News on Land

Last year the world lost some 119,000 square kilometers (45,946 square miles) of tree cover – an area the size of Nicaragua – according to satellite data collated by the University of Maryland (UMD) released today by World Resources Institute (WRI). Almost a third of that loss – or an area the size of Switzerland – came from primary humid tropical forests, which house most of the planet’s plant and animal species and play an important role in climate regulation.

SOME 10–15% of the land area in cities could be converted for use as fruit and vegetable farms, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar made the estimate while discussing a model urban farm project run by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) at the end of National Farmers and Fisherfolk Month.

The DA is pushing urban agriculture as a possible strategy to relieve pressure on supply chains after major cities were cut off from the food-producing hinterland during the quarantine.

This special bulletin wants to pay tribute to the forest communities and peasant families around the world who despite all odds and difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic – including the movement restrictions imposed by governments and the corporate and elite profit-seeking abuses -, have still managed to practice solidarity:

A Vietnamese agribusiness company in eastern Cambodia has illegally cleared old-growth forests, wetlands and spiritual sites on land that it pledged to return to indigenous communities. The land move reneges on promises the company, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, made in a mediation process with the World Bank.

New reports from eastern Cambodia say a Vietnamese rubber company has illegally cleared swaths of land in Ratanakiri province belonging to local indigenous communities, in violation of a World Bank-mediated agreement to return the land to local residents. 

The state government says the projects will be financed through Public-Private Partnership.

The Lagos State Government says it will continue to create more man-made islands at its waterfront across the state, to further increase land availability for Housing and Infrastructural Development.

The Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Mr Ahmed Abdullahi, said this in Ikeja on Wednesday at the Year 2020 Ministerial Press Briefing to mark the first year of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration.

Kampong Thom provincial governor Sok Lou said on Wednesday that his province is facing a shortage of more than 10,000 workers due to mass migrations.

Lou noted that the shortage creates a problem because 27 companies are currently investing in 110,000ha of economic land concessions for agriculture.

Speaking at a press conference organised by the Royal Government Spokesperson Unit on provincial progress and work plans, he said Kampong Thom has over 290,000ha for rice cultivation.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon has urged companies that were granted economic land concessions by the government in Koh Kong province to collaborate fully with local authorities in protecting forest land.

The LAND-at-scale programme got a great response to the second call for ideas. The programme received 25 new ideas from 19 different countries. Support continues for enhancing land governance and tenure security. This is evident in the response and effort from embassies, NGOs and knowledge institutes.

Current LAND-at-scale portfolio status

In October 2019, approval was given to 13 promising ideas. LAND-at-scale has been working closely with embassies, knowledge institutes and NGOs to transform these ideas into land governance projects.

Companies are seeking to press ahead with investments on community lands or even take advantage of the pandemic to avoid the usual authorization requirements