Explore Human Rights and VGGT relations

States should: 1. Recognize and respect all legitimate tenure right holders and their rights. They should take reasonable measures to identify, record and respect legitimate tenure right holders and their rights, whether formally recorded or not; to refrain from infringement of tenure rights of others; and to meet the duties associated with tenure rights.

States should: 2. Safeguard legitimate tenure rights against threats and infringements. They should protect tenure right holders against the arbitrary loss of their tenure rights, including forced evictions that are inconsistent with their existing obligations under national and international law.

States should: Prevent tenure disputes, violent conflicts and corruption. They should take active measures to prevent tenure disputes from arising and from escalating into violent conflicts. They should endeavour to prevent corruption in all forms, at all levels, and in all settings.

Non-state actors including business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the human rights and legitimate tenure rights of others. They should include appropriate risk management systems to prevent and address adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should provide for and cooperate in non-judicial mechanisms to provide remedy, including effective operational-level grievance mechanisms, where appropriate, where they have caused or contributed to adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should identify and assess any actual or potential impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights in which they may be involved. States, in accordance with their international obligations, should provide access to effective judicial remedies for negative impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises. Where transnational corporations are involved, their home States have roles to play in assisting both those corporations and host States to ensure that businesses are not involved in abuse of human rights and legitimate tenure rights. States should take additional steps to protect against abuses of human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises that are owned or controlled by the State, or that receive substantial support and service from State agencies.

States should strive to ensure responsible governance of tenure because land, fisheries and forests are central for the realization of human rights, food security, poverty eradication, sustainable livelihoods, social stability, housing security, rural development, and social and economic growth.

Based on an examination of tenure rights in line with national law, States should provide legal recognition for legitimate tenure rights not currently protected by law. Policies and laws that ensure tenure rights should be non-discriminatory and gender sensitive. Consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines, States should define through widely publicized rules the categories of rights that are considered legitimate. All forms of tenure should provide all persons with a degree of tenure security which guarantees legal protection against forced evictions that are inconsistent with States’ existing obligations under national and international law, and against harassment and other threats.

States should protect legitimate tenure rights, and ensure that people are not arbitrarily evicted and that their legitimate tenure rights are not otherwise extinguished or infringed

States should provide and maintain policy, legal and organizational frameworks that promote responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests. These frameworks are dependent on, and are supported by broader reforms to the legal system, public service and judicial authorities

States should ensure that policy, legal and organizational frameworks for tenure governance recognize and respect, in accordance with national laws, legitimate tenure rights including legitimate customary tenure rights that are not currently protected by law; and facilitate, promote and protect the exercise of tenure rights. Frameworks should reflect the social, cultural, economic and environmental significance of land, fisheries and forests. States should provide frameworks that are non-discriminatory and promote social equity and gender equality. Frameworks should reflect the interconnected relationships between land, fisheries and forests and their uses, and establish an integrated approach to their administration

States should recognize that policies and laws on tenure rights operate in the broader political, legal, social, cultural, religious, economic and environmental contexts. Where the broader contexts change, and where reforms to tenure are therefore required, States should seek to develop national consensus on proposed reforms.

When States recognize or allocate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests, they should establish, in accordance with national laws, safeguards to avoid infringing on or extinguishing tenure rights of others, including legitimate tenure rights that are not currently protected by law. In particular, safeguards should protect women and the vulnerable who hold subsidiary tenure rights, such as gathering rights.

Where States intend to recognize or allocate tenure rights, they should first identify all existing tenure rights and right holders, whether recorded or not. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, smallholders and anyone else who could be affected should be included in the consultation process, consistent with paragraphs 3B.6 and 9.9. States should provide access to justice, consistent with paragraph 4.9 if people believe their tenure rights are not recognized.

Where States own or control land, fisheries and forests, the legitimate tenure rights of individuals and communities, including where applicable those with customary tenure systems, should be recognized, respected and protected, consistent with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. To this end, categories of legitimate tenure rights should be clearly defined and publicized, through a transparent process, and in accordance with national law.

Noting that there are publicly-owned land, fisheries and forests that are collectively used and managed (in some national contexts referred to as commons), States should, where applicable, recognize and protect such publicly-owned land, fisheries and forests and their related systems of collective use and management, including in processes of allocation by the State.

States have the power to allocate tenure rights in various forms, from limited use to full ownership. Policies should recognize the range of tenure rights and right holders. Policies should specify the means of allocation of rights, such as allocation based on historical use or other means. Where necessary, those who are allocated tenure rights should be provided with support so they can enjoy their rights. States should determine whether they retain any form of control over land, fisheries and forests that have been allocated.

State and non-state actors should acknowledge that land, fisheries and forests have social, cultural, spiritual, economic, environmental and political value to indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems.

States should provide appropriate recognition and protection of the legitimate tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, consistent with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. Such recognition should take into account the land, fisheries and forests that are used exclusively by a community and those that are shared, and respect the general principles of responsible governance. Information on any such recognition should be publicized in an accessible location, in an appropriate form which is understandable and in applicable languages.

Where indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems have legitimate tenure rights to the ancestral lands on which they live, States should recognize and protect these rights. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should not be forcibly evicted from such ancestral lands.

States should consider adapting their policy, legal and organizational frameworks to recognize tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems. Where constitutional or legal reforms strengthen the rights of women and place them in conflict with custom, all parties should cooperate to accommodate such changes in the customary tenure systems.

States should, in drafting tenure policies and laws, take into account the social, cultural, spiritual, economic and environmental values of land, fisheries and forests held under tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems. There should be full and effective participation of all members or representatives of affected communities, including vulnerable and marginalized members, when developing policies and laws related to tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems

States should protect indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems against the unauthorized use of their land, fisheries and forests by others. Where a community does not object, States should assist to formally document and publicize information on the nature and location of land, fisheries and forests used and controlled by the community. Where tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems are formally documented, they should be recorded with other public, private and communal tenure rights to prevent competing claims.

States should respect and promote customary approaches used by indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems to resolving tenure conflicts within communities consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. For land, fisheries and forests that are used by more than one community, means of resolving conflict between communities should be strengthened or developed.

Where informal tenure to land, fisheries and forests exists, States should acknowledge it in a manner that respects existing formal rights under national law and in ways that recognize the reality of the situation and promote social, economic and environmental well-being. States should promote policies and laws to provide recognition to such informal tenure. The process of establishing these policies and laws should be participatory, gender sensitive and strive to make provision for technical and legal support to affected communities and individuals. In particular, States should acknowledge the emergence of informal tenure arising from large-scale migrations.

States should facilitate the operations of efficient and transparent markets to promote participation under equal conditions and opportunities for mutually beneficial transfers of tenure rights which lessen conflict and instability; promote the sustainable use of land, fisheries and forests and conservation of the environment; promote the fair and equitable use of genetic resources associated with land, fisheries and forests in accordance with applicable treaties; expand economic opportunities; and increase participation by the poor. States should take measures to prevent undesirable impacts on local communities, indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups that may arise from, inter alia, land speculation, land concentration and abuse of customary forms of tenure. States and other parties should recognize that values, such as social, cultural and environmental values, are not always well served by unregulated markets. States should protect the wider interests of societies through appropriate policies and laws on tenure.

Responsible investments should do no harm, safeguard against dispossession of legitimate tenure right holders and environmental damage, and should respect human rights. Such investments should be made working in partnership with relevant levels of government and local holders of tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests, respecting their legitimate tenure rights. They should strive to further contribute to policy objectives, such as poverty eradication; food security and sustainable use of land, fisheries and forests; support local communities; contribute to rural development; promote and secure local food production systems; enhance social and economic sustainable development; create employment; diversify livelihoods; provide benefits to the country and its people, including the poor and most vulnerable; and comply with national laws and international core labour standards as well as, when applicable, obligations related to standards of the International Labour Organization

States should provide safeguards to protect legitimate tenure rights, human rights, livelihoods, food security and the environment from risks that could arise from large-scale transactions in tenure rights. Such safeguards could include introducing ceilings on permissible land transactions and regulating how transfers exceeding a certain scale should be approved, such as by parliamentary approval. States should consider promoting a range of production and investment models that do not result in the large-scale transfer of tenure rights to investors, and should encourage partnerships with local tenure right holders.

When investments involving large-scale transactions of tenure rights, including acquisitions and partnership agreements, are being considered, States should strive to make provisions for different parties to conduct prior independent assessments on the potential positive and negative impacts that those investments could have on tenure rights, food security and the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, livelihoods and the environment. States should ensure that existing legitimate tenure rights and claims, including those of customary and informal tenure, are systematically and impartially identified, as well as the rights and livelihoods of other people also affected by the investment, such as small-scale producers. This process should be conducted through consultation with all affected parties consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. States should ensure that existing legitimate tenure rights are not compromised by such investments.

States should ensure that the planning and process for expropriation are transparent and participatory. Anyone likely to be affected should be identified, and properly informed and consulted at all stages. Consultations, consistent with the principles of these Guidelines, should provide information regarding possible alternative approaches to achieve the public purpose, and should have regard to strategies to minimize disruption of livelihoods. States should be sensitive where proposed expropriations involve areas of particular cultural, religious or environmental significance, or where the land, fisheries and forests in question are particularly important to the livelihoods of the poor or vulnerable.

Where evictions are considered to be justified for a public purpose as a result of expropriation of land, fisheries and forests, States should conduct such evictions and treat all affected parties in a manner consistent with their relevant obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights.

States should provide recording systems appropriate for their particular circumstances, including the available human and financial resources. Socio-culturally appropriate ways of recording rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should be developed and used. In order to enhance transparency and compatibility with other sources of information for spatial planning and other purposes, each State should strive to develop an integrated framework that includes existing recording systems and other spatial information systems. In each jurisdiction, records of tenure rights of the State and public sector, private sector, and indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should be kept within the integrated recording system. Whenever it is not possible to record tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, or occupations in informal settlements, particular care should be taken to prevent the registration of competing rights in those areas

Implementing agencies should adopt simplified procedures and locally suitable technology to reduce the costs and time required for delivering services. The spatial accuracy for parcels and other spatial units should be sufficient for their identification to meet local needs, with increased spatial accuracy being provided if required over time. To facilitate the use of records of tenure rights, implementing agencies should link information on the rights, the holders of those rights, and the spatial units related to those rights. Records should be indexed by spatial units as well as by holders to allow competing or overlapping rights to be identified. As part of broader public information sharing, records of tenure rights should be available to State agencies and local governments to improve their services. Information should be shared in accordance with national standards, and include disaggregated data on tenure rights.

