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The
scale of the global land grab is staggering. While international actors have made excellent
progress establishing complaint
boards, issuing principles
for responsible investment, and
securing commitments
from multi-national corporations,
these protections do not chart a clear course of action that communities can
follow to protect their lands and natural resources before an investor arrives seeking land.
The
problem is that once an investor arrives to “consult with” a community, it may
be too late. After a deal has been made in capital city conference rooms or in
clandestine meetings between chiefs and company representatives, communities
are forced on the defensive. At this point, all they can do is try to mitigate
the negative impacts of investors’ plans - rather than assertively proclaiming
their legal rights, demanding that the investor abide by FPIC principles, and then
choosing whether to reject the investment or accept it on terms that ensure
that the community benefits and prospers.
Meanwhile,
many of the “investors” grabbing land are national or local elites
unaccountable to international institutions – the cousin of the President or
the nephew of the Minister – who operate with complete impunity, protected by
powerful connections to government, the judiciary and the police. Such
individuals do not answer to shareholders or complaint boards, and are not the
least bit concerned with principles of corporate social responsibility. If a community’s land claims are unrecognized or
undocumented – and if the community’s leadership is weak or corrupt – the
easier it is for these elites to manipulate their power to claim what land they
want.
To
have a fighting chance against elites’ bad-faith actions, communities must
proactively take steps to know and enforce their rights, prevent their leaders
from transacting land without community approval, and seek legal recognition of
their land claims. And they must do so before elites and investors arrive.
After years of working with partner organizations around the
world to support communities to protect their land rights, the international
legal empowerment organization Namati has developed a comprehensive approach designed to
support communities to do just this: proactively document and map their land
claims, seek formal government recognition of their land rights, and strengthen
local governance.
To
share this approach with frontline advocates and activists across the world,
Namati has published a Community
Land Protection Facilitators’ Guide
as a step-by-step, practical “how to” manual for grassroots advocates working
to help communities protect their land rights.
The
guide, available to download for free, details Namati’s five-part
process for protecting community
lands and examines questions such as: “Who is included or excluded when
defining a ‘community’?”, “How to resolve longstanding boundary disputes?”, and “How can
communities prepare for interactions with potential investors?” The guide
goes beyond documentation to address issues of women’s land rights, inclusive
governance, cultural revitalization, ecosystem regeneration, and more. Every
chapter includes exercises, sample forms, and tips from veteran land protection
advocates. All activities are easily adaptable to a range of cultures,
contexts, and community goals. The guide is accompanied by short, animated videos that demonstrate the community land protection
process visually.
The
goal is not just to protect land, but to leverage community land protection
efforts to build:
●
Inclusive,
diverse communities that respect the rights of women and other marginalized
groups;
●
Sustainable local
economies fueled by diverse local livelihoods;
●
Environmental
stewardship that results in flourishing ecosystems, food security, and the
protection of future biodiversity; and
●
The revival,
maintenance, and inter-generational transfer of dynamic local cultures,
languages, ceremonies, and traditional knowledge.
By
adapting and using the approach in the guide, advocates around the world will
be better able to not only help communities resist elites and investors’
bad-faith efforts to grab their lands, but to also empower communities to drive
the course of their own development, create more just, equitable societies, and
preserve ecological and cultural diversity for future generations
Join Namati’s Global Legal Empowerment Network to learn
more and exchange strategies and experiences with other community land
protection and legal empowerment practitioners.
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