The governance of land has profound impacts for communities, governments, and the private sector. Yet information regarding land-use and governance is often not made publicly available -- especially in the context of land investments. Contracts granting large-scale forestry or agricultural concessions are usually negotiated behind closed doors and frequently not publicly disclosed. Similarly, illegal logging and land use is often not detected early enough to avoid lasting damage.

This webinar will profile two tools seeking to bring greater transparency to the governance and use of land in the context of land-based investments. The first, OpenLandContracts.org, is an online repository of publicly available contracts for large-scale land, agriculture, and forestry projects. The second, Global Forest Watch, is an online forest monitoring and alert system that provides information to better manage and conserve forests, including real time information and alerts about the status of forest landscapes worldwide.

The webinar is aimed at stakeholders, including representatives from government, civil society, and the private sector, who work on, or are interested in, transparency around land use, land governance, and land investments. It will include a discussion on current trends, opportunities, and challenges regarding land transparency and land investment, including how OpenLandContracts.org and Global Forest Watch can be used to increase transparency and empower citizens, before engaging in an interactive Q&A session with audience members. The webinar builds on last year’s OGP Global Summit panel on “Improving Openness and Transparency in Land-Based Investments.”

Yuliya Panfil, Property Rights Investments Team, Omidyar Network

As an associate at Omidyar Network, Yuliya sources and manages investments for the Property Rights initiative. Prior to joining the firm, Yuliya was a land governance and legal advisor at USAID, where she oversaw USAID’s responsible land-based investment practice and led USAID’s private sector and donor engagement on land and property rights issues.

Sam Szoke-Burke, Legal Researcher, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Sam works on CCSI’s focus areas of land and agriculture, extractive industries, and human rights and investment. Prior to joining CCSI, Sam worked as a legal consultant for the Land, Environment and Development project at the Legal Assistance Centre, Namibia, where he worked with various indigenous communities on legal claims relating to land and natural resources.

Jessica Webb, Civil Society Engagement Manager , Global Forest Watch, World Resources Institute

Jessica leads efforts to ensure that civil society organizations (CSOs) around the world have access to the information and evidence they need to sustainably manage forests and promote accountability among decision-makers. She also manages the GFW Small Grants Fund. Jessica has a decade of experience working with international CSOs on issues including sustainability standards and certification, community conservation, ecotourism, access to education, and spatial analysis for conservation project planning.

Introductory comments will be made by a representative of the Global Donor Working Group on Land (TBC).