Land Consolidation Legislation: FAO Legal Guide and Its Application at the Country Level
Channel: Land Portal
Date: 2020-06-18

Land consolidation is a well-proven land management instrument, which has traditionally been used for agricultural development with a main objective of reducing land fragmentation and increasing holding and farm sizes. Some European countries have a land consolidation tradition that goes back a hundred years or more. It is also widespread in particular in countries in Asia but also in Africa.

In the last decades, countries in Western Europe have developed land consolidation into a multi-purpose instrument with a broader objective. Multi-purpose land consolidation can facilitate the implementation of projects related to nature restoration, climate change adaptation and mitigation and large-scale infrastructure projects where land consolidation provides an opportunity to compensate landowners and farmers in land instead of monetary compensation.

The main focus of this webinar is on land consolidation legislation and its application. FAO will introduce the new Legal Guide on Land Consolidation, prepared based on the outcomes of a study of good practices for land consolidation legislation in Europe. The Legal Guide weaves together legislative and technical guidance to make the process accessible to countries where land consolidation is initiated. It will be useful to a broad range of stakeholders: legislatures, legal drafters and land consolidation professionals, public and private entities and persons involved in the land consolidation process.

This webinar serves to support the application and implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) and achieving SDG targets such as 1.4, 2.3 and 5.a. The objective is to promote good land consolidation practices and the practical application of the FAO Legal Guide with the examples from a range of European countries.