forest Rights and Governance in India, Land Rights for Slum Dwellers in the East Indian State Odisha: Making technology work for the urban poor and 

Four coffee co-operatives in Peru will be trained in sustainable farming, learning about the best use of organic fertiliser and robust seeds

BOGOTA, Jan 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Thousands of coffee farmers in Peru hope to produce higher and more profitable crop yields to better cope with the impact of climate change under a landmark United Nations-backed project.

More than 1.3 billion people live on farmland that is deteriorating and producing less, putting them at risk of worsening hunger, water shortages and poverty, the U.N. says.

The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. More than two-thirds of countries score below 50 on this year’s CPI, with an average score of just 43.  

Imagine having decisions made on your behalf, decisions that impact your livelihood, your home, your culture – and not having a voice in the process. 

Historically, farmland could be used for solar or for farming - not both. But that could change

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Nathan L'Etoile and Caroline Taylor are both passionate about preserving farmland, but they differ over a question being posed across the United States: should farmers devote some, or even all, of their land to solar energy?