Improving access to land
(Kastom-based land survey and registration project)
By: Nestor M. Pestelos
10 July 1995
A. Context / Background
This project presents and excellent and unique opportunity for UNDP and its partner agencies to achieve a breakthrough in a vital issue affecting the well-being of most Pacific islanders. It has been a common experience in all PICs for land disputes to affect the siting of developmental projects, the production of food both for subsistence and cash income, the protections and conservation of seriously threatened ecological resources, and the maintenance of community cohesiveness and stability without which there will be no real and sustainable human development. The proposed undertaking will address the need to evolve and implement a people-based approach in dealing with the socially and culturally sensitive land issue in the Pacific.
In the shift from subsistence and mixed economies to full monetary-based economies, land has assumed tremendous economic values in all Pacific societies. Increased access on its use has been a primary demand of the growing business sector, as well as of many cash-strapped households in rural and urban communities desiring to realities new applications. Land security is also a precondition to the sustainable preservation of land-based ecological resources.
Efforts in many countries to hasten opening up this vital resource to legal ownership, registration and use, as well as to long-term environmental conservation measures, have been frustrated often by tedious Kastom laws and, on the whole, confusion over authority on property rights. Most of Pacific lands is considered as Kastom-owned. Hence, in practically all PICs, the ownership o most cultivable and productive land remains under dispute.
The attempts of Pacific governments to rationalize land ownership or settle land disputes have generally yielded unsatisfactory results. The most common reasons cited are: lack of cooperation by traditional chiefs and families who have to witness the proceedings and the resolution of the land conflict issue; the expenses, usually allowances for the chiefs, food and transport, etc., are beyond the reach of the parties in the dispute; the suspicion by landowners that the land survey and registration will be used for tax purposes; hostile attitude of local communities to the survey; complicated land survey technology; lack of experience on the part of technicians to deal with the social aspects of the survey, e.g. mobilizing cooperation and support from chiefs, church leaders, etc.; difficulty to trace all the claimants to the property; meddling by politicians; suspicion or sheer distrust of government motives, etc.
This pattern of failed attempts in dealing with the sensitive land issue indicates the need for a new approach and redirection of efforts. First, it must be recognized that previous approaches have shared several common features, namely, their being merely government-driven, grossly indifferent to the whole body of kastom beliefs and practices which embody landownership and use, and severely limited in orientation as they are generally technology-based.
Since land is perceived as Kastom-owned through out the region, the approach to the issue need to take into account first and foremost the existing belief systems, social institutions and practices regarding land tenure in each PIC. Ignoring this aspect will mean reinforcing the climate of mutual distrust now existing between traditional landowners and government functionaries. By initially building trust, both sides can begin to negotiate on the basis of genuine interests and settle all issues related to the survey and registration of land, as well as on the procedures for settling disputes.
The pertinent social technologies necessary to implement a kastom-based approach to the land issue have been pilot-tested and validated by the UNDP Pacific Regional Equitable and Sustainable Human Development Programme (ESHDP). It is proposed that this new project build on this initiative at the Lolihor watershed community (Pop. 1025) in North Ambrym, Vanuatu.
Brief Description of the participatory approach to resolving land conflicts
This people-based approach basically consists of the following sequence of activities:
a. Social investigation phase
The project team will mobilize local volunteers and resource persons to assess all the aspects of the land issue in a particular area. Traditional beliefs and practices regarding the ownership, registration/documentation and use or disposal of land will be studied. The land issue will be linked to human security concerns, delivery of services and other development issues. Government policies and procedures will also be assessed as to their suitability to the local situation. Negotiations will be undertaken for the possible integration of both systems.
b. Intensive training and community mobilization phase
The agreement between the local communities and the government on the specific methodology or procedures to be followed for the land survey, registration and settlement of disputes will be the basis for carrying out the training and mobilization activities. Local survey teams will be trained to assist government technicians.
Traditional chiefs, landowners and other representatives from village communities will be oriented on the technologies to be used, e.g. units, etc. Village assemblies will be oriented on the outputs and the benefits to be derived from them. The targeted project site will be encouraged to form a multisectoral committee (traditional chiefs, church leaders, women and youth leaders, etc.) to coordinate the implementation of the project.
This phase will feature the creative use of non-formal media, e.g. youth theatre, indigenous art, kastom venues, etc.
c. Land survey and registration phase
Actual surveys of individual parcels and village boundaries will be undertaken based on procedures previously agreed upon. The data/information will be stored and filed based also on previous understanding between local communities and the national government.
d. Conflict resolution phase
This phase will be carried out also through close community-government collaboration. There will be agreement on how resolved cases will be officially documented by both local communities and the Government.
Proposed Project Coverage
Initial project inputs will enable expansion to the whole Malampa province where Ambrym Island is situated. The project will consolidate its operations to make the province the training and demonstration area for the replication of the Kastom-based approach throughout Vanuatu.
Solomon Islands and FSM will be targeted as expansion countries for the project.
B. Objectives
The objectives of the project are as follows:
a. To implement a participatory approach for land survey, ownership and use acceptable to both local communities and the government;
b. To actually resolve cases of land conflicts with joint collaboration between local communities and the government;
c. To evolve a system o documentation/recording land ownership which will integrate the positive aspects of kastom and the legal procedures of government;
d. To lay the foundation for national policies and programmes supportive of people-based land tenure system
C. Outputs and Expected Results / Impact
By the end of a five-year project life:
a. A kastom-based system of surveying and registering ownership of land in each project country;
b. A set of procedures for settling land conflicts with high degree of community-government collaboration;
c. Actual cases of land conflicts resolved through a participatory approach and documented by the appropriate government agencies;
d. A set of proposed legislative/national policies on land for each participating country based on the lessons learnt from the project.
