Land Tenure Toolbox
About the Land Tenure Toolbox
Secure land tenure helps to promote long-term investments in sustainable land management and regenerative agricultural practices. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) adopted its first decision on land tenure in 2019. The Land Tenure Toolbox has been designed to provide governments, land managers, civil society and other stakeholders with easy access to the relevant body of knowledge and information with the aim of improving tenure security in the context of land degradation neutrality (LDN) and the implementation of the Convention.
Land is at the heart of sustainable development. We depend on healthy and productive land resources for our food, livelihoods, culture and well-being. However, the impacts of land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss are increasingly threatening food security, water availability, rural livelihoods and other critical ecosystem services. The UNCCD recognises that secure and equitable land tenure is an essential enabling factor in efforts to more effectively combat desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD).
Land tenure refers to the relationship among people, as individuals or groups, with respect to land. Land tenure is governed by rules or norms which define access rights as well as responsibilities and restrictions related to the use, control and transfer of land. In other words, tenure systems determine who can use what land resources for how long and under what conditions.
When people have secure land rights, whether formal or customary, they are more confident in enjoying the returns on investments in the long-term health and productivity of their land. For example, sustainable agriculture/forestry practices and ecosystem restoration initiatives have been shown to contribute to multiple development priorities, particularly when the legitimate land rights of indigenous peoples, women, and other marginalised groups are recognised, documented and enforced.