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PROTECTING COMMUNITY LANDS AND NATURAL RESOURCES:
Arach David JamesCommunity Land Protection Program, Namati
The need for community Land protection
Climate change, food and water insecurity, population growth, limited natural resources 3 “levels” of land grabs:1. Large scale land concessions2. National elites3. “Stronger” community or family
members grabbing from “weaker”
Urgent need to empower communities to document and protect their customary land claims
Farms – past use, future use
Communal grazing land
Communal forest
The ENTIRE AREA is community land
Farms – used today
(0) Defining the “community” and ensuring participation
Strengthening community governance of lands and resources
Land documents can be dangerous without accountable leaders and participatory governance!
Unwritten rules can be manipulated by the powerful to claim or transact land without community approval.
Intra-community discrimination weakens rights of women and minorities.
Process:
• Drafting by-laws for good governance of community lands and natural resources
• Making a zoning plan (linking rules to the landscape)
• Electing Land Governance Councils
The by-laws drafting process
• A community-wide brainstorming or “shouting out” of past and current rules (1st draft).
• Legal education.
• Community analysis, discussion and revision of old rules; addition of new rules in light of evolving needs (2nd draft).
• Facilitators convene meetings re: women’s rights, zoning, transparent financial management, other necessary topics.
• Legal & technical analysis of by-laws to ensure that they align with national law.
• Community revision of any rules that violate the law (3rd draft).
• Formal adoption of a FINAL draft by consensus or super-majority vote.
• Community immediately elects Land Governance Council, using the new by-laws.
Suggested by-laws structure
I. Rules About Governance Of Land And Natural Resources• Community definition, land ownership/land
holding, Land Governance Council, community decision-making processes, women’s & minority groups’ rights, keeping documents safe, interactions with investors, financial management etc.
II. Rules about use and management of land and natural resources • Food resources, water, community forests and
grazing lands, harvesting and gathering resources, sacred areas, cultural areas, protected areas and restricted areas, commercial use of community resources, zoning plan, ecosystem regeneration plan
III. Social and cultural rules
Good practices for by-laws drafting
• Let the community set the pace and content of the by-laws
• Make sure the process is fully participatory while ensuring healthy debate! The by-laws are in the community’s own words, not “legalese.”
Women challenge perceptions that land is “men’s business” by showing their wisdom within women’s “spheres of expertise”
• Handle the process of writing down customary rules carefully – what is not captured may be lost.
Necessary to work with customary justice institutions to ensure application of by-laws in family land conflict resolution.
• Take care to ensure that existing leaders will implement and enforce the by-laws and concede power to the new Land Governance Council.
Important to work with men and leaders to remind them to protect and provide for women and children = ensuring women’s rights.
Goals of the by-laws process
• Protections for women and minority groups’ rights.
• Increased accountability of leaders.
• Greater democratic participation by community members in land and natural resources management decisions.
• Increased conservation and sustainable natural resources management.
• Alignment of customary rules with national law.
• Strong foundations for future community prosperity.
Ensuring implementation and enforcement of by-laws
• Ensure process is highly participatory rules reflect the community’s will, not leaders’ will.
• Involve all leaders, especially those who arbitrate land conflicts.
• Ensure the by-laws are widely known.
• Give copies to local officials and magistrates; invite them to support enforcement.
• Create a list of practical next steps to make the by-laws “real” (during or after drafting).
• Ensure that by-laws include a plan for managing collected fees and fines.
• Create “Watch Dog” groups.
• Hold annual, highly participatory by-laws amendment meetings.
Thank you so much
Arach David [email protected]
Skype ID: namatidavidarach+254 791 922 097www.namati.org
NamatiKenya