Tenure Regularization Research Articles

Criteria for scaling up oil palm agroforestry in northeastern Pará, Brazil

The Brazilian municipality of Tomé-Açu has over two-hundred agroforestry systems, which integrate oil palm into a larger, diversified production system, promoting farmers’ livelihoods, biodiversity, and ecological resilience; avoiding the many social and environmental conflicts associated with oil palm monocultures. There are four main challenges to scaling up oil palm agroforestry in the Amazon. These include environmental and land tenure regularisation, implementing effective financing, meeting labour demands, and securing market connections. In response, the Expansion Pilot project has been collaboratively developed between Natura, CAMTA, and other organisations, to develop low-risk business models for farmers. The project established guiding principles for oil palm agroforestry, which focus on plant diversity, functionality, and economic diversity as the three key performance indicators; checking reliability, eligibility, scalability, replicability, and impact. The guiding principles provide criteria and scoring systems for assessing the performance of agroforestry systems, ensuring continuous improvement over time. The financial implementation of agroforestry systems is also a key aspect, as financial institutions now offer investment lines specifically for oil palm agroforestry. Carbon sequestration and insurance specific to agroforestry are also being explored as potential financing mechanisms. Further improvements to oil palm agroforestry practices will require collaboration with government agencies, the development of mechanisation alternatives, and ongoing research and innovation; all of which will help mitigate the negative impacts of oil palm monoculture.

A regularização fundiária como instrumento de efetividade do direito à moradia e do desenvolvimento econômico e social

The right to worthy housing. Scope of the right to worthy housing. Housing and human dignity. Housing to meet the postulates of the dignity of the person must be a dignified dwelling. The right to worthy housing and land tenure regularization. Land tenure regularization is an instrument of economic and social development. Land tenure regularization instruments. Usucapion as the most traditional instrument of land tenure regularization. Collective land tenure regularization instruments. Urban land tenure regularization – Reurb. land tenure regularization in state lands. Land tenure regularization programs in the State of São Paulo.

Commoning for Land Tenure Regularization: The Case of the Collective Urban Special Adverse Possession of Chácara do Catumbi in the City of Rio de Janeiro

Commoning for Land Tenure Regularization: The Case of the Collective Urban Special Adverse Possession of Chácara do Catumbi in the City of Rio de Janeiro

Land tenure regularization and state land grabbing in the municipality of Paragominas, Eastern Amazon

In the Amazon, the regularization of public and private lands is under discussion to reduce deforestation. However, this scenario is difficult due to land disorganization and divergent federal and state policies. The objective of this study was to analyze the importance of land data in federal and state public lands and private lands for the municipality of Paragominas, Eastern Amazon. In this study, we try to propose a diagnosis of land tenure structure, quantifying the Value of the Bare Land of the overlapping lands, state public lands on federal lands, as well as deforestation and forest conversion. The results showed that the area of federal publicly listed lands has drastically reduced. The reduced area is equivalent to the territory of Palestine, in the same database managed by the federal management agency. State public lands overlapped 16,153.32 ha on federal public lands, with a loss of US$5,529,927.57 for the federal government. Deforestation has increased on state public lands, driven by conversion to soy cultivation areas, and there is a trend towards stabilization of deforestation and agriculture on federal public lands

Codifying and Commodifying Nature: Narratives on Forest Property Rights and the Implementation of Tenure Regularization Policies in Northwestern Argentina

Environmental resource management requires negotiation among state and non-state actors with conflicting goals and different levels of influence. In northwestern Argentina, forest policy implementation is described as weak, due to governance structure and ambiguities in the law. We studied how policy actors’ attitudes and their positions in the forest governance network relate to the implementation of land tenure regularization in a context where land tenure regularization is at the core of struggles over environmental policies. We focused on the Chaco Salteño part of the Gran Chaco ecosystem, one of the world’s major deforestation frontiers. We argue that the presence of weak advocacy coalitions requires an analysis of agency to understand this policy process. Our policy network analysis revealed a lack of clear contrasting factions, due to a core–periphery structure. The core of the network brings together all core beliefs but not all of the most influential actors. Assessing network centrality and reputational influence enabled us to identify actors with exceptional agency. We contribute to the debates on advocacy coalitions and on land tenure by distinguishing between attitudes toward tenure regularization policies and their actual implementation in a context where actors have diverging interests and objectives.

Conditions for viable full land tenure regularization: a problematization based on the experience of Juiz de Fora (MG)

With a theoretical-practical approach, empirically based on experience in the municipality of Juiz de Fora, in the state of Minas Gerais, through actions of land tenure regularization, this paper, in a contextualized manner, seeks to reflect on the design, process and “post-intervention” moment of the regularization of low-income urban settlements. Although it was assessed that the investigated experience failed to meet the concept of full land tenure regularization, the study was nonetheless able to identify a number of assumptions and lessons that emerged, through which it has been possible to propose some relevant guidelines in order to revise the concept and practices under discussion. Special attention has been given to the beneficiaries of the regularization process, thereby contrasting the recurrent view that they are mere "partners" with the perspective that places them rather as protagonists in the process.

