Natural resource rights and land resource governance: A systematic review of legal instruments regulating access, use, and conflict resolution

Abstract

Access to and use of land and natural resources are governed by a complex and dense legal matrix in which international, regional, national and customary laws and conventions overlap. This systematic review brings together published research on the legal frameworks governing access and use rights, tenure security and conflict resolution in relation to natural resources, with a focus on land governance. The review is informed by foundational literature on property-rights theory, legal pluralism in relation to customary and statutory land rights in Africa, large-scale land acquisition (commonly known as land grabbing), and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). The synthesis highlights four main themes: (1) property-rights theory and the bundle-of-rights concept as a basis for comparing statutory and customary claims to land; (2) persistent legal pluralism and the tension between statutory and customary land rights; (3) the contested content and uneven implementation of FPIC in extractive-industry and large-scale land-acquisition processes; and (4) the range of dispute-resolution routes, from state courts to customary courts, with locally accessible, low-cost institutions associated with durable resource governance. The review concludes that, although the normative framework protecting natural resource rights has expanded, the weak legal status of customary and communal tenure, uneven State implementation of FPIC, and the disadvantages that customary systems can create for women continue to undermine tenure security. Recommendations for policy and further research include the harmonisation of overlapping legal regimes and the empirical assessment of locally based dispute-resolution arrangements.