Using Trust Structures to Manage Customary Land in Melanesia: What lessons can be learnt from the iTaukei Land Trust Board in Fiji

Boydell, S; Baya, U

Using Trust Structures to Manage Customary Land in Melanesia: What lessons can be learnt from the iTaukei Land Trust Board in Fiji

Boydell, S Baya, U

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Publisher:: The World Bank
Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: Land and Poverty Conference Website, 2014, pp. 1 - 25 (25)
Issue Date:: 2014-03-28

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Boydell, S	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Baya, U	en_US
dc.date	2014-03-24	en_US
dc.date.issued	2014-03-28	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Land and Poverty Conference Website, 2014, pp. 1 - 25 (25)	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/30116
dc.description.abstract	At a time when external influences seek access to customary land in Melanesia for commercial gain (including mineral exploration, forestry, palm oil, agriculture and tourism), we question what institutional arrangements best serve customary landowners in administering their land. Fiji has recorded genealogies since the 1880s and is, as a result, potentially better placed than its Melanesian neighbours. Commercially, Fiji has benefited from the establishment of the Native Land Trust Board (NLTB) in the 1940s as a quasi-governmental body that has administered all customary land in Fiji on behalf of indigenous groups. In 2011 the NLTB changed its name to the iTaukei Land Trust Board (iTLTB). The iTLTB employs 60+ professional staff, and has demonstrated in Fiji that leasing is an instrument that can render the freedom of doing business on customary owned land. We review the iTLTB using a research design of phenomenological transdisciplinarity. We find the iTLTB model offers a template that can be encouraged in wider Melanesia (rather than incorporated land groups), but its operation needs constant review in order to nurture aspects that assuage fear of loss of control from the landowners’ perspective whilst assuring stability and certainty to potential investors.	en_US
dc.publisher	The World Bank	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Land and Poverty Conference Website	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	World Bank Land and Poverty 2014: Integrating Land Governance into the 2015 Agenda	en_US
dc.title	Using Trust Structures to Manage Customary Land in Melanesia: What lessons can be learnt from the iTaukei Land Trust Board in Fiji	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.location	Online	en_US
utslib.location.activity	Washington DC	en_US
dc.location.activity	Washington DC
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building/School of Built Environment
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CCDP - Contemporary Design Practice
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.finish-date	2014-03-27	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	Online	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.start-date	2014-03-24	en_US

Abstract:

At a time when external influences seek access to customary land in Melanesia for commercial gain (including mineral exploration, forestry, palm oil, agriculture and tourism), we question what institutional arrangements best serve customary landowners in administering their land. Fiji has recorded genealogies since the 1880s and is, as a result, potentially better placed than its Melanesian neighbours. Commercially, Fiji has benefited from the establishment of the Native Land Trust Board (NLTB) in the 1940s as a quasi-governmental body that has administered all customary land in Fiji on behalf of indigenous groups. In 2011 the NLTB changed its name to the iTaukei Land Trust Board (iTLTB). The iTLTB employs 60+ professional staff, and has demonstrated in Fiji that leasing is an instrument that can render the freedom of doing business on customary owned land. We review the iTLTB using a research design of phenomenological transdisciplinarity. We find the iTLTB model offers a template that can be encouraged in wider Melanesia (rather than incorporated land groups), but its operation needs constant review in order to nurture aspects that assuage fear of loss of control from the landowners’ perspective whilst assuring stability and certainty to potential investors.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/30116