Letter from the Team Leader

The Land Portal Foundation is proud to support land stakeholders around the world to nurture a growing information ecosystem that is informing and improving land-related decision-making, policy, and practice at all levels.

Our global partnerships have become stronger. User trust and satisfaction in our work is higher than ever. Open data principles and concepts are becoming better understood. The land sector has made great strides in contextualizing key land issues vis-a-vis climate change, gender equity, and indigenous rights, among other issues.

The Land Portal continues to evolve and innovate. From a simple information gateway, we have become a true hub for knowledge. This year, we invested greatly in delivering original research and content where we saw opportunities to add value. I’ll share just two examples.

The Country Insights initiative provides a curated and highly researched entry point for people to learn more about land situations in individual countries. Users now rate it as one of our most valuable services.

The publication of the Open Up Guide for Land Governance was another milestone. The Open Up Guide is a tool for governments to publish land-related data for improved decision-making and public service. The publication is just the starting point! We will be piloting the guide implementation in Senegal and Madagascar with our trusted partners and the support of GIZ.

Opening up land data properly is not the end in itself, but we strongly believe that it can help advance social and environmental justice. Over the last two years the Land Portal has worked hard to embed land issues within key open data activities. Our partnerships are fundamental to this effort, and we are grateful to the Open Data Charter and Global Data Barometer for forging this new direction of work with us.

Thanks to all Land Portal partners, donors and users for your continued support and confidence in our work. What we have achieved in 2021 is the result of a joint effort.

Sincerely,

Laura Meggiolaro, Team Leader, Land Portal Foundation