Raça e exclusão do acesso à terra

O presente artigo científico expõe a formação da sociedade colonial/moderna no Brasil e o modo como as comunidades negras e quilombolas foram excluídas do acesso à terra e do reconhecimento da condição de proprietárias dos territórios imprescindíveis para a sua reprodução material e cultural. A Constituição da República de 1988 assegurou às comunidades quilombolas o direito à propriedade coletiva dos seus territórios, por meio do artigo 68 do Ato das Disposições Constitucionais Transitórias (ADCT). A política de regularização fundiária dos territórios quilombolas é, contudo, executada em ritmo extremamente lento. A lentidão da regularização fundiária dos territórios quilombolas prejudica as medidas reparatórias da discriminação racial sofrida pelas comunidades negras quilombolas.

Customary governance of artisanal and small-scale mining in Guinea: Social and environmental practices and outcomes⋆

In Guinea, attempts are underway by international donors, development practitioners, and the national government to bring artisanal and small-scale diamond mining in line with a formal regulation and parcel allocation system. This formalization initiative in Guinea—along with similar reforms aimed at land tenure regularization across Africa—attempt to superimpose modern legal institutions onto community institutions. Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in Guinea’s Forécariah and Kindia regions is currently governed by customary governance structures and deeply rooted customary institutions for land and property rights management. Thus far, formal structures have failed to replace or integrate with customary institutions. Identifying how to achieve complementarity between informal and formal systems that are defined by deep cultural and structural tensions requires a solid understanding of customary institutions (Ensminger, 1997). This paper analyzes social and environmental practices and ASM outcomes in an area with a history of strong informal customary governance. The study has three research objectives. First, the study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the customary institutions and systems governing ASM in Guinea’s Forécariah and Kindia regions. Second, the paper draws on empirical analysis of village level quantitative and qualitative data to identify whether and how customary governance and institutional factors affect social and environmental outcomes in the context of ASM. Based on these findings, the paper closes with concrete policy recommendations for promoting greater complementarity between the formal and informal systems. Given the scale and scope of quantitative and qualitative data sources applied to the analysis, this study utilizes the most comprehensive empirical data to-date on ASM in a customary context. As such, this paper presents a unique contribution to the literature around customary governance, resource contestations, and land governance for mining communities and the ASM sector in sub-Saharan Africa.

Brazil’s conservation reform and the reduction of deforestation in Amazonia

The Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm), launched in 2004, promoted a drastic conservation reform in Brazil. To date, the plan has been through four distinct phases: PPCDAm-I (2004–2008), II (2009–2011), III (2012–2015), and IV (2016–2020). A substantial decline from historically high deforestation rates in the Amazon occurred from 2004 to 2012, part of which (particularly after 2007) can be attributed to the PPCDAm, and part to economic factors such as commodity prices and the currency exchange rates that affect the profitability of agricultural exports. After 2012 deforestation has trended upward despite control efforts. The PPCDAm evolved through its four phases, consequently changing the patterns of deforestation in Amazonia. Here, we review the conservation instruments and strategies promoted under the PPCDAm umbrella and, when possible, provide estimates of their impacts on deforestation based on rigorous, counterfactual evaluations. While the literature emphasizes some of the most well-known PPCDAm actions, e.g., improved satellite-based monitoring, the “blacklist” of municipalities, expansion of protected areas, land tenure regularization, credit access restrictions, and moratoria, we highlight a number of other PPCDAm activities that, along with the previous examples, are arguably also responsible for a significant share of the reduction of deforestation in the region.

Assessing the impacts of land tenure regularization: Evidence from Rwanda and Ethiopia

This article connects theoretical effects of the Land Tenure Regularization (LTR) and available evidence from Rwanda and Ethiopia. Based on a review of 26 quantitative and qualitative relevant and robust studies, the paper contributes to the understanding on what evidence exist to validate the LTR effects and how to gain long-term economic, environmental and social impacts. Results suggest a propensity of well supported evidence for positive LTR effects on investment in soil conservation and the role of LTR in enforcing certain dimensions of women’s empowerment. Agricultural productivity and rental and sale effects are more supported in Ethiopia but with mixed findings for the case of Rwanda. There is lack of any robust evidence for credit mechanism except some very limited support from qualitative studies on Rwanda as well as for youth inclusion in the LTR. Key institutional and economic factors identified for long-term impacts relate to reliable agricultural market incentives and contract arrangement, adapted financial products and services to guaranty credit access and collateralized effects of LTR, and active land markets to support modernised and collective investment in agriculture.