States should ensure that appropriate systems are used for the fair and timely valuation of tenure rights for specific purposes, such as operation of markets, security for loans, transactions in tenure rights as a result of investments, expropriation and taxation. Such systems should promote broader social, economic, environmental and sustainable development objectives.

Policies and laws related to valuation should strive to ensure that valuation systems take into account non-market values, such as social, cultural, religious, spiritual and environmental values where applicable

States and other parties should develop and publicize national standards for valuation for governmental, commercial and other purposes. National standards should be consistent with relevant international standards. Training of staff should include methodologies and international standards.

Regulated spatial planning affects tenure rights by legally constraining their use. States should conduct regulated spatial planning, and monitor and enforce compliance with those plans, including balanced and sustainable territorial development, in a way that promotes the objectives of these Guidelines. In this regard, spatial planning should reconcile and harmonize different objectives of the use of land, fisheries and forests.

States should ensure that regulated spatial planning is conducted in a manner that recognizes the interconnected relationships between land, fisheries and forests and their uses, including the gendered aspects of their uses. States should strive towards reconciling and prioritizing public, community and private interests and accommodate the requirements for various uses, such as rural, agricultural, nomadic, urban and environmental. Spatial planning should consider all tenure rights, including overlapping and periodic rights. Appropriate risk assessments for spatial planning should be required. National, regional and local spatial plans should be coordinated

States should provide access through impartial and competent judicial and administrative bodies to timely, affordable and effective means of resolving disputes over tenure rights, including alternative means of resolving such disputes, and should provide effective remedies and a right to appeal. Such remedies should be promptly enforced. States should make available, to all, mechanisms to avoid or resolve potential disputes at the preliminary stage, either within the implementing agency or externally. Dispute resolution services should be accessible to all, women and men, in terms of location, language and procedures.

States should strengthen and develop alternative forms of dispute resolution, especially at the local level. Where customary or other established forms of dispute settlement exist, they should provide for fair, reliable, accessible and non-discriminatory ways of promptly resolving disputes over tenure rights

States should cooperate, in the framework of appropriate mechanisms and with the participation of affected parties, in addressing tenure issues related to land, fisheries and forests which traverse national boundaries. States should ensure that all actions are consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. In States where transboundary matters related to tenure rights arise, parties should work together to protect such tenure rights, livelihoods and food security of the migrating populations while on their respective territories.

Where appropriate, States should harmonize legal standards of tenure governance, in accordance with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. Where appropriate, this should be coordinated with relevant regional bodies and with affected parties. States, with the participation of the affected parties as appropriate, should develop or strengthen existing international measures to administer tenure rights that cross international boundaries. Where appropriate, they should coordinate with relevant regional bodies. This should be done especially to protect the livelihoods and, in line with paragraph 4.8, the rights of all those affected.

States should ensure that the legitimate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests of all individuals, communities or peoples likely to be affected, with an emphasis on farmers, small-scale food producers, and vulnerable and marginalized people, are respected and protected by laws, policies, strategies and actions with the aim to prevent and respond to the effects of climate change consistent with their respective obligations, as applicable, in terms of relevant climate change framework agreements.

All parties should ensure that tenure aspects of land, fisheries and forests are addressed when preventing and preparing for natural disasters and in their responses to them. Regulatory frameworks for tenure, including spatial planning, should be designed to avoid or minimize the potential impacts of natural disasters

States should address tenure in disaster prevention and preparedness programmes. Information on legitimate tenure rights should be collected for areas that could be affected through a process consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. Systems for recording legitimate tenure rights should be resilient to natural disasters, including off-site storage of records, to allow right holders to prove their rights and relocate their parcels and other spatial units. States should strive to identify areas for the temporary resettlement of people who could be displaced by natural disasters, and rules should be established for providing tenure security in such areas

States and other parties should address tenure in the emergency response phase. Any provision of alternative land, fisheries, forests and livelihoods for displaced persons should not jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of others. Legitimate tenure rights of displaced persons should also be recognized, respected and protected. Information on tenure rights and unauthorized use should be disseminated to all affected persons

States and other parties should address tenure during the reconstruction phase. Persons who are temporarily displaced should be assisted in voluntarily, safely and with dignity returning to their place of origin. Means to resolve disputes over tenure rights should be provided. Where boundaries of parcels and other spatial units are to be re-established, this should be done consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. Where people are unable to return to their place of origin, they should be permanently resettled elsewhere. Such resettlement should be negotiated with host communities to ensure that the people who are displaced are provided with secure access to alternative land, fisheries, forests and livelihoods in ways that do not jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of others.

All parties should take steps to prevent and eliminate issues of tenure of land, fisheries and forests as a cause of conflict and should ensure that aspects of tenure are addressed before, during and after conflict, including in situations of occupation where parties should act in accordance with applicable international humanitarian law.

When conflicts arise, States and other parties should strive to respect and protect existing legitimate tenure rights and guarantee that these are not extinguished by other parties. Consistent with existing obligations under relevant national and international law, States should not recognize tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests acquired, within their territories, through forceful and/or violent means. Refugees and displaced persons and others affected by conflict should be settled in safe conditions in ways that protect the tenure rights of host communities. Violations of tenure rights should be documented and, where appropriate, subsequently remedied. Official records of tenure rights should be protected against destruction and theft in order to provide evidence for subsequent processes to address such violations and facilitate possible corrective action, and in areas where such records do not exist, the existing tenure rights should be documented as best as possible in a gender-sensitive manner, including through oral histories and testimonies. Legitimate tenure rights of refugees and displaced persons should be recognized, respected and protected. Information on tenure rights and unauthorized use should be disseminated to all affected persons.

States should: 1. Recognize and respect all legitimate tenure right holders and their rights. They should take reasonable measures to identify, record and respect legitimate tenure right holders and their rights, whether formally recorded or not; to refrain from infringement of tenure rights of others; and to meet the duties associated with tenure rights.

States should: 2. Safeguard legitimate tenure rights against threats and infringements. They should protect tenure right holders against the arbitrary loss of their tenure rights, including forced evictions that are inconsistent with their existing obligations under national and international law.

States should: Prevent tenure disputes, violent conflicts and corruption. They should take active measures to prevent tenure disputes from arising and from escalating into violent conflicts. They should endeavour to prevent corruption in all forms, at all levels, and in all settings.

Non-state actors including business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the human rights and legitimate tenure rights of others. They should include appropriate risk management systems to prevent and address adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should provide for and cooperate in non-judicial mechanisms to provide remedy, including effective operational-level grievance mechanisms, where appropriate, where they have caused or contributed to adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should identify and assess any actual or potential impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights in which they may be involved. States, in accordance with their international obligations, should provide access to effective judicial remedies for negative impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises. Where transnational corporations are involved, their home States have roles to play in assisting both those corporations and host States to ensure that businesses are not involved in abuse of human rights and legitimate tenure rights. States should take additional steps to protect against abuses of human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises that are owned or controlled by the State, or that receive substantial support and service from State agencies.

States should strive to ensure responsible governance of tenure because land, fisheries and forests are central for the realization of human rights, food security, poverty eradication, sustainable livelihoods, social stability, housing security, rural development, and social and economic growth.

Based on an examination of tenure rights in line with national law, States should provide legal recognition for legitimate tenure rights not currently protected by law. Policies and laws that ensure tenure rights should be non-discriminatory and gender sensitive. Consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines, States should define through widely publicized rules the categories of rights that are considered legitimate. All forms of tenure should provide all persons with a degree of tenure security which guarantees legal protection against forced evictions that are inconsistent with States’ existing obligations under national and international law, and against harassment and other threats.

States should protect legitimate tenure rights, and ensure that people are not arbitrarily evicted and that their legitimate tenure rights are not otherwise extinguished or infringed

States should provide and maintain policy, legal and organizational frameworks that promote responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests. These frameworks are dependent on, and are supported by broader reforms to the legal system, public service and judicial authorities

States should ensure that policy, legal and organizational frameworks for tenure governance recognize and respect, in accordance with national laws, legitimate tenure rights including legitimate customary tenure rights that are not currently protected by law; and facilitate, promote and protect the exercise of tenure rights. Frameworks should reflect the social, cultural, economic and environmental significance of land, fisheries and forests. States should provide frameworks that are non-discriminatory and promote social equity and gender equality. Frameworks should reflect the interconnected relationships between land, fisheries and forests and their uses, and establish an integrated approach to their administration

States should recognize that policies and laws on tenure rights operate in the broader political, legal, social, cultural, religious, economic and environmental contexts. Where the broader contexts change, and where reforms to tenure are therefore required, States should seek to develop national consensus on proposed reforms.

When States recognize or allocate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests, they should establish, in accordance with national laws, safeguards to avoid infringing on or extinguishing tenure rights of others, including legitimate tenure rights that are not currently protected by law. In particular, safeguards should protect women and the vulnerable who hold subsidiary tenure rights, such as gathering rights.

Where States intend to recognize or allocate tenure rights, they should first identify all existing tenure rights and right holders, whether recorded or not. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, smallholders and anyone else who could be affected should be included in the consultation process, consistent with paragraphs 3B.6 and 9.9. States should provide access to justice, consistent with paragraph 4.9 if people believe their tenure rights are not recognized.

Where States own or control land, fisheries and forests, the legitimate tenure rights of individuals and communities, including where applicable those with customary tenure systems, should be recognized, respected and protected, consistent with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. To this end, categories of legitimate tenure rights should be clearly defined and publicized, through a transparent process, and in accordance with national law.

Noting that there are publicly-owned land, fisheries and forests that are collectively used and managed (in some national contexts referred to as commons), States should, where applicable, recognize and protect such publicly-owned land, fisheries and forests and their related systems of collective use and management, including in processes of allocation by the State.

States have the power to allocate tenure rights in various forms, from limited use to full ownership. Policies should recognize the range of tenure rights and right holders. Policies should specify the means of allocation of rights, such as allocation based on historical use or other means. Where necessary, those who are allocated tenure rights should be provided with support so they can enjoy their rights. States should determine whether they retain any form of control over land, fisheries and forests that have been allocated.

State and non-state actors should acknowledge that land, fisheries and forests have social, cultural, spiritual, economic, environmental and political value to indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems.

States should provide appropriate recognition and protection of the legitimate tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, consistent with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. Such recognition should take into account the land, fisheries and forests that are used exclusively by a community and those that are shared, and respect the general principles of responsible governance. Information on any such recognition should be publicized in an accessible location, in an appropriate form which is understandable and in applicable languages.

