The July issue of the Land Tenure Journal of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) highlights the work of FAO and its partners on land tenure governance and improved disaster risk management (DRM).
July 2015: The July issue of the Land Tenure Journal of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) highlights the work of FAO and its partners on land tenure governance and improved disaster risk management (DRM).
The journal explores the role of land professionals in mitigating the impact of disasters and supporting “tenure-aware” resettlement and reconstruction processes following disasters. It further highlights the contribution of the ‘Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security’ (the Voluntary Guidelines) in improving tenure governance and strengthening the tenure security and resilience of vulnerable people, in line with the DRM framework.
The first three articles of the issue explore some aspects of spatial information, land valuation and land-use planning in the context of DRM. Some of the areas addressed include: the life-saving role and possible impacts of spatial information in pre-disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness, emergency response and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction; the impact of natural disasters on property values and the role of land valuation support in estimating damage and loss, making effective decisions on resettlement and compensation, and developing insurance mechanisms; and the potential of land-use planning as a policy tool for addressing geographic, social and institutional vulnerabilities in disaster-prone areas.
The final two articles discuss regional DRM experiences in Pacific island countries and the Caribbean, two of the most disaster-prone regions of the world. The Pacific case study reviews land issues that have emerged from previous disasters given customary tenure and rapid urbanization, conflict over land, and the establishment of informal settlements on disaster-prone sites. The Caribbean case study highlights how land tenure insecurity affects the ability of people to mitigate, respond to, and recover from natural disasters and outlines some steps necessary to improve resilience to natural hazards in the region.
The Land Tenure Journal has been published since 2010 by FAO’s Climate, Energy and Tenure Division, with the aim of providing a medium for the dissemination of quality information and diversified views on land and natural resources tenure. [Land Tenure Journal] [Natural Resources Policy & Practice Story on July 2015 Issue of FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on Tenure Newsletter]