LANDac International Conference 2022 Session Summary

This LANDac session drew on the Land Portal Foundation’s experience working at the crossroads of land governance and open data. With the recent launch of the Land Module, a first of its kind global index on land data, it was a good moment to pause, reflect, and take lessons from the work that we have done with the Global Data Barometer, Open Data Charter, and Open Government Partnership have done over the past 2.5 years. One of our core beliefs is that land data that is open and accessible can benefit all stakeholders and make land governance more democratic.

The session co-organised by TMG research and the Danish Institute of Human Rights looked at the interlinkages between responsible land governance and human rights. Participants discussed critical questions such as: can a more explicit embedding of land rights work in Human Rights correct overly simplistic, technical framings? Can it reaffirm the legally binding human rights foundation of voluntary responsible land governance (i.e. the VGGT)?

LANDac International Conference 2022 Session Summary

LANDac International Conference 2022 Session Summary

The National Assembly (NA) on June 24 adopted the Forest and Nature Conservation Bill of Bhutan 2021 with 38 ‘Yes’, and two “ No” votes and two abstained.

Chairperson of the Environment and Climate Change Committee, Gyem Dorji, said that the Act, which was enacted in 1995, was not amended for more than two decades.

“During these years, the forest department was guided by executive orders and notifications, which were incorporated into rules, regulations, and guidelines,” he said.

Banner image: Aerial photo taken on June 27, 2022 shows villagers working in terraced fields in Huojiagou Village of Shimen Town in Lulong County, north China's Hebei Province. Recent years Lulong County has implemented the land transformation of barren hills and wild grass land into terraced fields. Farming facilities including field paths and drainage channels have been constructed to improve agricultural production conditions. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)

Known as the rice basket of the country, the delta now sees houses tumbling into rivers and livelihoods lost

When a riverbank subsided and gave way, Tran Van Bi’s house collapsed into a river in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta four years ago. Everything his family had accumulated over 32 years was gone in an instant.