De la reforma agraria al agronegocio: notas sobre la dinámica territorial en la frontera agrícola amazónica con base en el municipio de Apuí (sur del Amazonas)

The article seeks to reflect on the process that allowed the formation of agribusiness in Amazonas, focusing on the municipality of Apuí. To this end, we analyzed the various migratory flows and development policies directed to the south of Amazonas since the 1980s. We sought to demonstrate how the largest rural settlement in the country (Rio Juma Settlement Project) has become one of the areas of greatest growth of the Amazon cattle herd. We demonstrate how State initiatives created to strengthen family farming and territorial security of small farmers were used to invest in cattle raising and land tenure regularization of large farms. Finally, we analyzed how this configuration stimulated agribusiness, activated the land market and stimulated major forest fires in Apuí.Keywords: Apuí; Southern Amazonas; forest fires; agribusiness; livestock.Article received on February 12, 2020. Accepted on April 24, 2020.How citeGALUCH, Mariana Vieira; MENEZES, Thereza Cristina Cardoso. Da reforma agrária ao agronegócio: notas sobre dinâmicas territoriais na fronteira agropecuária amazônica a partir do município de Apuí (Sul do Amazonas). Estudos Sociedade e Agricultura, Rio de Janeiro, v. 28, n. 2, p. 388-412, jun. 2020.

Invasores: Squatters, Informal Cities, and the Co-Optation of the Urban Poor in Latter Twentieth-Century Mexico

Millions of people fled urban and rural poverty in latter twentieth-century Mexico and squatted on marginal urban lands, establishing shantytowns using whatever resources were available to them. Derided as invasores (invaders), squatters faced eviction, surveillance, and repression, but for many, the outcome was regularization—a process that saw the government provide them land titles. Built on ministerial studies, intelligence reports, newspaper coverage, and secondary analyses, this article contends that the Mexican federal government confronted the crises of land invasions and urban informality by distributing patronage and legalizing the land claims of squatters in ways that subordinated them politically and reduced the threats they posed to national stability. Empirical studies from Acapulco and Chihuahua in the 1960s and 70s and an assessment of federal policy demonstrate how land invasions and the rise of informal cities in the latter century compelled authorities to use land tenure regularization as a means to establish patronage networks, demobilize political alternatives, and, ultimately, perpetuate the status quo.

Land tenure regularisation for sustainable land use in informal urban settlements: Case study of Lalaouia and Mesguiche, Souk Ahras, Algeria

Land tenure regularisation for sustainable land use in informal urban settlements: Case study of Lalaouia and Mesguiche, Souk Ahras, Algeria

Decoding Gender Justice in Land Conflicts Resolution in Rwanda

Rwanda has implemented a land tenure regularization program since 2008 that enabled the adjudication and registration of land rights for both men and women. However, Rwandan women are vulnerable to land conflicts because some men do not recognize or respect women’s rights in land. This study investigates the extent to which government institutions in Rwanda empower women in claiming and defending their land rights. Data sources include questionnaire survey, interviews, and the review of literature on land reform in Rwanda. Findings reveal that Rwandan women preferably lodge their land claims to local authorities or mediation committees because the process of land conflict resolution is fair, free of charge and faster. However, the most used land conflict resolution mechanisms cannot enforce its decisions when some men are against those decisions. There is a need to think of mechanisms to enforce those decisions.

Lands of identity and lands of conflict: riverine social movement and land tenure regularization in the islands and floodplains of Abaetetuba / PA

Taking as a reference a case study of two policies of land tenure regularization aimed at the riverine inhabitants of the municipality of Abaetetuba, this article deals with its general functional aspects and deadlocks toward its full implementation. Fieldwork for the collection of information through interviews with leaders, public managers and riverine peoples, was added to a bibliographical review on the group, land tenure policies and social movements in the Amazon. At the same time, the main legal mechanisms associated with the different land regimes and those that supported the implementation of land tenure policies were analyzed, arguing that the challenges of land tenure regularization and occupation of our case study site are closely linked with historical and politicalaspects related to the management of public lands.

Uneven conservation efforts compromise Brazil to meet the Target 11 of Convention on Biological Diversity

Brazil is the most biodiverse country in the world. It performed an expansion of its Protected Areas system in order to better preserve nature and to accomplish international agreements, such as the Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which establishes a minimum percentage of territorial coverage and adequate management of Protected Areas (PAs). We evaluated the achievement of those objectives by analyzing the distribution of Conservation Units (CUs), Indigenous Territories and other classes of PAs on Brazilian biomes, as well as their current management situation. The country is unlikely to meet the target due to the lack of PAs outside the Amazon biome and to poor CUs management conditions, whose main causes are the fragile financial situation of environmental agencies and the high costs of land tenure regularization. In addition to other environmental policies setbacks, the Brazilian environmental leadership is seriously threatened.

