LAW, JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT WEEK 2011 “Draft Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance...

LAW, JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT WEEK 2011

“Draft Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of

Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests”

Patrice Talla, Legal OfficerDevelopment Law Service, FAO Legal Office, Rome

“Innovation and Empowerment for Development”

November 14–17, 2011, World Bank, Washington DC

Introduction to the Draft Voluntary Guidelines

•World Committee on Food Security•Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Food

(November 2004)

•Other FAO voluntary instruments (Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries; Responsible Management of Planted Forests; International Code of Conduct on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides. Etc…)

•Formulation process

Objectives and Scope of the Draft Voluntary Guidelines

• Good governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests;

• Realization of food security, right to adequate food and poverty alleviation; through

• Empowerment of vulnerable and marginalized people; and

• Implementation of natural resources management best practices.

Legal recognition and allocation of tenure rights and duties

1 Safeguards• Identification of existing rights and rights

holders, whether recorded or not;• Systematic recording of newly recognized or

allocated tenure rights showing spouses;• Tenure rights holders have full knowledge of

their rights and duties;• Prevention of forced evictions that violate

states’ obligations and commitments under international and human rights norms and standards.


2 Access to public natural resources• Respect of existing and legitimate tenure rights in

states owned or controlled natural resources; • Establishment of a tenure information system on land,

fisheries and forests, including responsible agencies;• Importance of ancestral or historical use of resources

in the allocation of tenure rights;• Strengthening the capacities of agencies responsible

for land, fisheries and forests management;• Clear definition of decision-making authorities and

their powers, as a means to prevent corruption in the allocation of rights to land, fisheries and forests.


3 Indigenous and other customary tenure• Communities should promote and provide

equitable, secure and sustainable rights to land, fisheries and forests;

• Customary tenure should be taken into account in the policy and legal frameworks;

• Recording and publication of information on the nature and location of resources used and controlled by communities;

• Involvement of indigenous communities in the development and negotiations of projects that could affect access and rights over their resources.


4 Informal tenure• Emergence of informal tenure in peri-urban areas

arising from large-scale migrations;• Recognition and protection of informal tenure rights

where there is no threat to individuals, society and the environment;

• Informal tenure should be prevented through simplification of legal and administrative requirements for land use change and development on land;

• Where legal recognition of informal tenure rights is not possible, states should prevent forced evictions.

Transfers and changes to tenure rights and duties

1 Markets• Safeguards are provided to protect local communities

and vulnerable groups against undesirable impacts of markets;

• Policies and regulatory frameworks ensuring transparent market operations and preventing uncompetitive practices;

• Safeguards are provided to protect spouses and other vulnerable people, who do not appear as holders of tenure rights, when these rights are traded.


2 Investments and concessions• Responsible investments are promoted, through (i)

appropriate negotiations’ mechanisms, (ii) consultation with all parties affected, and (iii) strengthening of the negotiations’ capacities of communities;

• Agreements for investments clearly define the rights and duties of investors, including enforcement measures;

• An effective monitoring of the implementation and impacts of the agreements is enforced for large scale acquisition of tenure rights, with participation of all affected parties.


3 Expropriation and compensation• Public purpose is clearly defined for any action

of expropriation where rights to land, fisheries or forests are required;

• All affected parties are identified, properly informed and consulted in the planning and process of expropriation;

• All affected parties are appropriately compensated, either in cash, rights to alternate areas or combination of both. The compensation mechanism is defined in the planning phase.

Concluding remarks

1. Negotiations process2. Adoption 3. Implementation • Technical guidelines on the responsible

governance of forestry tenure;• Technical guidelines on the responsible

governance of forestry tenure;• Technical guidelines on the responsible

governance of water tenure.

Thank you

VG webpage: http://www.fao.org/nr/tenure/voluntary-guidelines/en/

Patrice TallaLegal Officer, [email protected]

http://www.fao.org/nr/tenure/voluntary-guidelines/en/



LAW, JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT WEEK 2011 “Draft Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance...

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