Where indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems have legitimate tenure rights to the ancestral lands on which they live, States should recognize and protect these rights. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should not be forcibly evicted from such ancestral lands.

States should consider adapting their policy, legal and organizational frameworks to recognize tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems. Where constitutional or legal reforms strengthen the rights of women and place them in conflict with custom, all parties should cooperate to accommodate such changes in the customary tenure systems.

States should, in drafting tenure policies and laws, take into account the social, cultural, spiritual, economic and environmental values of land, fisheries and forests held under tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems. There should be full and effective participation of all members or representatives of affected communities, including vulnerable and marginalized members, when developing policies and laws related to tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems

States should protect indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems against the unauthorized use of their land, fisheries and forests by others. Where a community does not object, States should assist to formally document and publicize information on the nature and location of land, fisheries and forests used and controlled by the community. Where tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems are formally documented, they should be recorded with other public, private and communal tenure rights to prevent competing claims.

States should respect and promote customary approaches used by indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems to resolving tenure conflicts within communities consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. For land, fisheries and forests that are used by more than one community, means of resolving conflict between communities should be strengthened or developed.

Where informal tenure to land, fisheries and forests exists, States should acknowledge it in a manner that respects existing formal rights under national law and in ways that recognize the reality of the situation and promote social, economic and environmental well-being. States should promote policies and laws to provide recognition to such informal tenure. The process of establishing these policies and laws should be participatory, gender sensitive and strive to make provision for technical and legal support to affected communities and individuals. In particular, States should acknowledge the emergence of informal tenure arising from large-scale migrations.

States should facilitate the operations of efficient and transparent markets to promote participation under equal conditions and opportunities for mutually beneficial transfers of tenure rights which lessen conflict and instability; promote the sustainable use of land, fisheries and forests and conservation of the environment; promote the fair and equitable use of genetic resources associated with land, fisheries and forests in accordance with applicable treaties; expand economic opportunities; and increase participation by the poor. States should take measures to prevent undesirable impacts on local communities, indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups that may arise from, inter alia, land speculation, land concentration and abuse of customary forms of tenure. States and other parties should recognize that values, such as social, cultural and environmental values, are not always well served by unregulated markets. States should protect the wider interests of societies through appropriate policies and laws on tenure.

Responsible investments should do no harm, safeguard against dispossession of legitimate tenure right holders and environmental damage, and should respect human rights. Such investments should be made working in partnership with relevant levels of government and local holders of tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests, respecting their legitimate tenure rights. They should strive to further contribute to policy objectives, such as poverty eradication; food security and sustainable use of land, fisheries and forests; support local communities; contribute to rural development; promote and secure local food production systems; enhance social and economic sustainable development; create employment; diversify livelihoods; provide benefits to the country and its people, including the poor and most vulnerable; and comply with national laws and international core labour standards as well as, when applicable, obligations related to standards of the International Labour Organization

States should provide safeguards to protect legitimate tenure rights, human rights, livelihoods, food security and the environment from risks that could arise from large-scale transactions in tenure rights. Such safeguards could include introducing ceilings on permissible land transactions and regulating how transfers exceeding a certain scale should be approved, such as by parliamentary approval. States should consider promoting a range of production and investment models that do not result in the large-scale transfer of tenure rights to investors, and should encourage partnerships with local tenure right holders.

When investments involving large-scale transactions of tenure rights, including acquisitions and partnership agreements, are being considered, States should strive to make provisions for different parties to conduct prior independent assessments on the potential positive and negative impacts that those investments could have on tenure rights, food security and the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, livelihoods and the environment. States should ensure that existing legitimate tenure rights and claims, including those of customary and informal tenure, are systematically and impartially identified, as well as the rights and livelihoods of other people also affected by the investment, such as small-scale producers. This process should be conducted through consultation with all affected parties consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. States should ensure that existing legitimate tenure rights are not compromised by such investments.

States should ensure that the planning and process for expropriation are transparent and participatory. Anyone likely to be affected should be identified, and properly informed and consulted at all stages. Consultations, consistent with the principles of these Guidelines, should provide information regarding possible alternative approaches to achieve the public purpose, and should have regard to strategies to minimize disruption of livelihoods. States should be sensitive where proposed expropriations involve areas of particular cultural, religious or environmental significance, or where the land, fisheries and forests in question are particularly important to the livelihoods of the poor or vulnerable.

Where evictions are considered to be justified for a public purpose as a result of expropriation of land, fisheries and forests, States should conduct such evictions and treat all affected parties in a manner consistent with their relevant obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights.

States should provide recording systems appropriate for their particular circumstances, including the available human and financial resources. Socio-culturally appropriate ways of recording rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should be developed and used. In order to enhance transparency and compatibility with other sources of information for spatial planning and other purposes, each State should strive to develop an integrated framework that includes existing recording systems and other spatial information systems. In each jurisdiction, records of tenure rights of the State and public sector, private sector, and indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should be kept within the integrated recording system. Whenever it is not possible to record tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, or occupations in informal settlements, particular care should be taken to prevent the registration of competing rights in those areas

Implementing agencies should adopt simplified procedures and locally suitable technology to reduce the costs and time required for delivering services. The spatial accuracy for parcels and other spatial units should be sufficient for their identification to meet local needs, with increased spatial accuracy being provided if required over time. To facilitate the use of records of tenure rights, implementing agencies should link information on the rights, the holders of those rights, and the spatial units related to those rights. Records should be indexed by spatial units as well as by holders to allow competing or overlapping rights to be identified. As part of broader public information sharing, records of tenure rights should be available to State agencies and local governments to improve their services. Information should be shared in accordance with national standards, and include disaggregated data on tenure rights.

States should ensure that appropriate systems are used for the fair and timely valuation of tenure rights for specific purposes, such as operation of markets, security for loans, transactions in tenure rights as a result of investments, expropriation and taxation. Such systems should promote broader social, economic, environmental and sustainable development objectives.

Policies and laws related to valuation should strive to ensure that valuation systems take into account non-market values, such as social, cultural, religious, spiritual and environmental values where applicable

States and other parties should develop and publicize national standards for valuation for governmental, commercial and other purposes. National standards should be consistent with relevant international standards. Training of staff should include methodologies and international standards.

Regulated spatial planning affects tenure rights by legally constraining their use. States should conduct regulated spatial planning, and monitor and enforce compliance with those plans, including balanced and sustainable territorial development, in a way that promotes the objectives of these Guidelines. In this regard, spatial planning should reconcile and harmonize different objectives of the use of land, fisheries and forests.

States should ensure that regulated spatial planning is conducted in a manner that recognizes the interconnected relationships between land, fisheries and forests and their uses, including the gendered aspects of their uses. States should strive towards reconciling and prioritizing public, community and private interests and accommodate the requirements for various uses, such as rural, agricultural, nomadic, urban and environmental. Spatial planning should consider all tenure rights, including overlapping and periodic rights. Appropriate risk assessments for spatial planning should be required. National, regional and local spatial plans should be coordinated

States should provide access through impartial and competent judicial and administrative bodies to timely, affordable and effective means of resolving disputes over tenure rights, including alternative means of resolving such disputes, and should provide effective remedies and a right to appeal. Such remedies should be promptly enforced. States should make available, to all, mechanisms to avoid or resolve potential disputes at the preliminary stage, either within the implementing agency or externally. Dispute resolution services should be accessible to all, women and men, in terms of location, language and procedures.

States should strengthen and develop alternative forms of dispute resolution, especially at the local level. Where customary or other established forms of dispute settlement exist, they should provide for fair, reliable, accessible and non-discriminatory ways of promptly resolving disputes over tenure rights

States should cooperate, in the framework of appropriate mechanisms and with the participation of affected parties, in addressing tenure issues related to land, fisheries and forests which traverse national boundaries. States should ensure that all actions are consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. In States where transboundary matters related to tenure rights arise, parties should work together to protect such tenure rights, livelihoods and food security of the migrating populations while on their respective territories.

Where appropriate, States should harmonize legal standards of tenure governance, in accordance with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. Where appropriate, this should be coordinated with relevant regional bodies and with affected parties. States, with the participation of the affected parties as appropriate, should develop or strengthen existing international measures to administer tenure rights that cross international boundaries. Where appropriate, they should coordinate with relevant regional bodies. This should be done especially to protect the livelihoods and, in line with paragraph 4.8, the rights of all those affected.

States should ensure that the legitimate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests of all individuals, communities or peoples likely to be affected, with an emphasis on farmers, small-scale food producers, and vulnerable and marginalized people, are respected and protected by laws, policies, strategies and actions with the aim to prevent and respond to the effects of climate change consistent with their respective obligations, as applicable, in terms of relevant climate change framework agreements.

All parties should ensure that tenure aspects of land, fisheries and forests are addressed when preventing and preparing for natural disasters and in their responses to them. Regulatory frameworks for tenure, including spatial planning, should be designed to avoid or minimize the potential impacts of natural disasters

States should address tenure in disaster prevention and preparedness programmes. Information on legitimate tenure rights should be collected for areas that could be affected through a process consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. Systems for recording legitimate tenure rights should be resilient to natural disasters, including off-site storage of records, to allow right holders to prove their rights and relocate their parcels and other spatial units. States should strive to identify areas for the temporary resettlement of people who could be displaced by natural disasters, and rules should be established for providing tenure security in such areas

States and other parties should address tenure in the emergency response phase. Any provision of alternative land, fisheries, forests and livelihoods for displaced persons should not jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of others. Legitimate tenure rights of displaced persons should also be recognized, respected and protected. Information on tenure rights and unauthorized use should be disseminated to all affected persons

States and other parties should address tenure during the reconstruction phase. Persons who are temporarily displaced should be assisted in voluntarily, safely and with dignity returning to their place of origin. Means to resolve disputes over tenure rights should be provided. Where boundaries of parcels and other spatial units are to be re-established, this should be done consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. Where people are unable to return to their place of origin, they should be permanently resettled elsewhere. Such resettlement should be negotiated with host communities to ensure that the people who are displaced are provided with secure access to alternative land, fisheries, forests and livelihoods in ways that do not jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of others.

All parties should take steps to prevent and eliminate issues of tenure of land, fisheries and forests as a cause of conflict and should ensure that aspects of tenure are addressed before, during and after conflict, including in situations of occupation where parties should act in accordance with applicable international humanitarian law.

