Protecting Community Lands in Kenya

Rising global demand for land and natural resources has made protection of community lands and natural resources an urgent priority, particularly in countries with little or no legal protection for community land rights.

Namati’s Community Land Protection Program supports communities to use national land laws to protect their customary and indigenous lands. Our integrated approach combines the legal and technical work of mapping and documentation with the local governance work of resolving land conflicts, ensuring intra-community equity, and strengthening mechanisms for accountable and participatory management of land and natural resources.

We work in partnership with national and local organizations to implement community land protection programs and research impacts. We also support governments to enact and implement legislation that protects community land rights and advocate for increased global protections for community land and natural resource rights.



Community Land Protection Facilitators Guide

Namati’s step-by-step, practical “how to” manual for grassroots advocates working to help communities protect their customary claims and rights to land and natural resources. This Guide—available in English and French—details Namati’s comprehensive, five-part approach to community land protection that supports communities to build unity and internal capacity, proactively document and map their land claims, strengthen local governance, seek formal government recognition of their land rights, and plan for their own flourishing future.

Download the Guide

Get a PDF of the Guide in English or French for offline digital use, or request a print-friendly version.

Explore the Guide Online

Click through sections of the Guide and find additional linked resources.

Watch the Webinar

Get an overview of the process and how to use the Guide

Discuss

Share questions and ideas with other community land protection practitioners.



Videos

Also available in Spanish, French, and Portuguese. (Please contact us if you would like to request another language.)

Overview: Protecting Community Lands and Resources

Provides an overview of the full community land protection process, the role of grassroots legal advocates, and resulting positive impacts.

 


Mapping and Boundary Agreements

Describes the land documentation activities of the community land protection process. Communities map their lands and natural resources, resolve land conflicts, mark boundaries with neighbors, and make an official map of their lands.


Making Rules for Land Governance

Illustrates the drafting of by-laws and creation of mechanisms for accountable, equitable and sustainable governance of community lands and natural resources, including protections for the rights of women and marginalized groups.


Protecting Land in Investment Negotiations

Explains how communities can empower themselves to negotiate with potential investors – including basic natural resource valuation, impact assessment, and land use planning – to ensure that agreements promote genuine community prosperity.