A greener landscape: The potential of blockchain to transform land protection and management
In Maori culture, land is referred to as treasure (taonga) that is passed down from generation to generation and needs to be taken care of. In many African countries, there’s ubuntu, tying an individual’s identity and well-being to their community and land. And for the Inuit people, there’s sila, the interconnectedness between living beings and land.
The special bond between people and the land has been a universal experience. And while it has evolved significantly over time, it’s no less important today. The UN claims agriculture nowadays supports the livelihood of over 2.5 billion people across the globe.
However, land—and its management, protection, and use—continues to be rife with intricate challenges, including contentious rights ownership, land grabbing, and the severe impacts of climate change. Up to an alarming 40% of the world’s land is now considered degraded, affecting food security, biodiversity, and water availability.
Can blockchain technology help tackle these problems and provide secure and transparent systems for land governance?
Transparency and clear land tenure
Secure property rights and efficient land registration are fundamental to a well-functioning society. Without them, it’s difficult to determine who has the right to use or manage a piece of land, begetting fraud, corruption, and land grabbing—often resulting in the loss of land rights for vulnerable communities as well as unsustainable practices.
Blockchain has the potential to form secure and transparent systems for land-use planning and land rights management. Its ability to create a tamper-proof and transparent record of transactions enables traceable recording of land ownership and its transfers. On top of that, blockchain-enabled smart contracts can automate the process of transferring land rights, reducing the need for intermediaries and minimizing the potential for fraud.
This can be a game-changer: Land rights recognition and verifiable protection allow people to participate in formal economic activities and truly invest in their land and its sustainable management. HouseAfrica, a Nigerian startup, is working precisely on this. The company developed Africa’s first blockchain-based registry aimed at reducing the time required for listing and querying land titles. With an immutable ledger and a visual map reference, they are able to alleviate notorious problems such as land title duplicates and illegal sales.
No more land grabbing
Land purchase is both the ultimate protection for biodiversity and an effective way to tackle climate change. But while some 15% of the Earth’s land is protected today, scientists believe this needs to jump to 50% to stabilize the environment. With land management and ownership often blurred, there are obvious obstacles, with land grabbing being a key one.
Tracking and reporting land use, blockchain can power entire databases that could be used to ensure sustainable and responsible land management, as opposed to land grabbing and illegal use. Such structure could also provide evidence to support the claims of local communities and indigenous people and highlight sustainable administration.
Land stewardship, a centuries-old practice, can leverage tamper-proof records of protected areas and conservation efforts. Imagine being able to access records of the boundaries and characteristics of a protected area, including size, location, and the types of ecosystems and species it hosts. Then, it would be possible to monitor sustainability practices on the ground—and reward (or incentivize) them via token structures.
Regen Network is a prime real-world example. It works with farmers, ranchers, and other land stewards to collect and share data on their regenerative land management practices, be it carbon sequestration, soil health, or biodiversity conservation. This data is then recorded onto the blockchain, allowing for verification and certification of regenerative outcomes.
Community land governance
It’s no secret that community land management has diverse benefits, from improved land use and conservation to strengthening social cohesion and cultural identity. Collaborative land management can also activate different forms of capital: human, social, and financial—and inspire a collective plan for where to best invest it.
Blockchain-enabled structures serve as community catalysts: Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) facilitate open and democratic management. Both locally and globally, they mobilize sustainable communities, taking land (and decision-making over it) from the hands of a select few. And by participating, DAOs provide individuals with the opportunity to become active agents in land restoration, regeneration, and consolation—empowering all stakeholders to access up-to-date information and effectively manage and protect an area.
OASA is one of the pioneers in this area. It aims to acquire land to remove it from the market and protect it—with the ultimate goal of stewarding 100,000 hectares globally. To do that, it stimulates DAO structure and token-enabled economics on a hyperlocal scale; every single protected area thus has its sovereignty. OASA utilizes tools like Proof of Presence, rewarding participation in the community with benefits such as increased governance powers—a great way to give sovereignty back to the communities doing the regenerative work on the ground.
The global population is projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, putting increasing pressure on limited land resources. Optimizing land protection, management, and use will be crucial for promoting sustainable practices and protecting the environment for generations to come. Blockchain may not be a silver bullet, but it has many promising applications. The work of organizations in the space, including Basin Natural Capital, Kin DAO, Green Digital Guardians, Ecorise, Regenerate Barichara, ReCommon, and many more, will be essential to informing the direction of further advances.
Tereza Bízková is a Czech journalist and tech writer based in Colombia. She works as the Ecosystem Communication Manager at Topl. With her curiosity for all things tech, together with her master’s degree in Defence, Development, and Diplomacy, Tereza loves exploring how innovative solutions advance meaningful change.