When conflicts arise, States and other parties should strive to respect and protect existing legitimate tenure rights and guarantee that these are not extinguished by other parties. Consistent with existing obligations under relevant national and international law, States should not recognize tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests acquired, within their territories, through forceful and/or violent means. Refugees and displaced persons and others affected by conflict should be settled in safe conditions in ways that protect the tenure rights of host communities. Violations of tenure rights should be documented and, where appropriate, subsequently remedied. Official records of tenure rights should be protected against destruction and theft in order to provide evidence for subsequent processes to address such violations and facilitate possible corrective action, and in areas where such records do not exist, the existing tenure rights should be documented as best as possible in a gender-sensitive manner, including through oral histories and testimonies. Legitimate tenure rights of refugees and displaced persons should be recognized, respected and protected. Information on tenure rights and unauthorized use should be disseminated to all affected persons.

States should: 1. Recognize and respect all legitimate tenure right holders and their rights. They should take reasonable measures to identify, record and respect legitimate tenure right holders and their rights, whether formally recorded or not; to refrain from infringement of tenure rights of others; and to meet the duties associated with tenure rights.

States should: 2. Safeguard legitimate tenure rights against threats and infringements. They should protect tenure right holders against the arbitrary loss of their tenure rights, including forced evictions that are inconsistent with their existing obligations under national and international law.

States should: Prevent tenure disputes, violent conflicts and corruption. They should take active measures to prevent tenure disputes from arising and from escalating into violent conflicts. They should endeavour to prevent corruption in all forms, at all levels, and in all settings.

Non-state actors including business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the human rights and legitimate tenure rights of others. They should include appropriate risk management systems to prevent and address adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should provide for and cooperate in non-judicial mechanisms to provide remedy, including effective operational-level grievance mechanisms, where appropriate, where they have caused or contributed to adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should identify and assess any actual or potential impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights in which they may be involved. States, in accordance with their international obligations, should provide access to effective judicial remedies for negative impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises. Where transnational corporations are involved, their home States have roles to play in assisting both those corporations and host States to ensure that businesses are not involved in abuse of human rights and legitimate tenure rights. States should take additional steps to protect against abuses of human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises that are owned or controlled by the State, or that receive substantial support and service from State agencies.

States should strive to ensure responsible governance of tenure because land, fisheries and forests are central for the realization of human rights, food security, poverty eradication, sustainable livelihoods, social stability, housing security, rural development, and social and economic growth.

Based on an examination of tenure rights in line with national law, States should provide legal recognition for legitimate tenure rights not currently protected by law. Policies and laws that ensure tenure rights should be non-discriminatory and gender sensitive. Consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines, States should define through widely publicized rules the categories of rights that are considered legitimate. All forms of tenure should provide all persons with a degree of tenure security which guarantees legal protection against forced evictions that are inconsistent with States’ existing obligations under national and international law, and against harassment and other threats.

States should protect legitimate tenure rights, and ensure that people are not arbitrarily evicted and that their legitimate tenure rights are not otherwise extinguished or infringed

States should provide and maintain policy, legal and organizational frameworks that promote responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests. These frameworks are dependent on, and are supported by broader reforms to the legal system, public service and judicial authorities

States should ensure that policy, legal and organizational frameworks for tenure governance recognize and respect, in accordance with national laws, legitimate tenure rights including legitimate customary tenure rights that are not currently protected by law; and facilitate, promote and protect the exercise of tenure rights. Frameworks should reflect the social, cultural, economic and environmental significance of land, fisheries and forests. States should provide frameworks that are non-discriminatory and promote social equity and gender equality. Frameworks should reflect the interconnected relationships between land, fisheries and forests and their uses, and establish an integrated approach to their administration

States should recognize that policies and laws on tenure rights operate in the broader political, legal, social, cultural, religious, economic and environmental contexts. Where the broader contexts change, and where reforms to tenure are therefore required, States should seek to develop national consensus on proposed reforms.

When States recognize or allocate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests, they should establish, in accordance with national laws, safeguards to avoid infringing on or extinguishing tenure rights of others, including legitimate tenure rights that are not currently protected by law. In particular, safeguards should protect women and the vulnerable who hold subsidiary tenure rights, such as gathering rights.

Where States intend to recognize or allocate tenure rights, they should first identify all existing tenure rights and right holders, whether recorded or not. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, smallholders and anyone else who could be affected should be included in the consultation process, consistent with paragraphs 3B.6 and 9.9. States should provide access to justice, consistent with paragraph 4.9 if people believe their tenure rights are not recognized.

Where States own or control land, fisheries and forests, the legitimate tenure rights of individuals and communities, including where applicable those with customary tenure systems, should be recognized, respected and protected, consistent with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. To this end, categories of legitimate tenure rights should be clearly defined and publicized, through a transparent process, and in accordance with national law.

Noting that there are publicly-owned land, fisheries and forests that are collectively used and managed (in some national contexts referred to as commons), States should, where applicable, recognize and protect such publicly-owned land, fisheries and forests and their related systems of collective use and management, including in processes of allocation by the State.

States have the power to allocate tenure rights in various forms, from limited use to full ownership. Policies should recognize the range of tenure rights and right holders. Policies should specify the means of allocation of rights, such as allocation based on historical use or other means. Where necessary, those who are allocated tenure rights should be provided with support so they can enjoy their rights. States should determine whether they retain any form of control over land, fisheries and forests that have been allocated.

State and non-state actors should acknowledge that land, fisheries and forests have social, cultural, spiritual, economic, environmental and political value to indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems.

States should provide appropriate recognition and protection of the legitimate tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, consistent with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. Such recognition should take into account the land, fisheries and forests that are used exclusively by a community and those that are shared, and respect the general principles of responsible governance. Information on any such recognition should be publicized in an accessible location, in an appropriate form which is understandable and in applicable languages.

Where indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems have legitimate tenure rights to the ancestral lands on which they live, States should recognize and protect these rights. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should not be forcibly evicted from such ancestral lands.

States should consider adapting their policy, legal and organizational frameworks to recognize tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems. Where constitutional or legal reforms strengthen the rights of women and place them in conflict with custom, all parties should cooperate to accommodate such changes in the customary tenure systems.

States should, in drafting tenure policies and laws, take into account the social, cultural, spiritual, economic and environmental values of land, fisheries and forests held under tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems. There should be full and effective participation of all members or representatives of affected communities, including vulnerable and marginalized members, when developing policies and laws related to tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems

States should protect indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems against the unauthorized use of their land, fisheries and forests by others. Where a community does not object, States should assist to formally document and publicize information on the nature and location of land, fisheries and forests used and controlled by the community. Where tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems are formally documented, they should be recorded with other public, private and communal tenure rights to prevent competing claims.

States should respect and promote customary approaches used by indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems to resolving tenure conflicts within communities consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. For land, fisheries and forests that are used by more than one community, means of resolving conflict between communities should be strengthened or developed.

Where informal tenure to land, fisheries and forests exists, States should acknowledge it in a manner that respects existing formal rights under national law and in ways that recognize the reality of the situation and promote social, economic and environmental well-being. States should promote policies and laws to provide recognition to such informal tenure. The process of establishing these policies and laws should be participatory, gender sensitive and strive to make provision for technical and legal support to affected communities and individuals. In particular, States should acknowledge the emergence of informal tenure arising from large-scale migrations.

States should facilitate the operations of efficient and transparent markets to promote participation under equal conditions and opportunities for mutually beneficial transfers of tenure rights which lessen conflict and instability; promote the sustainable use of land, fisheries and forests and conservation of the environment; promote the fair and equitable use of genetic resources associated with land, fisheries and forests in accordance with applicable treaties; expand economic opportunities; and increase participation by the poor. States should take measures to prevent undesirable impacts on local communities, indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups that may arise from, inter alia, land speculation, land concentration and abuse of customary forms of tenure. States and other parties should recognize that values, such as social, cultural and environmental values, are not always well served by unregulated markets. States should protect the wider interests of societies through appropriate policies and laws on tenure.

Responsible investments should do no harm, safeguard against dispossession of legitimate tenure right holders and environmental damage, and should respect human rights. Such investments should be made working in partnership with relevant levels of government and local holders of tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests, respecting their legitimate tenure rights. They should strive to further contribute to policy objectives, such as poverty eradication; food security and sustainable use of land, fisheries and forests; support local communities; contribute to rural development; promote and secure local food production systems; enhance social and economic sustainable development; create employment; diversify livelihoods; provide benefits to the country and its people, including the poor and most vulnerable; and comply with national laws and international core labour standards as well as, when applicable, obligations related to standards of the International Labour Organization

States should provide safeguards to protect legitimate tenure rights, human rights, livelihoods, food security and the environment from risks that could arise from large-scale transactions in tenure rights. Such safeguards could include introducing ceilings on permissible land transactions and regulating how transfers exceeding a certain scale should be approved, such as by parliamentary approval. States should consider promoting a range of production and investment models that do not result in the large-scale transfer of tenure rights to investors, and should encourage partnerships with local tenure right holders.

When investments involving large-scale transactions of tenure rights, including acquisitions and partnership agreements, are being considered, States should strive to make provisions for different parties to conduct prior independent assessments on the potential positive and negative impacts that those investments could have on tenure rights, food security and the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, livelihoods and the environment. States should ensure that existing legitimate tenure rights and claims, including those of customary and informal tenure, are systematically and impartially identified, as well as the rights and livelihoods of other people also affected by the investment, such as small-scale producers. This process should be conducted through consultation with all affected parties consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. States should ensure that existing legitimate tenure rights are not compromised by such investments.

States should ensure that the planning and process for expropriation are transparent and participatory. Anyone likely to be affected should be identified, and properly informed and consulted at all stages. Consultations, consistent with the principles of these Guidelines, should provide information regarding possible alternative approaches to achieve the public purpose, and should have regard to strategies to minimize disruption of livelihoods. States should be sensitive where proposed expropriations involve areas of particular cultural, religious or environmental significance, or where the land, fisheries and forests in question are particularly important to the livelihoods of the poor or vulnerable.

Where evictions are considered to be justified for a public purpose as a result of expropriation of land, fisheries and forests, States should conduct such evictions and treat all affected parties in a manner consistent with their relevant obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights.

