Charisse Griffith-Charles

Analysing the costs and benefits of 3D cadastres with reference to Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract For developing and lower-income countries or jurisdictions, the proposal to establish a 3D cadastre must be supported by a discussion of the situational need and a cost–benefit analysis of the concept. The aim of this exercise is to determine the advisability for introducing a 3D cadastre in Trinidad and Tobago. An assessment is conducted to determine where the existence of a 3D cadastre would improve the activities that are now performed using the 2D cadastre. For this analysis, therefore, an assessment is made of the percentage of the area of the country where 3D rights exist, and are acknowledged and supported, and where 3D restrictions and responsibilities exist and are actively enforced, and the benefits of the use of the 3D cadastre to manage those rights. This is compared with the increases in costs that would come from introduction and maintenance of the 3D cadastre. This paper finds that there is an implied and an expressed need for a 3D cadastre in Trinidad and Tobago but that the optimum effectiveness of its introduction is largely isolated to the urban, densely populated areas and the oil mining areas. The cost/benefit analysis finds a positive benefit/cost ratio. Beyond the economically advisable outcome, the non-quantifiable benefits of introducing a 3D cadastre are several, and, therefore, the introduction of a 3D cadastre, in selected areas only, is recommended to optimise the use of resources. This paper adds to the literature by introducing a procedure that can be replicated in other resource scarce jurisdictions.

Land management and environmental change in small-island-developing states: the case of St. Lucia

Although the history of the plantation economy and its land tenure legacy have contributed significantly to environmental degradation in Caribbean small-island-developing states, in the contemporary period multiple drivers are negatively impacting on sensitive ecosystems and other natural assets. This paper investigates the complex web of drivers of environmental degradation and suggests reforms to attain sustainable development in small-island-developing states. It uses St. Lucia as a case study. Data were collected from land management experts and key stakeholders drawn from the public sector who attended focus group workshops. The paper found regulatory land management and administration tools were ineffective in protecting the island’s fragile, though rich biodiversity. The political will to implement regulatory tools was lacking, and human resource constraints exacerbated the state’s ability to deploy measures in managing the demands of the poor, landless, and investors on existing natural resources. A major finding was that alternative instruments to reduce environmental degradation were underutilised. The paper concludes that an environmental governance framework combined with robust political will is necessary. It recommends that the governance framework should address the current failure of regulatory mechanisms and explore potent market instruments, behavioural change, new technologies, land tenure reform, and human capacity building aimed at mitigating natural resources degradation. This paper is useful to policymakers and decision-makers seeking solutions for averting deleterious environmental change which compromises the attainment of long-term sustainable development of small-island-developing states.

Toward the Development of a Marine Administration System Based on International Standards

The interests, responsibilities and opportunities of states to provide infrastructure and resource management are not limited to their land territory but extend to marine areas as well. So far, although the theoretical structure of a Marine Administration System (MAS) is based on the management needs of the various countries, the marine terms have not been clearly defined. In order to define an MAS that meets the spatial marine requirements, the specific characteristics of the marine environment have to be identified and integrated in a management system. Most publications that address the Marine Cadastre (MC) concept acknowledge the three-dimensional (3D) character of marine spaces and support the need for MC to function as a multipurpose instrument. The Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) conceptual standard ISO 19152 has been referenced in scholarly and professional works to have explicit relevance to 3D cadastres in exposed land and built environments. However, to date, very little has been done in any of those works to explicitly and comprehensively apply LADM to specific jurisdictional MAS or MC, although the standard purports to be applicable to those areas. Since so far the most comprehensive MC modeling approach is the S-121 Maritime Limits and Boundaries (MLB) Standard, which refers to LADM, this paper proposes several modifications including, among others, the introduction of class marine resources into the model, the integration of data on legal spaces and physical features through external classes, as well as the division of law and administrative sources. Within this context, this paper distinctly presents both appropriate modifications and applications of the IHO S-121 standard to the particular marine and maritime administrative needs of both Greece and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.