The Land Portal has been following the news about USAID’s shutdown with much sadness and concern. During its 60-plus years of existence, the agency has acted on many fronts of international development, funding and managing thousands of initiatives to ensure good health, education, food security, women’s empowerment and, not least, good land governance in many countries of the Global South. With that experience, a lot of knowledge, good practices, and tools were developed.

On January 23, 2025, the Land Portal Foundation and Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) convened a webinar to explore the evolving landscape of agricultural investments in the Mekong region. Experts from various sectors joined to discuss the impact of industrial crops, smallholder farmer integration into transnational value chains, and the resulting economic, environmental, and social transformations.

Banner Image Credits: Photo by Ashwini Chaudhary(Monty) on Unsplash | Free to use under the Unsplash License

Land administration has historically focused on economic growth and formalization – now it must evolve to address climate imperatives.

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

As we approach the end of another remarkable year, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the collective effort that fuels the Land Portal. Your engagement, insights, and contributions make the Land Portal a trusted source of land information, and your feedback inspires us to improve as a convening space and platform for the global land community.

One glance at the shape of Itilla reveals that the person who determined the community’s oblong borders, was unaware of the realities of forest-dwelling communities in the Amazon. The Itilla reservation is an unusual 45 kilometers long and two kilometers wide. The territory looks more like a city block than the collective territory of a community in the Amazon.

Observers marked 2023 as a “make-or-break” year for voluntary carbon markets and a key “inflection point” for their role in addressing climate change and global deforestation. Proponents highlight that forest carbon projects channel much-needed funds towards forest protection and are pivotal to climate change mitigation. However, critics emphasize that carbon deals set incentives for over-crediting. Moreover, carbon offsetting allows the biggest emitters to simply outsource their climate mitigation efforts with potentially adverse impacts for affected communities.

“Mediation offers a peaceful alternative to litigation in land disputes, as seen in the SudCam case in Cameroon. By promoting dialogue and cooperation, mediation can help communities protect their land rights and livelihoods.”  

Blog by Francis Simeu, TI Cameroon, to celebrate International Human Rights Day

Under the umbrella of the Land Dialogues series, the last  webinar of this year’s series “Navigating Loss and Damage : A Path to Justice for Indigenous Peoples” took place on December 5th, 2024. The webinar drew in a little over 250  participants. The series is organized by a consortium of organizations, including the Land Portal Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the Tenure Facility.  

Dr. Serene Ho’s keynote address at the 8th India Land and Development Conference offered a thought-provoking exploration of the intersection between climate action and land governance, particularly in the Global South. As a Senior Lecturer in Land Administration and a researcher passionate about the socio-political dimensions of land, Dr. Ho provided a nuanced analysis of the pressures exerted by climate strategies on land-dependent communities.

Sanjay Gajiwal, Deputy Election Commissioner and a seasoned Indian Administrative Service officer, delivered a thought-provoking keynote at the 8th India Land and Development Conference (ILDC). With a career spanning diverse roles in urban governance, disaster management, and land reforms, Gajiwal brought his unique blend of administrative experience and academic rigor to the stage, shedding light on the challenges and possibilities of modernizing land governance in India.

Prof. (Dr.) Jiju Alex, an eminent scholar in agriculture and rural development, delivered a profound keynote at the 8th India Land and Development Conference (ILDC). Drawing from his extensive experience and Kerala’s pioneering initiatives, Prof. Alex explored how decentralized governance can be a cornerstone in building climate resilience and empowering local communities to address the challenges of climate change.