Land Access and Resettlement : A Guide to Best Practice

This book is an up-to-date, accessible and practical guide on how to optimally plan for, implement and review land access and resettlement. It provides step-by-step information on how to avoid pitfalls, ensure that best practice is being employed and the correct standards are being applied. With useful real-life examples of when projects have gone well and when they haven't, the book is based on the main lessons that have been learned on-the-ground over the past decade.

Natural resource projects can have considerable impacts on local communities, chiefly due to the need to acquire large areas of land. When projects are located in developing and middle income economies, the impacts are most keenly felt, as it often requires displacement of large rural populations, with predominately land-based livelihoods. The authors have planned, implemented and reviewed over 50 land access and resettlement projects in over 30 countries internationally, and conducted benchmarking exercises on a further 60 projects. This experience provides the basis for the book.

The book guides the reader through the different stages of preparing for a land resettlement project. Land Access and Resettlement is a key social risk for the natural resources sector, particularly the mining, oil and gas industries, who are operating in a context of increased awareness and regulation regarding the potential social impacts of their activities. At the same time, companies increasingly appreciate the business case for `getting social right’. This book provides a practical road map to corporate leaders, project managers, practitioners, academia, government and civil society for practically planning and implementing successful land access and resettlement, and creating win-win outcomes for companies and communities.

Gerry Reddy has extensive experience in land acquisition, resettlement, livelihood restoration and urban and regional development, having planned, implemented and reviewed a variety of projects worldwide. He has worked in private consultancy, local and regional government, the United Nations and international NGOs, including eight years living and working in Africa. Gerry has managed and advised on projects in a variety of locations, including throughout Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. This has included working with clients in relation to mining, oil and gas, infrastructure, environmental and refugee-related resettlement issues. His expertise is in project management, planning and implementation, community consultations and negotiations, environmental and social impact assessment, livelihood restoration, and participatory community planning and development. He has also undertaken social due diligence reviews, training of corporate personnel and benchmarking of projects worldwide. Gerry’s tertiary education includes a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning as well as a Diploma in Environmental Resource Management.

Eddie Smyth has over 20 years of experience working in the environmental and social fields in over 15 countries. The first six years of his career focused on wildlife conservation and environmentally friendly farming in Europe, followed by five years community development fieldwork in Africa. He has spent the past nine years planning, implementing and reviewing resettlement projects in Africa, Asia–Pacific, Europe and South America. Eddie has extensive practical experience in resettlement project management, social impact assessment, stakeholder engagement, social due diligence, livelihoods restoration and community development. Eddie’s tertiary education includes a Masters in Managing Rural Development and a Masters in Wildlife Conservation.

Mike Steyn has over 23 years of experience working with mining, oil and gas and infrastructure projects as a consultant and in a variety of senior management and other positions. He has extensive worldwide experience dealing with land acquisition and resettlement and related issues. He has planned, implemented, managed, carried out due diligence on, reviewed and monitored many land acquisition and resettlement projects in over 20 countries in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. He helps clients plan, negotiate and implement projects, as well as providing due diligence, benchmarking, review, monitoring and capacity-building training services. He also helps clients at a corporate strategic level and in the development of businesswide social management standards and guidelines. Mike’s tertiary education includes an MBA (dissertation title: `Developing a Global Policy for Dealing with the Community as a Corporate Stakeholder as a Means of Obtaining Competitive Advantage’), Bachelor of Laws (cum laude), and Bachelor of Arts (majoring in politics).