D. Budget for 1 Pilot Area - 1 Year (Based on Vanuatu operations)
ITEM
|
ESTIMATED COST
|
Social
investigation phase
a.
National consultations for participatory
research on land-associated problems b.
National workshops to review policies
kastom laws and to formulate a common approach c.
Local level workshops on community
profiling and validation of approach d.
Travel of national core team to the project
site (Air/boat fares) Intensive training and community mobilization
phase e.
Training of national/local survey teams f.
Purchase of two GPS units and other survey
equipment g.
Training and other capability-building
support to the local survey coordination committee h.
Travel of national survey team to the
project site i.
Training and logistical support to youth
theater group, kastom art, etc. in support of mobilization activities Land
survey and registration phase j.
Travel of the
national survey to the project site k.
Logistical and
travel support to the local survey team l.
Additional survey
equipment (tents, ropes, etc.) m.
Supplies and
equipment for registration/data storage Conflict
resolution phase n.
Training of
negotiation team o.
Travel support to
the negotiation team p.
Supplies and
equipment for documenting resolved cases TOTAL |
USD 6000 1500 2000 3000 2000 10000 2000
2000 1000 6000 1500 6000 1500 2500 1500 USD 50,000 |
Social investigation phase
a. Gathering of primary and secondary data on the nature, scope and extent of land-associated problems
- Assessment of government policies, programmes and projects which address land-associated problems
- Preliminary study on the kastom ways of documenting landownership, settling disputes, etc.
- Negotiations with traditional chiefs/institutions and appropriate government entities on how to carry out land survey and registration, how to settle land disputes
- Selection of the initial project site
- Conduct of social investigation/preparation in this site
- Validation of the kastom-based methodology for the land survey, registration and settling conflicts
- Organization of a national core and support team
- Formulation of a national programme based on the validated methodology (Need to link at this early stage the pilot operations to a lar)
Expansion of activities to cover the entire Malampa province (Melekula, Ambrym and Paama islands)
VANUATU SHDSA CASE STUDY
Strengthening Indigenous Land Security through Kastom-based Participatory Approaches
In Vanuatu, as in most Pacific societies, the shift from subsidence and mixed economics to full monetary-based economies has resulted in land assuming tremendous economic values. Increased to its use has been a primary demand of the growing business sector, as well as of many cash-strapped households in rural and urban communities desiring to realize new aspirations. Land aspirations. Land security is also a precondition to the sustainable preservation of land-based ecological resources.
Efforts in Vanuatu and in other countries in the region to hasten opening up this vital resource to legal ownership, registration and use as well as to long-term environmental conservation measures, have been frustrated often by tedious Kastom laws and, on the whole, confusion over authority on property rights. Most of Pacific lands is considered as kastom-owned. Hence, in practically the whole of Vanuatu, the ownership of most cultivable and productive land remains under dispute.
The attempts by the Vanuatu government to rationalize land ownership or settle land disputes have generally yielded unsatisfactory results. The most common reasons cited are:
This pattern o failed attempts in dealing with the sensitive land issue indicates the need for a new approach and redirection of efforts. First, it must be recognized that previous approaches have shared several common features, namely, their being merely government-driven, grossly indifferent to the whole body of kastom beliefs and practices which embody landownership and use, and severely limited in orientation as they are generally technology-based.
Since land is perceived as kastom-owned throughout the region, the approach to the issue need to take into account first and foremost the existing belief systems, social institutions and practices regarding land tenure in each PIC. Ignoring this aspect will mean reinforcing the climate of mutual distrust now existing between traditional landowners and government functionaries. By initially building trust, both sides can begin to negotiate on the basis of genuine interests and settle all issues related to the survey and registration of land, as well as on the procedures for settling disputes.
The pertinent social technologies necessary to implement a kastom-based approach to the land issue have been pilot-tested and validated by the UNDP Pacific Regional Equitable and Sustainable Human Development Programme (ESHDP) at the Lolihor watershed community (Pop.1025) in North Ambrym, Vanuatu.
Participatory approach to resolving land conflicts
This people-based approach basically consists of the following sequence of activities:
a. Social investigation phase
The project mobilizes local volunteers and resource persons to assess all the aspects of the land issue in a particular area. Traditional beliefs and practices regarding the ownership, registration/documentation and use or disposal of land are studied. The land issue is linked to human security concerns, delivery of services and other development issues. Government policies and procedures are also be assessed as to their suitability to the local situation. Negotiations are then undertaken for the possible integration of both systems.
b. Intensive training and community mobilization phase
The agreement between the local communities and the government on the specific methodology or procedures to be followed for the land survey, registration and settlement of disputes become the basis for carrying out the training and mobilization activities. Local survey teams are trained to assist government technicians.
Traditional chiefs, landowners and other representatives from village communities are all trained on the technologies to be used, e.g. GPS units, etc. village assemblies are informed of the outputs and the benefits to be derived from them. The targeted project site is encouraged to form a multisectoral committee (traditional chiefs, church leaders, women and youth leaders, etc.) to coordinate the implementation of the project.
This phase features the creative use of no-formal media, e.g. youth theatre, indigenous art, kastom venues, etc.
c. Land survey and registration phase
Actual surveys of individual parcels and village boundaries are undertaken based on procedures previously agreed upon. The data/information are stored and filed based also on previous understanding between local communities and the national government.
d. Conflict resolution phase
This phase is carried out also through close community-government collaboration. There is an agreement between local communities and the government on how to resolve land dispute cases and, equally important, on how the resolved cases or ownership of land will be documented and recorded for posterity.
ESHDP is now in the process of assisting the Vanuatu government to expand coverage of this people-based approach to settling land disputes.