States should provide recording systems appropriate for their particular circumstances, including the available human and financial resources. Socio-culturally appropriate ways of recording rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should be developed and used. In order to enhance transparency and compatibility with other sources of information for spatial planning and other purposes, each State should strive to develop an integrated framework that includes existing recording systems and other spatial information systems. In each jurisdiction, records of tenure rights of the State and public sector, private sector, and indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should be kept within the integrated recording system. Whenever it is not possible to record tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, or occupations in informal settlements, particular care should be taken to prevent the registration of competing rights in those areas

Implementing agencies should adopt simplified procedures and locally suitable technology to reduce the costs and time required for delivering services. The spatial accuracy for parcels and other spatial units should be sufficient for their identification to meet local needs, with increased spatial accuracy being provided if required over time. To facilitate the use of records of tenure rights, implementing agencies should link information on the rights, the holders of those rights, and the spatial units related to those rights. Records should be indexed by spatial units as well as by holders to allow competing or overlapping rights to be identified. As part of broader public information sharing, records of tenure rights should be available to State agencies and local governments to improve their services. Information should be shared in accordance with national standards, and include disaggregated data on tenure rights.

States should ensure that appropriate systems are used for the fair and timely valuation of tenure rights for specific purposes, such as operation of markets, security for loans, transactions in tenure rights as a result of investments, expropriation and taxation. Such systems should promote broader social, economic, environmental and sustainable development objectives.

Policies and laws related to valuation should strive to ensure that valuation systems take into account non-market values, such as social, cultural, religious, spiritual and environmental values where applicable

States and other parties should develop and publicize national standards for valuation for governmental, commercial and other purposes. National standards should be consistent with relevant international standards. Training of staff should include methodologies and international standards.

Regulated spatial planning affects tenure rights by legally constraining their use. States should conduct regulated spatial planning, and monitor and enforce compliance with those plans, including balanced and sustainable territorial development, in a way that promotes the objectives of these Guidelines. In this regard, spatial planning should reconcile and harmonize different objectives of the use of land, fisheries and forests.

States should ensure that regulated spatial planning is conducted in a manner that recognizes the interconnected relationships between land, fisheries and forests and their uses, including the gendered aspects of their uses. States should strive towards reconciling and prioritizing public, community and private interests and accommodate the requirements for various uses, such as rural, agricultural, nomadic, urban and environmental. Spatial planning should consider all tenure rights, including overlapping and periodic rights. Appropriate risk assessments for spatial planning should be required. National, regional and local spatial plans should be coordinated

States should provide access through impartial and competent judicial and administrative bodies to timely, affordable and effective means of resolving disputes over tenure rights, including alternative means of resolving such disputes, and should provide effective remedies and a right to appeal. Such remedies should be promptly enforced. States should make available, to all, mechanisms to avoid or resolve potential disputes at the preliminary stage, either within the implementing agency or externally. Dispute resolution services should be accessible to all, women and men, in terms of location, language and procedures.

States should strengthen and develop alternative forms of dispute resolution, especially at the local level. Where customary or other established forms of dispute settlement exist, they should provide for fair, reliable, accessible and non-discriminatory ways of promptly resolving disputes over tenure rights

States should cooperate, in the framework of appropriate mechanisms and with the participation of affected parties, in addressing tenure issues related to land, fisheries and forests which traverse national boundaries. States should ensure that all actions are consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. In States where transboundary matters related to tenure rights arise, parties should work together to protect such tenure rights, livelihoods and food security of the migrating populations while on their respective territories.

Where appropriate, States should harmonize legal standards of tenure governance, in accordance with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. Where appropriate, this should be coordinated with relevant regional bodies and with affected parties. States, with the participation of the affected parties as appropriate, should develop or strengthen existing international measures to administer tenure rights that cross international boundaries. Where appropriate, they should coordinate with relevant regional bodies. This should be done especially to protect the livelihoods and, in line with paragraph 4.8, the rights of all those affected.

States should ensure that the legitimate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests of all individuals, communities or peoples likely to be affected, with an emphasis on farmers, small-scale food producers, and vulnerable and marginalized people, are respected and protected by laws, policies, strategies and actions with the aim to prevent and respond to the effects of climate change consistent with their respective obligations, as applicable, in terms of relevant climate change framework agreements.

All parties should ensure that tenure aspects of land, fisheries and forests are addressed when preventing and preparing for natural disasters and in their responses to them. Regulatory frameworks for tenure, including spatial planning, should be designed to avoid or minimize the potential impacts of natural disasters

States should address tenure in disaster prevention and preparedness programmes. Information on legitimate tenure rights should be collected for areas that could be affected through a process consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. Systems for recording legitimate tenure rights should be resilient to natural disasters, including off-site storage of records, to allow right holders to prove their rights and relocate their parcels and other spatial units. States should strive to identify areas for the temporary resettlement of people who could be displaced by natural disasters, and rules should be established for providing tenure security in such areas

States and other parties should address tenure in the emergency response phase. Any provision of alternative land, fisheries, forests and livelihoods for displaced persons should not jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of others. Legitimate tenure rights of displaced persons should also be recognized, respected and protected. Information on tenure rights and unauthorized use should be disseminated to all affected persons

States and other parties should address tenure during the reconstruction phase. Persons who are temporarily displaced should be assisted in voluntarily, safely and with dignity returning to their place of origin. Means to resolve disputes over tenure rights should be provided. Where boundaries of parcels and other spatial units are to be re-established, this should be done consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. Where people are unable to return to their place of origin, they should be permanently resettled elsewhere. Such resettlement should be negotiated with host communities to ensure that the people who are displaced are provided with secure access to alternative land, fisheries, forests and livelihoods in ways that do not jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of others.

All parties should take steps to prevent and eliminate issues of tenure of land, fisheries and forests as a cause of conflict and should ensure that aspects of tenure are addressed before, during and after conflict, including in situations of occupation where parties should act in accordance with applicable international humanitarian law.

When conflicts arise, States and other parties should strive to respect and protect existing legitimate tenure rights and guarantee that these are not extinguished by other parties. Consistent with existing obligations under relevant national and international law, States should not recognize tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests acquired, within their territories, through forceful and/or violent means. Refugees and displaced persons and others affected by conflict should be settled in safe conditions in ways that protect the tenure rights of host communities. Violations of tenure rights should be documented and, where appropriate, subsequently remedied. Official records of tenure rights should be protected against destruction and theft in order to provide evidence for subsequent processes to address such violations and facilitate possible corrective action, and in areas where such records do not exist, the existing tenure rights should be documented as best as possible in a gender-sensitive manner, including through oral histories and testimonies. Legitimate tenure rights of refugees and displaced persons should be recognized, respected and protected. Information on tenure rights and unauthorized use should be disseminated to all affected persons.

States should: 1. Recognize and respect all legitimate tenure right holders and their rights. They should take reasonable measures to identify, record and respect legitimate tenure right holders and their rights, whether formally recorded or not; to refrain from infringement of tenure rights of others; and to meet the duties associated with tenure rights.

States should: 2. Safeguard legitimate tenure rights against threats and infringements. They should protect tenure right holders against the arbitrary loss of their tenure rights, including forced evictions that are inconsistent with their existing obligations under national and international law.

States should: Prevent tenure disputes, violent conflicts and corruption. They should take active measures to prevent tenure disputes from arising and from escalating into violent conflicts. They should endeavour to prevent corruption in all forms, at all levels, and in all settings.

Non-state actors including business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the human rights and legitimate tenure rights of others. They should include appropriate risk management systems to prevent and address adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should provide for and cooperate in non-judicial mechanisms to provide remedy, including effective operational-level grievance mechanisms, where appropriate, where they have caused or contributed to adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should identify and assess any actual or potential impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights in which they may be involved. States, in accordance with their international obligations, should provide access to effective judicial remedies for negative impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises. Where transnational corporations are involved, their home States have roles to play in assisting both those corporations and host States to ensure that businesses are not involved in abuse of human rights and legitimate tenure rights. States should take additional steps to protect against abuses of human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises that are owned or controlled by the State, or that receive substantial support and service from State agencies.

States should strive to ensure responsible governance of tenure because land, fisheries and forests are central for the realization of human rights, food security, poverty eradication, sustainable livelihoods, social stability, housing security, rural development, and social and economic growth.

Based on an examination of tenure rights in line with national law, States should provide legal recognition for legitimate tenure rights not currently protected by law. Policies and laws that ensure tenure rights should be non-discriminatory and gender sensitive. Consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines, States should define through widely publicized rules the categories of rights that are considered legitimate. All forms of tenure should provide all persons with a degree of tenure security which guarantees legal protection against forced evictions that are inconsistent with States’ existing obligations under national and international law, and against harassment and other threats.

States should protect legitimate tenure rights, and ensure that people are not arbitrarily evicted and that their legitimate tenure rights are not otherwise extinguished or infringed

States should provide and maintain policy, legal and organizational frameworks that promote responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests. These frameworks are dependent on, and are supported by broader reforms to the legal system, public service and judicial authorities

States should ensure that policy, legal and organizational frameworks for tenure governance recognize and respect, in accordance with national laws, legitimate tenure rights including legitimate customary tenure rights that are not currently protected by law; and facilitate, promote and protect the exercise of tenure rights. Frameworks should reflect the social, cultural, economic and environmental significance of land, fisheries and forests. States should provide frameworks that are non-discriminatory and promote social equity and gender equality. Frameworks should reflect the interconnected relationships between land, fisheries and forests and their uses, and establish an integrated approach to their administration

States should recognize that policies and laws on tenure rights operate in the broader political, legal, social, cultural, religious, economic and environmental contexts. Where the broader contexts change, and where reforms to tenure are therefore required, States should seek to develop national consensus on proposed reforms.

When States recognize or allocate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests, they should establish, in accordance with national laws, safeguards to avoid infringing on or extinguishing tenure rights of others, including legitimate tenure rights that are not currently protected by law. In particular, safeguards should protect women and the vulnerable who hold subsidiary tenure rights, such as gathering rights.

Where States intend to recognize or allocate tenure rights, they should first identify all existing tenure rights and right holders, whether recorded or not. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, smallholders and anyone else who could be affected should be included in the consultation process, consistent with paragraphs 3B.6 and 9.9. States should provide access to justice, consistent with paragraph 4.9 if people believe their tenure rights are not recognized.

Where States own or control land, fisheries and forests, the legitimate tenure rights of individuals and communities, including where applicable those with customary tenure systems, should be recognized, respected and protected, consistent with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. To this end, categories of legitimate tenure rights should be clearly defined and publicized, through a transparent process, and in accordance with national law.

Noting that there are publicly-owned land, fisheries and forests that are collectively used and managed (in some national contexts referred to as commons), States should, where applicable, recognize and protect such publicly-owned land, fisheries and forests and their related systems of collective use and management, including in processes of allocation by the State.

States have the power to allocate tenure rights in various forms, from limited use to full ownership. Policies should recognize the range of tenure rights and right holders. Policies should specify the means of allocation of rights, such as allocation based on historical use or other means. Where necessary, those who are allocated tenure rights should be provided with support so they can enjoy their rights. States should determine whether they retain any form of control over land, fisheries and forests that have been allocated.

