Webinar - Land Consolidation Legislation: FAO Legal Guide and Its Application at the Country Level | Land Portal
Contact details: 
Neil Sorensen, neil.sorensen@landportal.org
Organizers: 

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.

After the political changes in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) around 1990, land reforms were in most of these countries high on the political agenda. Many CEE countries have today farm structures characterized by excessive land fragmentation and small average farm sizes. These structural problems are often hindering development of smallholder farms into commercial family farms. From the mid-1990s and onwards, many CEE countries have introduced land consolidation mainly as an instrument to address the structural problems. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has so far supported the process in 11 countries in the region.

Objective

This webinar replaces two sessions on land consolidation initially planned for the FIG Working Week 2020 in Amsterdam (May 2020). As many others, this meeting was cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation.
 
The webinar will serve 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 of this discussion 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.
 
In this webinar, FAO 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 has been prepared by FAO in close cooperation with technical networks such as LANDNET, FIG and UNECE WPLA. 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.

 

 
Morten Hartvigsen
 

Facilitator


Morten Hartvigsen

FAO REU Land Tenure Officer and Regional Initiative Delivery Manager

 

 

Speakers

Margret Vidar
Margret Vidar
FAO Legal Officer

  
  
 

Marije Louwsma
Marije Louwsma
Chair
FIG Commission 8

  
  

Raimund Jehle
Raimund Jehle
Regional Programme
Leader for Europe
and Central Asia
FAO REU

Frank Van Holst
Frank van Holst
Programme Manager
Territorial
Development
Netherlands
Enterprise Agency

Kristina Mitic Arsova
Kristina Mitic Arsova
FAO Team Leader
North Macedonia
 
 

 

Tomas Versinkas
Tomas Versinkas
FAO International
Legal Consultant
 
       
   

 

  
  
   What experts say about Land Consolidation   
    

 

What is the potential of land consolidation in your country?

 

 

What advice would you give to colleagues introducing land consolidation?

 

 
Related content: 
Library Resource
Multimedia
June, 2020
Global

This presentation was given at the Webinar "Land Consolidation Legislation: FAO Legal Guide and Its Application at the Country Level" on 18 June 2020. It sets the scene on the need for land consolidation by explaining the problem it addresses, namely, land fragmentation. The presentation also explores whether land markets can solve the issue of land fragmentation, and can be achieved with land consolidation and who are the beneficiaries.

Library Resource
Multimedia
June, 2020
Global

This presentation was given at the Webinar "Land Consolidation Legislation: FAO Legal Guide and Its Application at the Country Level" on 18 June 2020. It explores the content of the new FAO Legal Guide on Land Consolidation, as well as the context that led to the development of this guide.

Blog post
Construction works in Skjern River nature restoration project, Denmark
Western Europe

The increasing number of salmon in the Skjern River in Denmark is a positive sign, as the Danish salmon is the only strain of wild salmon left in Danish rivers. Before the Skjern River Nature Restoration Project, the salmon had almost gone extinct owing to the state of the environment. The project area now offers ideal conditions for flora and fauna and has already acquired great natural value. In fact, it has already grown into a bird site of national importance.

Blog post
North Macedonia

I was assigned to lead the preparation of the assessments and amendments to the land consolidation legislation in 2016. That appeared to be a burdensome task. The first two land consolidation projects in North Macedonia were initiated according to the existing Land Consolidation Law and the implementation was blocked. The Law simply had no legal solutions for the identified field situations. The problems were many and each was ascending the other in its magnitude and sensitivity.

Blog post
North Macedonia
Global

It happened on the 29th of January 2020 in Bitola in North Macedonia. More than 200 landowners from Egri village gathered in Bitola’s theatre, taking turns to vote on the Land Consolidation Plan. The serious faces of men and women, old and young, were a sign that they may have been as nervous as we were ourselves. The voting on the first majority based land consolidation ever in the country was coming to an end. And then the result was there….. 83% in favour of land consolidation! The villagers were cheering. Our team was overwhelmed by emotion.

Event
LANDNET
25 February 2002
Europe
Organizers: 
FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia

Since 2002, the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia has been organising annual workshops to discuss instruments like land consolidation, land banking and land market development. This has created a European wide network of professionals from different countries and different organisations under FAO guidance.

Event
 Promotie_slide_FIG2020.jpg
10 May 2020
Global
Organizers: 
International Federation of Surveyors (FIG)
Kadaster International
Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation
Geo-Informatie Nederland

Due to the current COVID-19 situation, FIG Working Week 2020 has been cancelled. However, the programme, all abstracts and both peer review and regular papers have been published in the FIG 2020 Working Week website. There might be some online webinars/meetings, which will be informed in the event website.

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