Common lands and natural resources

Making the case for SDG Indicators

Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, 23-26 march 2014

Dr. Maryam Niamir-FullerSpecial Advisor to the Executive Director

http://www.landesa.org/infographic-land-rights-matter/

Increasing international recognition for tenure rights

Land and natural resources in 5 SDG Targets

TARGET 1.4: “.. Equal rights to economic resources, .. Control over land and other forms of property …”

Target 2.3: “ small-scale food producers … secure and equal access to land…”

Target 5.a : “… women equal rights … to ownership and control of land …”

Target 12.2: “ … sustainable .. and efficient use of natural resources

Several targets on natural resources and benefit sharing

The commons: GDP of the poor

Those who rely on common property resources

500 million pastoralists occupy 25% of world’s land area

• Alpine pastures of Europe lost plant and animal biodiversity after livestock farmers abandoned transhumance

• 200 years of ranching in North America created a unique wildlife-friendly ecological state

• Andalusia/Spain government financed performance-based fire management scheme (Euro 50-90 per hectare per year payment to pastoralists)

Both overgrazing and under-grazing can deteriorate ecosystems

Grazing dependent rangelands

Commons : a universal agenda

Target 11.7: by 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible , green and public spaces, particular for women and children, older persons, and persons with disabilities

United Kingdom’s CRoW Act of 2000

Common land and natural resources are not an anachronism

Examples from Conservation: Indigenous community-conserved areas Tenure of priority nature conservation landscapes

Examples from Pastoralism: Spanish Royal Canyada

Group ranches, pastoral conservancies in Africa West Africa’s “transhumance passports”

Mauritania set asides for restoration

Recognizing indigenous territories: “Certificates of ancestral domain” in Mindanao, First Nation States, creation of ‘tribal trusts’

Securing resources for the poor and marginal Leasing common land on a long term basis in India

Challenges of tracking the commons

Existing systems of titling and registering: Competitive and conflictual privatization of common lands

Land grabbing when there is a governance vaccuum

Unequal benefit sharing within the community, between communities, and between generations

Challenges of tracking the commons: Some legal systems do not recognize common lands/NR as assets (e.g. the politics of “wastelands” in India)

Data not disaggregated

Definitions not inter-operable

Why measure ?

Human Rights and Well being

Sustainable livelihoods

Sustainable environment

Complexity of the commonsMulti-functionality Dynamic

and/or non-equilibrium

ecosystemsFluid boundariesSeasonality

of

resources

Periodic and multi-layered

tenure regimes

Reciprocit

y and non-

marketed goods

Bundle of

rights

Common definitions or semantic ontologies ?

SDG Targets Transformational measurementsTarget 1.4

Measure land tenure securityTarget 2.3

Target 3.9 Measure impacts of unsustainable management of common resources on human health

Targets 8.1 and 8.2 Measure economic benefits from common resourcesTarget 12.2

Measure sustainable management of common resources

Target 14.4

Targets 15.3, 15.4, 15.5, 15.b

Targets 16.3 and 16.5 Measure governance and accountability on common resources

A composite indicator Applicable to Targets 3.8, 4.1, 6.1, 7.1, 10.3 Measure social and economic impacts on marginal,

remote and mobile communities who depend on common resources

Proposed indicators

Conclusions and next steps• Is tenure security enough to achieve the SDGs ?

• Establish international legal standing for “Common lands/natural resources”

• Develop the semantic ontology of common land and natural resources

• Develop tools and mechanisms for registering, certifying and protecting common lands and their natural resources

• Raise awareness among all stakeholders, including local communities and indigenous peoples

Thank you