Participatory mapping in support of improved land administration and management of natural resources

摘要

In many countries, the trend of building and maintaining efficient land administration systems has expanded rapidly over the past decades. There has also been growing awareness and development of spatial data infrastructures, the sustainable management of natural resources and preservation of the environment because of the realisation that these are all vital to socioeconomic progress around the world. The number of participatory mapping initiatives is quickly increasing in many parts of the world. Participatory mapping has emerged as a process and a powerful tool, utilising visual techniques to better understand local natural resources, together with their management, dynamics and related challenges, and with potential solutions to the challenges. It is a relatively fast way of gaining information from those who live with and use these resources. Although there are differences among the initiatives in their methods, applications and users, the common theme linking them is that the process of map-making is undertaken by a group of non-experts who are associated with each other based on a shared interest. Decisions about resource tenure are some of the most critical ones for forests and livelihoods in many contexts, and secure tenure arrangements are an important prerequisite for achieving sustainable forest management. Hereinafter a general overview of the current status of land administration in Albania is presented, with an emphasis on the modern development and changing priorities of the national registration institution and the government. The more innovative part of the paper deals with the participatory mapping initiative of communal forests and pasture use rights in Albania, the experiences gained and the suggested path ahead. Experience with participatory mapping in land registration combined with the forestry management in Europe is relatively rare when compared to other parts of the world.