Issue

Land and Property Rights

Across the globe, rising demand for food, energy and natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals, has created enormous pressures on land— and access to it. Vast tracts of land are being snatched up by both public and private investors; most frequently in low-income and middle-income countries. The impact of these often secretive land deals on local communities is huge.

In frontier markets, where property rights are weak, unclear, or poorly governed, there is an increased likelihood of corruption, human rights abuses, conflict over resources, and environmental degradation. And it is often the most vulnerable groups, including minorities, indigenous people, the poor, and women, who bear the brunt of the problems created by poor land governance.

To investigate this growing crisis, Pulitzer Center-funded journalists are following stories that will increase transparency about land deals, expose weak land governance systems, and highlight the risks to stakeholders who invest in bad land deals. Their reporting illuminates fresh, new approaches to securing land rights that might promote, rather than erode, local development priorities.

The Pulitzer Center’s reporting on land rights issues is made possible through the support of the Omidyar Network's Property Rights Initiative, American Jewish World Service, the Kendeda Fund, and other Pulitzer Center donors.

 

 

 

 

Land and Property Rights

Trapped in the Buffer Zone

Climate finance was designed to bring money and development to the local communities that host such major tree-growing projects, but, in Bukaleba Forest Reserve, Uganda, four communities that have lived on the land for generations are struggling to survive.

"Mulheres do Xingu"

"Mulheres do Xingu" is a short-form documentary that shows the first major gathering of a women's movement, held in May 2019 in the village of Ilha Grande, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The objective was to discuss ways for women to find a place in spaces of power along with men.

People of the Kelp

Up Canada's West Coast in search of the world's biggest unreported land conflict.

Up Against the U.S./Mexico Border Wall

Mexicans call it The Wall of Shame. Few people north of the border ever ask, what does the wall look like from Mexico, not just to ordinary Mexicans but those whose homes literally touch the wall?

China's Frayed Perimeter

Why, despite growing vastly richer and steadily more powerful over the last generation, has China remained frustrated in its goal of bringing Hong Kong and Taiwan under its unquestioned authority?

The End of Europe

Examining the cultural, historical, and political meanings of Europe by traveling along its geographical border with Asia.

The Great Land Rush

A race has begun for one of the world's most precious resources—land. Investors are pouring in billions. They promise progress, but land grabs can upend livelihoods and stir bitter conflict.