State and non-state actors should acknowledge that land, fisheries and forests have social, cultural, spiritual, economic, environmental and political value to indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems.

States should provide appropriate recognition and protection of the legitimate tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, consistent with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. Such recognition should take into account the land, fisheries and forests that are used exclusively by a community and those that are shared, and respect the general principles of responsible governance. Information on any such recognition should be publicized in an accessible location, in an appropriate form which is understandable and in applicable languages.

Where indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems have legitimate tenure rights to the ancestral lands on which they live, States should recognize and protect these rights. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should not be forcibly evicted from such ancestral lands.

States should consider adapting their policy, legal and organizational frameworks to recognize tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems. Where constitutional or legal reforms strengthen the rights of women and place them in conflict with custom, all parties should cooperate to accommodate such changes in the customary tenure systems.

States should, in drafting tenure policies and laws, take into account the social, cultural, spiritual, economic and environmental values of land, fisheries and forests held under tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems. There should be full and effective participation of all members or representatives of affected communities, including vulnerable and marginalized members, when developing policies and laws related to tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems

States should protect indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems against the unauthorized use of their land, fisheries and forests by others. Where a community does not object, States should assist to formally document and publicize information on the nature and location of land, fisheries and forests used and controlled by the community. Where tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems are formally documented, they should be recorded with other public, private and communal tenure rights to prevent competing claims.

States should respect and promote customary approaches used by indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems to resolving tenure conflicts within communities consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. For land, fisheries and forests that are used by more than one community, means of resolving conflict between communities should be strengthened or developed.

Where informal tenure to land, fisheries and forests exists, States should acknowledge it in a manner that respects existing formal rights under national law and in ways that recognize the reality of the situation and promote social, economic and environmental well-being. States should promote policies and laws to provide recognition to such informal tenure. The process of establishing these policies and laws should be participatory, gender sensitive and strive to make provision for technical and legal support to affected communities and individuals. In particular, States should acknowledge the emergence of informal tenure arising from large-scale migrations.

States should facilitate the operations of efficient and transparent markets to promote participation under equal conditions and opportunities for mutually beneficial transfers of tenure rights which lessen conflict and instability; promote the sustainable use of land, fisheries and forests and conservation of the environment; promote the fair and equitable use of genetic resources associated with land, fisheries and forests in accordance with applicable treaties; expand economic opportunities; and increase participation by the poor. States should take measures to prevent undesirable impacts on local communities, indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups that may arise from, inter alia, land speculation, land concentration and abuse of customary forms of tenure. States and other parties should recognize that values, such as social, cultural and environmental values, are not always well served by unregulated markets. States should protect the wider interests of societies through appropriate policies and laws on tenure.

Responsible investments should do no harm, safeguard against dispossession of legitimate tenure right holders and environmental damage, and should respect human rights. Such investments should be made working in partnership with relevant levels of government and local holders of tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests, respecting their legitimate tenure rights. They should strive to further contribute to policy objectives, such as poverty eradication; food security and sustainable use of land, fisheries and forests; support local communities; contribute to rural development; promote and secure local food production systems; enhance social and economic sustainable development; create employment; diversify livelihoods; provide benefits to the country and its people, including the poor and most vulnerable; and comply with national laws and international core labour standards as well as, when applicable, obligations related to standards of the International Labour Organization

States should provide safeguards to protect legitimate tenure rights, human rights, livelihoods, food security and the environment from risks that could arise from large-scale transactions in tenure rights. Such safeguards could include introducing ceilings on permissible land transactions and regulating how transfers exceeding a certain scale should be approved, such as by parliamentary approval. States should consider promoting a range of production and investment models that do not result in the large-scale transfer of tenure rights to investors, and should encourage partnerships with local tenure right holders.

When investments involving large-scale transactions of tenure rights, including acquisitions and partnership agreements, are being considered, States should strive to make provisions for different parties to conduct prior independent assessments on the potential positive and negative impacts that those investments could have on tenure rights, food security and the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, livelihoods and the environment. States should ensure that existing legitimate tenure rights and claims, including those of customary and informal tenure, are systematically and impartially identified, as well as the rights and livelihoods of other people also affected by the investment, such as small-scale producers. This process should be conducted through consultation with all affected parties consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. States should ensure that existing legitimate tenure rights are not compromised by such investments.

States should ensure that the planning and process for expropriation are transparent and participatory. Anyone likely to be affected should be identified, and properly informed and consulted at all stages. Consultations, consistent with the principles of these Guidelines, should provide information regarding possible alternative approaches to achieve the public purpose, and should have regard to strategies to minimize disruption of livelihoods. States should be sensitive where proposed expropriations involve areas of particular cultural, religious or environmental significance, or where the land, fisheries and forests in question are particularly important to the livelihoods of the poor or vulnerable.

Where evictions are considered to be justified for a public purpose as a result of expropriation of land, fisheries and forests, States should conduct such evictions and treat all affected parties in a manner consistent with their relevant obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights.

States should provide recording systems appropriate for their particular circumstances, including the available human and financial resources. Socio-culturally appropriate ways of recording rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should be developed and used. In order to enhance transparency and compatibility with other sources of information for spatial planning and other purposes, each State should strive to develop an integrated framework that includes existing recording systems and other spatial information systems. In each jurisdiction, records of tenure rights of the State and public sector, private sector, and indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should be kept within the integrated recording system. Whenever it is not possible to record tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, or occupations in informal settlements, particular care should be taken to prevent the registration of competing rights in those areas

Implementing agencies should adopt simplified procedures and locally suitable technology to reduce the costs and time required for delivering services. The spatial accuracy for parcels and other spatial units should be sufficient for their identification to meet local needs, with increased spatial accuracy being provided if required over time. To facilitate the use of records of tenure rights, implementing agencies should link information on the rights, the holders of those rights, and the spatial units related to those rights. Records should be indexed by spatial units as well as by holders to allow competing or overlapping rights to be identified. As part of broader public information sharing, records of tenure rights should be available to State agencies and local governments to improve their services. Information should be shared in accordance with national standards, and include disaggregated data on tenure rights.

States should ensure that appropriate systems are used for the fair and timely valuation of tenure rights for specific purposes, such as operation of markets, security for loans, transactions in tenure rights as a result of investments, expropriation and taxation. Such systems should promote broader social, economic, environmental and sustainable development objectives.

Policies and laws related to valuation should strive to ensure that valuation systems take into account non-market values, such as social, cultural, religious, spiritual and environmental values where applicable

States and other parties should develop and publicize national standards for valuation for governmental, commercial and other purposes. National standards should be consistent with relevant international standards. Training of staff should include methodologies and international standards.

Regulated spatial planning affects tenure rights by legally constraining their use. States should conduct regulated spatial planning, and monitor and enforce compliance with those plans, including balanced and sustainable territorial development, in a way that promotes the objectives of these Guidelines. In this regard, spatial planning should reconcile and harmonize different objectives of the use of land, fisheries and forests.

States should ensure that regulated spatial planning is conducted in a manner that recognizes the interconnected relationships between land, fisheries and forests and their uses, including the gendered aspects of their uses. States should strive towards reconciling and prioritizing public, community and private interests and accommodate the requirements for various uses, such as rural, agricultural, nomadic, urban and environmental. Spatial planning should consider all tenure rights, including overlapping and periodic rights. Appropriate risk assessments for spatial planning should be required. National, regional and local spatial plans should be coordinated

States should provide access through impartial and competent judicial and administrative bodies to timely, affordable and effective means of resolving disputes over tenure rights, including alternative means of resolving such disputes, and should provide effective remedies and a right to appeal. Such remedies should be promptly enforced. States should make available, to all, mechanisms to avoid or resolve potential disputes at the preliminary stage, either within the implementing agency or externally. Dispute resolution services should be accessible to all, women and men, in terms of location, language and procedures.

States should strengthen and develop alternative forms of dispute resolution, especially at the local level. Where customary or other established forms of dispute settlement exist, they should provide for fair, reliable, accessible and non-discriminatory ways of promptly resolving disputes over tenure rights

States should cooperate, in the framework of appropriate mechanisms and with the participation of affected parties, in addressing tenure issues related to land, fisheries and forests which traverse national boundaries. States should ensure that all actions are consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. In States where transboundary matters related to tenure rights arise, parties should work together to protect such tenure rights, livelihoods and food security of the migrating populations while on their respective territories.

Where appropriate, States should harmonize legal standards of tenure governance, in accordance with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. Where appropriate, this should be coordinated with relevant regional bodies and with affected parties. States, with the participation of the affected parties as appropriate, should develop or strengthen existing international measures to administer tenure rights that cross international boundaries. Where appropriate, they should coordinate with relevant regional bodies. This should be done especially to protect the livelihoods and, in line with paragraph 4.8, the rights of all those affected.

States should ensure that the legitimate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests of all individuals, communities or peoples likely to be affected, with an emphasis on farmers, small-scale food producers, and vulnerable and marginalized people, are respected and protected by laws, policies, strategies and actions with the aim to prevent and respond to the effects of climate change consistent with their respective obligations, as applicable, in terms of relevant climate change framework agreements.

All parties should ensure that tenure aspects of land, fisheries and forests are addressed when preventing and preparing for natural disasters and in their responses to them. Regulatory frameworks for tenure, including spatial planning, should be designed to avoid or minimize the potential impacts of natural disasters

States should address tenure in disaster prevention and preparedness programmes. Information on legitimate tenure rights should be collected for areas that could be affected through a process consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. Systems for recording legitimate tenure rights should be resilient to natural disasters, including off-site storage of records, to allow right holders to prove their rights and relocate their parcels and other spatial units. States should strive to identify areas for the temporary resettlement of people who could be displaced by natural disasters, and rules should be established for providing tenure security in such areas

States and other parties should address tenure in the emergency response phase. Any provision of alternative land, fisheries, forests and livelihoods for displaced persons should not jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of others. Legitimate tenure rights of displaced persons should also be recognized, respected and protected. Information on tenure rights and unauthorized use should be disseminated to all affected persons

States and other parties should address tenure during the reconstruction phase. Persons who are temporarily displaced should be assisted in voluntarily, safely and with dignity returning to their place of origin. Means to resolve disputes over tenure rights should be provided. Where boundaries of parcels and other spatial units are to be re-established, this should be done consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. Where people are unable to return to their place of origin, they should be permanently resettled elsewhere. Such resettlement should be negotiated with host communities to ensure that the people who are displaced are provided with secure access to alternative land, fisheries, forests and livelihoods in ways that do not jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of others.

