ABSTRACT
Good land administration benefits individuals, government, businesses, and the environment, especially in post-conflict countries. The Working Party on Land Administration of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) states that “the inter-relationship of people and land is fundamental to human existence” (UNECE 2005, 4). The same publication lists “support environment management” as one of thirteen benefits of effective land administration (UNECE 2005, 6). UNECE defines land administration as the formal systems “necessary to register land and property and hence to provide secure ownership in land, investments and other private and public rights in real estate. A system for recording landownership, land values, land use and other land-related data is an indispensable tool for a market economy to work properly, as well as for sustainable management of land resources” (UNECE 1996, 7). Of course, in peaceful and prosperous developed nations, land administration and environmental concerns rank high on the political, social, and legal agendas.