Who owns the Brazilian carbon?

Brazil is one of the major contributors to land-use change emissions, mostly driven by agricultural expansion for food, feed, and bioenergy feedstock. Policies to avoid deforestation related to private commitments, economic incentives, and other support schemes are expected to improve the effectiveness of current command and control mechanisms increasingly. However, until recently, land tenure was unknown for much of the Brazilian territory, which has undermined the governance of native vegetation and challenged support and incentive mechanisms for avoiding deforestation. We assess the total extent of public governance mechanisms protecting aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks. We constructed a land tenure dataset for the entire nation and modeled the effects and uncertainties of major land-use acts on protecting AGC stocks. Roughly 70% of the AGC stock in Brazil is estimated to be under legal protection, and an additional 20% is expected to be protected after areas in the Amazon with currently undesignated land undergo a tenure regularization. About 30% of the AGC stock is on private land, of which roughly two-thirds are protected. The Cerrado, Amazon, and Caatinga biomes hold about 40%, 30%, and 20% of the unprotected AGC, respectively. Effective conservation of protected and unprotected carbon will depend on successful implementation of the Forest Act, and regularization of land tenure in the Amazon. Policy development that prioritizes unprotected AGC stocks is warranted to promote conservation of native vegetation beyond the legal requirements. However, different biomes and land tenure structures may require different policy settings considering local and regional specifics. Finally, the fate of current AGC stocks relies upon effective implementation of command and control mechanisms, considering that unprotected AGC in native vegetation on private land only accounts for 6.5% of the total AGC stock.

New trends in land tenure and environmental regularisation laws in the Brazilian Amazon

The main challenge on Brazil’s environmental agenda today is illegal deforestation in the Amazon, which to a large extent is a result of the state being unable to fully control the use of its natural resources. To improve the situation, new pieces of legislation have been enacted, but not as part of an integrated policy for the region. This article analyses the legal evolution of land tenure laws and environmental regularisation laws enacted to reduce illegal deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. The study of the legislation discussed here uses the legal interpretative method. The primary sources used in the analysis are legal documents, combined with state and non-governmental organisations’ reports on land regularisation and environmental implementation programmes in the region. It concludes that although land tenure and environmental regularisation were designed to be applied independently, agrarian activities have always been subject to environmental regulations. Recent deforestation monitoring indicates that deforestation rates are lower in areas that were subject to land tenure regularisation. For this reason, the strategy of the Brazilian Government since 2016 has been to formally integrate both regularisation activities through legal and policy modifications.

Collective or individual titles? Conflict over tenure regularisation in a Kenyan informal settlement

Providing formal titles to residents in densely populated informal settlements without fuelling conflict or encouraging gentrification presents several challenges. It has been argued that, in some contexts, forms of collective tenure such as a Community Land Trust may help to overcome some of these problems. This paper analyses one attempt to legalise informal tenure arrangements, minimise relocation and prevent gentrification by introducing collective titling in an informal settlement in Nairobi. The paper demonstrates how attempts to build consensus on the most appropriate tenure system were deeply embedded in local conflicts between existing structure-owners (owners of shacks/buildings on land which is not theirs) and tenants. The state was unable to carry out the land reforms it had proposed – to protect the land user rights of all residents – because they implied a redistribution that was resisted by local elite actors. This paper argues that tenure reforms are shaped by context-specific power relations; in this case the process was characterised by the implementers’ need to maintain fragile agreements with local elites in order to avoid conflict. Tenure reforms are based on different ideas of whose rights should be recognised and competing claims are both negotiated through and shaped by the implementation process. Tenure reforms for contested land in informal settlements not only require technical mechanisms to prevent gentrification and displacement, but must reflect a serious consideration of local power relations and the capacity of the state to deal with conflicts arising from redistributive plans.

Land conflict in peri-urban areas: Exploring the effects of land reform on informal settlement in Mexico

Peri-urban areas are often subject to intensive construction, through both formal and informal processes. As land transitions from rural to urban status, different land tenure and administration systems may come into conflict, leading to disputes, contestation and, in some cases, violence. However, little is known about the precise causes of peri-urban land conflict. In Mexico, peri-urban growth has historically proceeded peacefully, owing to the control exerted by a corporatist system of government, and the political use of land tenure regularisation. However, the effects of land reforms on transactions at the peri-urban fringe, in the context of wider processes of liberalisation, may be increasing vulnerability to conflict over land. This paper explores these issues through a case study of an irregular settlement on the peri-urban fringe of the provincial Mexican city of Xalapa, where contestations over informally developed land have escalated into violent encounters between groups of settlers and the state. The findings show that vulnerability to conflict in peri-urban areas can be attributed to the interaction of macro-level processes with local-level factors, including diverse claims, overlapping legal and governance frameworks and, critically, local power relations.