U.N. agency adopts global guidelines against ‘land grabbing’

The U.N. adopted global guidelines on farmland purchases and the use of fisheries and forests by rich countries in the developing world on Friday, a move hailed as a block on “land grabbing.”

“They’ve just endorsed it by acclamation,” a spokesman for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome told AFP. The new voluntary rules are the result of three years of negotiations between UN member states.

The International Land Coalition, an alliance of civil society groups, said in a statement the document was “a remarkable advance towards people-centered land governance that is firmly anchored in a human rights framework.”

“The guidelines support access to systems of justice and transparent information concerning tenure, while promoting women’s land rights and gender equality,” it said.

“The rights of indigenous peoples are protected through recognition of their ancestral domains. Non-state actors, such as multinational corporations, are given clear responsibilities to respect human rights,” it added.