All parties should take steps to prevent and eliminate issues of tenure of land, fisheries and forests as a cause of conflict and should ensure that aspects of tenure are addressed before, during and after conflict, including in situations of occupation where parties should act in accordance with applicable international humanitarian law.

When conflicts arise, States and other parties should strive to respect and protect existing legitimate tenure rights and guarantee that these are not extinguished by other parties. Consistent with existing obligations under relevant national and international law, States should not recognize tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests acquired, within their territories, through forceful and/or violent means. Refugees and displaced persons and others affected by conflict should be settled in safe conditions in ways that protect the tenure rights of host communities. Violations of tenure rights should be documented and, where appropriate, subsequently remedied. Official records of tenure rights should be protected against destruction and theft in order to provide evidence for subsequent processes to address such violations and facilitate possible corrective action, and in areas where such records do not exist, the existing tenure rights should be documented as best as possible in a gender-sensitive manner, including through oral histories and testimonies. Legitimate tenure rights of refugees and displaced persons should be recognized, respected and protected. Information on tenure rights and unauthorized use should be disseminated to all affected persons.

States should: 1. Recognize and respect all legitimate tenure right holders and their rights. They should take reasonable measures to identify, record and respect legitimate tenure right holders and their rights, whether formally recorded or not; to refrain from infringement of tenure rights of others; and to meet the duties associated with tenure rights.

States should: 2. Safeguard legitimate tenure rights against threats and infringements. They should protect tenure right holders against the arbitrary loss of their tenure rights, including forced evictions that are inconsistent with their existing obligations under national and international law.

States should: Prevent tenure disputes, violent conflicts and corruption. They should take active measures to prevent tenure disputes from arising and from escalating into violent conflicts. They should endeavour to prevent corruption in all forms, at all levels, and in all settings.

Non-state actors including business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the human rights and legitimate tenure rights of others. They should include appropriate risk management systems to prevent and address adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should provide for and cooperate in non-judicial mechanisms to provide remedy, including effective operational-level grievance mechanisms, where appropriate, where they have caused or contributed to adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should identify and assess any actual or potential impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights in which they may be involved. States, in accordance with their international obligations, should provide access to effective judicial remedies for negative impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises. Where transnational corporations are involved, their home States have roles to play in assisting both those corporations and host States to ensure that businesses are not involved in abuse of human rights and legitimate tenure rights. States should take additional steps to protect against abuses of human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises that are owned or controlled by the State, or that receive substantial support and service from State agencies.

States should strive to ensure responsible governance of tenure because land, fisheries and forests are central for the realization of human rights, food security, poverty eradication, sustainable livelihoods, social stability, housing security, rural development, and social and economic growth.

Based on an examination of tenure rights in line with national law, States should provide legal recognition for legitimate tenure rights not currently protected by law. Policies and laws that ensure tenure rights should be non-discriminatory and gender sensitive. Consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines, States should define through widely publicized rules the categories of rights that are considered legitimate. All forms of tenure should provide all persons with a degree of tenure security which guarantees legal protection against forced evictions that are inconsistent with States’ existing obligations under national and international law, and against harassment and other threats.

States should protect legitimate tenure rights, and ensure that people are not arbitrarily evicted and that their legitimate tenure rights are not otherwise extinguished or infringed

States should provide and maintain policy, legal and organizational frameworks that promote responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests. These frameworks are dependent on, and are supported by broader reforms to the legal system, public service and judicial authorities

States should ensure that policy, legal and organizational frameworks for tenure governance recognize and respect, in accordance with national laws, legitimate tenure rights including legitimate customary tenure rights that are not currently protected by law; and facilitate, promote and protect the exercise of tenure rights. Frameworks should reflect the social, cultural, economic and environmental significance of land, fisheries and forests. States should provide frameworks that are non-discriminatory and promote social equity and gender equality. Frameworks should reflect the interconnected relationships between land, fisheries and forests and their uses, and establish an integrated approach to their administration

States should recognize that policies and laws on tenure rights operate in the broader political, legal, social, cultural, religious, economic and environmental contexts. Where the broader contexts change, and where reforms to tenure are therefore required, States should seek to develop national consensus on proposed reforms.

When States recognize or allocate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests, they should establish, in accordance with national laws, safeguards to avoid infringing on or extinguishing tenure rights of others, including legitimate tenure rights that are not currently protected by law. In particular, safeguards should protect women and the vulnerable who hold subsidiary tenure rights, such as gathering rights.

Where States intend to recognize or allocate tenure rights, they should first identify all existing tenure rights and right holders, whether recorded or not. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, smallholders and anyone else who could be affected should be included in the consultation process, consistent with paragraphs 3B.6 and 9.9. States should provide access to justice, consistent with paragraph 4.9 if people believe their tenure rights are not recognized.

Where States own or control land, fisheries and forests, the legitimate tenure rights of individuals and communities, including where applicable those with customary tenure systems, should be recognized, respected and protected, consistent with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. To this end, categories of legitimate tenure rights should be clearly defined and publicized, through a transparent process, and in accordance with national law.

Noting that there are publicly-owned land, fisheries and forests that are collectively used and managed (in some national contexts referred to as commons), States should, where applicable, recognize and protect such publicly-owned land, fisheries and forests and their related systems of collective use and management, including in processes of allocation by the State.

States have the power to allocate tenure rights in various forms, from limited use to full ownership. Policies should recognize the range of tenure rights and right holders. Policies should specify the means of allocation of rights, such as allocation based on historical use or other means. Where necessary, those who are allocated tenure rights should be provided with support so they can enjoy their rights. States should determine whether they retain any form of control over land, fisheries and forests that have been allocated.

State and non-state actors should acknowledge that land, fisheries and forests have social, cultural, spiritual, economic, environmental and political value to indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems.

States should provide appropriate recognition and protection of the legitimate tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, consistent with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. Such recognition should take into account the land, fisheries and forests that are used exclusively by a community and those that are shared, and respect the general principles of responsible governance. Information on any such recognition should be publicized in an accessible location, in an appropriate form which is understandable and in applicable languages.

Where indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems have legitimate tenure rights to the ancestral lands on which they live, States should recognize and protect these rights. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should not be forcibly evicted from such ancestral lands.

States should consider adapting their policy, legal and organizational frameworks to recognize tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems. Where constitutional or legal reforms strengthen the rights of women and place them in conflict with custom, all parties should cooperate to accommodate such changes in the customary tenure systems.

States should, in drafting tenure policies and laws, take into account the social, cultural, spiritual, economic and environmental values of land, fisheries and forests held under tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems. There should be full and effective participation of all members or representatives of affected communities, including vulnerable and marginalized members, when developing policies and laws related to tenure systems of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems

States should protect indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems against the unauthorized use of their land, fisheries and forests by others. Where a community does not object, States should assist to formally document and publicize information on the nature and location of land, fisheries and forests used and controlled by the community. Where tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems are formally documented, they should be recorded with other public, private and communal tenure rights to prevent competing claims.

States should respect and promote customary approaches used by indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems to resolving tenure conflicts within communities consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. For land, fisheries and forests that are used by more than one community, means of resolving conflict between communities should be strengthened or developed.

Where informal tenure to land, fisheries and forests exists, States should acknowledge it in a manner that respects existing formal rights under national law and in ways that recognize the reality of the situation and promote social, economic and environmental well-being. States should promote policies and laws to provide recognition to such informal tenure. The process of establishing these policies and laws should be participatory, gender sensitive and strive to make provision for technical and legal support to affected communities and individuals. In particular, States should acknowledge the emergence of informal tenure arising from large-scale migrations.

States should facilitate the operations of efficient and transparent markets to promote participation under equal conditions and opportunities for mutually beneficial transfers of tenure rights which lessen conflict and instability; promote the sustainable use of land, fisheries and forests and conservation of the environment; promote the fair and equitable use of genetic resources associated with land, fisheries and forests in accordance with applicable treaties; expand economic opportunities; and increase participation by the poor. States should take measures to prevent undesirable impacts on local communities, indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups that may arise from, inter alia, land speculation, land concentration and abuse of customary forms of tenure. States and other parties should recognize that values, such as social, cultural and environmental values, are not always well served by unregulated markets. States should protect the wider interests of societies through appropriate policies and laws on tenure.

Responsible investments should do no harm, safeguard against dispossession of legitimate tenure right holders and environmental damage, and should respect human rights. Such investments should be made working in partnership with relevant levels of government and local holders of tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests, respecting their legitimate tenure rights. They should strive to further contribute to policy objectives, such as poverty eradication; food security and sustainable use of land, fisheries and forests; support local communities; contribute to rural development; promote and secure local food production systems; enhance social and economic sustainable development; create employment; diversify livelihoods; provide benefits to the country and its people, including the poor and most vulnerable; and comply with national laws and international core labour standards as well as, when applicable, obligations related to standards of the International Labour Organization

States should provide safeguards to protect legitimate tenure rights, human rights, livelihoods, food security and the environment from risks that could arise from large-scale transactions in tenure rights. Such safeguards could include introducing ceilings on permissible land transactions and regulating how transfers exceeding a certain scale should be approved, such as by parliamentary approval. States should consider promoting a range of production and investment models that do not result in the large-scale transfer of tenure rights to investors, and should encourage partnerships with local tenure right holders.

When investments involving large-scale transactions of tenure rights, including acquisitions and partnership agreements, are being considered, States should strive to make provisions for different parties to conduct prior independent assessments on the potential positive and negative impacts that those investments could have on tenure rights, food security and the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, livelihoods and the environment. States should ensure that existing legitimate tenure rights and claims, including those of customary and informal tenure, are systematically and impartially identified, as well as the rights and livelihoods of other people also affected by the investment, such as small-scale producers. This process should be conducted through consultation with all affected parties consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. States should ensure that existing legitimate tenure rights are not compromised by such investments.

States should ensure that the planning and process for expropriation are transparent and participatory. Anyone likely to be affected should be identified, and properly informed and consulted at all stages. Consultations, consistent with the principles of these Guidelines, should provide information regarding possible alternative approaches to achieve the public purpose, and should have regard to strategies to minimize disruption of livelihoods. States should be sensitive where proposed expropriations involve areas of particular cultural, religious or environmental significance, or where the land, fisheries and forests in question are particularly important to the livelihoods of the poor or vulnerable.

Where evictions are considered to be justified for a public purpose as a result of expropriation of land, fisheries and forests, States should conduct such evictions and treat all affected parties in a manner consistent with their relevant obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights.

