Climate-resilient land use planning
At the Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA), experiences from the LAND-at-scale programme and projects’ in Rwanda, Uganda and Mozambique were shared.
Mr Leonard Kayonga, land use compliance and inspection specialist at the National Land Authority (NLA) shared his insights on the implementation of sustainable, climate-resilient land use planning at national level in Rwanda.
Mr Kayonga: “An important thing I learned is that in the land use planning process, Mozambique and Rwanda both employ private operators and in-house staff for data collection in the field, but also for the development of the district land use plans itself. Having a systematic land registration linked with an IT-system for land administration and land use planning enhances better service delivery and land use planning . Rwanda is a bit ahead of Uganda, Mozambique and most other African countries, but a lot still needs to be done.”
Participatory land use planning for increasing climate resilience is essential and needs more efforts for sustainable solutions
Input from citizens and experts
For climate resilient land use planning, Kadaster International underlines the importance of having input from citizens (land users/ landowners), and reliable geo-information and expert knowledge. Such information improves informed decision-making about sustainable land use in view of the socio-economic and environmental developments a country faces.
Increasing climate resilience
Mr Kayonga continues: “What I learned from Uganda and Mozambique is that participatory land use planning for increasing climate resilience is essential and needs more efforts for sustainable solutions”. To enhance a better understanding of planned land use, all land use plans at the district level in Rwanda are published on a digital geoportal that is open for everyone to access.
Enhancing participation is key
“In all 3 countries, climate change related challenges such as flooding, prolonged drought, depletion of natural resources, loss of biodiversity and land degradation need to be addressed in proper climate-resilient land use planning approach. Enhancing participation of citizens and stakeholders is key to incorporate in all steps of the planning process”, he concludes.
More information
- The CLPA was held in Addis Ababa on 21-24 November 2023.
- With the LAND-at-scale project in Rwanda , Kadaster International aims to support the National Land Authority with the implementation of sustainable and climate-resilient land use planning at the national level.
- Get to know more LAND-at-scale projects on our projects page.