LAW, JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT WEEK 2011

2. LAW, JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT WEEK 2011 “Draft Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests” Patrice Talla, Legal Officer Development Law Service, FAO Legal Office, Rome “Innovation and Empowerment for Development” November 14–17, 2011, World Bank, Washington DC

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Legal recognition and allocation of tenure rights and duties 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.

7. Legal recognition and allocation of tenure rights and duties 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.

8. Legal recognition and allocation of tenure rights and duties 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.

9. 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.

10. Transfers and changes to tenure rights and duties 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.

11. Transfers and changes to tenure rights and duties 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.

12. Concluding remarks 1. Negotiations process 2. 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.

13. Thank you VG webpage: http://www.fao.org/nr/tenure/voluntary-guidelines/en/ Patrice Talla Legal Officer, FAO patrice.talla@fao.org