States should provide recording systems appropriate for their particular circumstances, including the available human and financial resources. Socio-culturally appropriate ways of recording rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should be developed and used. In order to enhance transparency and compatibility with other sources of information for spatial planning and other purposes, each State should strive to develop an integrated framework that includes existing recording systems and other spatial information systems. In each jurisdiction, records of tenure rights of the State and public sector, private sector, and indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems should be kept within the integrated recording system. Whenever it is not possible to record tenure rights of indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, or occupations in informal settlements, particular care should be taken to prevent the registration of competing rights in those areas

Implementing agencies should adopt simplified procedures and locally suitable technology to reduce the costs and time required for delivering services. The spatial accuracy for parcels and other spatial units should be sufficient for their identification to meet local needs, with increased spatial accuracy being provided if required over time. To facilitate the use of records of tenure rights, implementing agencies should link information on the rights, the holders of those rights, and the spatial units related to those rights. Records should be indexed by spatial units as well as by holders to allow competing or overlapping rights to be identified. As part of broader public information sharing, records of tenure rights should be available to State agencies and local governments to improve their services. Information should be shared in accordance with national standards, and include disaggregated data on tenure rights.

States should ensure that appropriate systems are used for the fair and timely valuation of tenure rights for specific purposes, such as operation of markets, security for loans, transactions in tenure rights as a result of investments, expropriation and taxation. Such systems should promote broader social, economic, environmental and sustainable development objectives.

Policies and laws related to valuation should strive to ensure that valuation systems take into account non-market values, such as social, cultural, religious, spiritual and environmental values where applicable

States and other parties should develop and publicize national standards for valuation for governmental, commercial and other purposes. National standards should be consistent with relevant international standards. Training of staff should include methodologies and international standards.

Regulated spatial planning affects tenure rights by legally constraining their use. States should conduct regulated spatial planning, and monitor and enforce compliance with those plans, including balanced and sustainable territorial development, in a way that promotes the objectives of these Guidelines. In this regard, spatial planning should reconcile and harmonize different objectives of the use of land, fisheries and forests.

States should ensure that regulated spatial planning is conducted in a manner that recognizes the interconnected relationships between land, fisheries and forests and their uses, including the gendered aspects of their uses. States should strive towards reconciling and prioritizing public, community and private interests and accommodate the requirements for various uses, such as rural, agricultural, nomadic, urban and environmental. Spatial planning should consider all tenure rights, including overlapping and periodic rights. Appropriate risk assessments for spatial planning should be required. National, regional and local spatial plans should be coordinated

States should provide access through impartial and competent judicial and administrative bodies to timely, affordable and effective means of resolving disputes over tenure rights, including alternative means of resolving such disputes, and should provide effective remedies and a right to appeal. Such remedies should be promptly enforced. States should make available, to all, mechanisms to avoid or resolve potential disputes at the preliminary stage, either within the implementing agency or externally. Dispute resolution services should be accessible to all, women and men, in terms of location, language and procedures.

States should strengthen and develop alternative forms of dispute resolution, especially at the local level. Where customary or other established forms of dispute settlement exist, they should provide for fair, reliable, accessible and non-discriminatory ways of promptly resolving disputes over tenure rights

States should cooperate, in the framework of appropriate mechanisms and with the participation of affected parties, in addressing tenure issues related to land, fisheries and forests which traverse national boundaries. States should ensure that all actions are consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. In States where transboundary matters related to tenure rights arise, parties should work together to protect such tenure rights, livelihoods and food security of the migrating populations while on their respective territories.

Where appropriate, States should harmonize legal standards of tenure governance, in accordance with existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments. Where appropriate, this should be coordinated with relevant regional bodies and with affected parties. States, with the participation of the affected parties as appropriate, should develop or strengthen existing international measures to administer tenure rights that cross international boundaries. Where appropriate, they should coordinate with relevant regional bodies. This should be done especially to protect the livelihoods and, in line with paragraph 4.8, the rights of all those affected.

States should ensure that the legitimate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests of all individuals, communities or peoples likely to be affected, with an emphasis on farmers, small-scale food producers, and vulnerable and marginalized people, are respected and protected by laws, policies, strategies and actions with the aim to prevent and respond to the effects of climate change consistent with their respective obligations, as applicable, in terms of relevant climate change framework agreements.

All parties should ensure that tenure aspects of land, fisheries and forests are addressed when preventing and preparing for natural disasters and in their responses to them. Regulatory frameworks for tenure, including spatial planning, should be designed to avoid or minimize the potential impacts of natural disasters

States should address tenure in disaster prevention and preparedness programmes. Information on legitimate tenure rights should be collected for areas that could be affected through a process consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. Systems for recording legitimate tenure rights should be resilient to natural disasters, including off-site storage of records, to allow right holders to prove their rights and relocate their parcels and other spatial units. States should strive to identify areas for the temporary resettlement of people who could be displaced by natural disasters, and rules should be established for providing tenure security in such areas

States and other parties should address tenure in the emergency response phase. Any provision of alternative land, fisheries, forests and livelihoods for displaced persons should not jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of others. Legitimate tenure rights of displaced persons should also be recognized, respected and protected. Information on tenure rights and unauthorized use should be disseminated to all affected persons

States and other parties should address tenure during the reconstruction phase. Persons who are temporarily displaced should be assisted in voluntarily, safely and with dignity returning to their place of origin. Means to resolve disputes over tenure rights should be provided. Where boundaries of parcels and other spatial units are to be re-established, this should be done consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines. Where people are unable to return to their place of origin, they should be permanently resettled elsewhere. Such resettlement should be negotiated with host communities to ensure that the people who are displaced are provided with secure access to alternative land, fisheries, forests and livelihoods in ways that do not jeopardize the rights and livelihoods of others.

All parties should take steps to prevent and eliminate issues of tenure of land, fisheries and forests as a cause of conflict and should ensure that aspects of tenure are addressed before, during and after conflict, including in situations of occupation where parties should act in accordance with applicable international humanitarian law.

When conflicts arise, States and other parties should strive to respect and protect existing legitimate tenure rights and guarantee that these are not extinguished by other parties. Consistent with existing obligations under relevant national and international law, States should not recognize tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests acquired, within their territories, through forceful and/or violent means. Refugees and displaced persons and others affected by conflict should be settled in safe conditions in ways that protect the tenure rights of host communities. Violations of tenure rights should be documented and, where appropriate, subsequently remedied. Official records of tenure rights should be protected against destruction and theft in order to provide evidence for subsequent processes to address such violations and facilitate possible corrective action, and in areas where such records do not exist, the existing tenure rights should be documented as best as possible in a gender-sensitive manner, including through oral histories and testimonies. Legitimate tenure rights of refugees and displaced persons should be recognized, respected and protected. Information on tenure rights and unauthorized use should be disseminated to all affected persons.

States should: 1. Recognize and respect all legitimate tenure right holders and their rights. They should take reasonable measures to identify, record and respect legitimate tenure right holders and their rights, whether formally recorded or not; to refrain from infringement of tenure rights of others; and to meet the duties associated with tenure rights.

States should: 2. Safeguard legitimate tenure rights against threats and infringements. They should protect tenure right holders against the arbitrary loss of their tenure rights, including forced evictions that are inconsistent with their existing obligations under national and international law.

States should: Prevent tenure disputes, violent conflicts and corruption. They should take active measures to prevent tenure disputes from arising and from escalating into violent conflicts. They should endeavour to prevent corruption in all forms, at all levels, and in all settings.

Non-state actors including business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the human rights and legitimate tenure rights of others. They should include appropriate risk management systems to prevent and address adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should provide for and cooperate in non-judicial mechanisms to provide remedy, including effective operational-level grievance mechanisms, where appropriate, where they have caused or contributed to adverse impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should identify and assess any actual or potential impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights in which they may be involved. States, in accordance with their international obligations, should provide access to effective judicial remedies for negative impacts on human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises. Where transnational corporations are involved, their home States have roles to play in assisting both those corporations and host States to ensure that businesses are not involved in abuse of human rights and legitimate tenure rights. States should take additional steps to protect against abuses of human rights and legitimate tenure rights by business enterprises that are owned or controlled by the State, or that receive substantial support and service from State agencies.

States should strive to ensure responsible governance of tenure because land, fisheries and forests are central for the realization of human rights, food security, poverty eradication, sustainable livelihoods, social stability, housing security, rural development, and social and economic growth.

Based on an examination of tenure rights in line with national law, States should provide legal recognition for legitimate tenure rights not currently protected by law. Policies and laws that ensure tenure rights should be non-discriminatory and gender sensitive. Consistent with the principles of consultation and participation of these Guidelines, States should define through widely publicized rules the categories of rights that are considered legitimate. All forms of tenure should provide all persons with a degree of tenure security which guarantees legal protection against forced evictions that are inconsistent with States’ existing obligations under national and international law, and against harassment and other threats.

States should protect legitimate tenure rights, and ensure that people are not arbitrarily evicted and that their legitimate tenure rights are not otherwise extinguished or infringed

States should provide and maintain policy, legal and organizational frameworks that promote responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests. These frameworks are dependent on, and are supported by broader reforms to the legal system, public service and judicial authorities

States should ensure that policy, legal and organizational frameworks for tenure governance recognize and respect, in accordance with national laws, legitimate tenure rights including legitimate customary tenure rights that are not currently protected by law; and facilitate, promote and protect the exercise of tenure rights. Frameworks should reflect the social, cultural, economic and environmental significance of land, fisheries and forests. States should provide frameworks that are non-discriminatory and promote social equity and gender equality. Frameworks should reflect the interconnected relationships between land, fisheries and forests and their uses, and establish an integrated approach to their administration

States should recognize that policies and laws on tenure rights operate in the broader political, legal, social, cultural, religious, economic and environmental contexts. Where the broader contexts change, and where reforms to tenure are therefore required, States should seek to develop national consensus on proposed reforms.

When States recognize or allocate tenure rights to land, fisheries and forests, they should establish, in accordance with national laws, safeguards to avoid infringing on or extinguishing tenure rights of others, including legitimate tenure rights that are not currently protected by law. In particular, safeguards should protect women and the vulnerable who hold subsidiary tenure rights, such as gathering rights.

Where States intend to recognize or allocate tenure rights, they should first identify all existing tenure rights and right holders, whether recorded or not. Indigenous peoples and other communities with customary tenure systems, smallholders and anyone else who could be affected should be included in the consultation process, consistent with paragraphs 3B.6 and 9.9. States should provide access to justice, consistent with paragraph 4.9 if people believe their tenure rights are not recognized.