Land and land-rights transactions for conservation and climate change resilience

Highlights:

• Land and land-right transactions, i.e. exchanges between willing buyers and willing sellers for land or specific rights attached to a parcel of land, have been used worldwide to foster biodiversity conservation. They encompass three types of tools: outright purchase, conservation easements and conservation leases.
• RESCCUE explored opportunities associated with the use of such transaction tools to strengthen the resilience of Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). A final report summarizes the main findings of a regional review and country-specific feasibility assessments. It provides recommendations to expand the use of land and land-rights transaction tools in the Pacific region. Policy briefs on how to foster the use of such tools in Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu are also available.
• In most PICTs, customary land, which is non-transferable, often represents the majority - up to 90%. On such land, long-term conservation leases are the most suitable, and several successful examples exist. Conservation easements can address the impermanence of leases, but they require a very specific legal and institutional context that is not commonly found in the region.
• Although outright purchase appears to have a more limited development potential for PICTs, due to low purchase opportunities and the financial resources needed, it has been used successfully in several countries.
• Such mechanisms cannot be successfully implemented without a thorough participatory process and the support of local communities.