The Status of Land Tenure, Planning and Management in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS, COORDINATION OFFICE FOR THE WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP PROGRAMME (FAO WBGS)
Jerusalem, 2015
Chapter 1. General Country Profile
1.2 Location, Climate, Topography
Chapter 2. Land tenure practices and policies
2.2 Land Tenure Regulations and Polices: Historical Overview
2.3 Institutional Setup: Historical overview
2.4 Legal Framework and Institutional Arrangements
2.6 Land Administration of Public and “Waqf” Lands
2.7 Land Administration and Registration
2.8 Land Fragmentation and its effect on Investment, Agricultural Production and Food Production
2.10 Gender Equality in Land Tenure Governance
2.11 Land Market, Challenges and Opportunities
Chapter 3. Land use planning and management
3.3 Land Classification Based on the Potentials (Values)
3.4 Soil and Water Conservation / Water Harvesting
3.5 Soil Quality and Fertility Improvement Measures
3.6 Land Rehabilitation, Restoration and Reclamation
3.8 Sustainable Land Management Practices
3.10 Projects, Programs, Research and Extension
3.11 Institutional Linkages and Coordination
3.12 Environmental Policies, Laws and Regulations
3.13 Gender equality mainstreaming in land policies
3.14 Stakeholders and Partners Analysis
Chapter 4. Conclusions and recommendations
4.2 Land use Planning and Management Conclusions
Table 1: Summary of Demographic Indicators in the WBGS by Region (PCBS, 2014)........................ 16
Table 2: Percentage contribution to GDP by economic activity in the region for the years 2009 - 2011 at current prices (PCBS, 2014) 17
Table 3: Basic Changes for the Agriculture Labor Force in the WBGS, 1998-2012 (PCBS, 2014)....... 17
Table 4: The distribution of the A, B, C areas and the percentages of registered land in each category by mid of the year 2014. 26
Table 5: Unregistered areas in the Governorates of the West Bank..................................................... 27
Table 6: Summary of land use in the WBGS (PCBS, 2008).............................................................. 42
Table 7: Changes in agricultural land use in km2 (PCBS, 2009b)....................................................... 46
Table 8: Areas in km2 for different agricultural production practices during 2007/2008 (PCBS, 2009b) 47
Table 9: Crops Irrigated in km2 (PCBS, 2014)................................................................................. 64
Table 10: Productivity of irrigated agriculture as compared to rain fed agriculture in tons per dunum (adapted from PCBS, 2014) 65
Table 11: Characteristics and recharge of aquifer basins in the West Bank (PWA, 2012).................... 66
Table 12: Domestic and Agricultural utilization of water in the WBGS (PCBS, 2014)........................ 67
Table 13: Correlation between soil associations and the international soil classification systems (Dudeen, 2001) 78
Figure 1: General location of the WBGS (FAO, 2014)..................................................................... 10
Figure 2: Political map of the West Bank (FAO, 2014)..................................................................... 11
Figure 3: Topographic contour map for the WBGS (FAO, 2014)...................................................... 12
Figure 4: Agro-climatic zones in the WBGS (MoA, 2014b).............................................................. 14
Figure 5: Aridity Classifications for the West Bank (LRC, 2014)....................................................... 15
Figure 6: Population estimates and forecasts in the WBGS from 1996 to 2016 (PCBS, 2014)............. 16
Figure 7: The WBGS Cities and Areas A, B and C........................................................................... 20
Figure 8: Results from a perception survey conducted on views regarding methods that participants trusted for land dispute resolution in Dora town (Dora Social Assessment 2012)........................................................................................................................... 36
Figure 9: Process of Settling Boundaries Disputes in the Dora project under LAPII........................... 38
Figure 10: Process of settling land ownership disputes in the Dora Project under LAPII..................... 39
Figure 11: Land use map for the West Bank (MoA, 2014b).............................................................. 43
Figure 12: Land use in Gaza Strip................................................................................................... 44
Figure 13: Built up area in Gaza Strip (ARIJ, 2006a and PCBS, 2008)............................................. 48
Figure 14: Forms of restriction on land accessibility in the West Bank (after OCHU-OPT)................. 51
Figure 15: Erosion Risk in the West Bank (LRC, 2007)................................................................... 53
Figure 16: Monthly evapotranspiration and precipitation at different locations in the WBGS.............. 54
Figure 17: Soil salinization in the West Bank (MoA, 2014b)............................................................. 55
Figure 18: Land Condition Map of West Bank between 2000 and 2010(Alkhouri, 2012)..................... 58
Figure 19: Classification of lands according to their value (MOA, 2014b)....................................... 60
Figure 20: Land evaluated for reclamation suitability in the West Bank (LRC, 2010)......................... 62
Figure 21: Land classification for development (reclamation, rangelands and forestation suitability) in the West Bank (LRC, 2010). 63
Figure 22: Average Annual Rainfall Distribution in the WBGS (MOA, 2012)................................... 68
Figure 23: Recharge areas in the West Bank (MOA, 2014b)............................................................. 69
Figure 24: Pollution vulnerability map for the West Bank (MOA, 2014b).......................................... 70
Figure 25: Wells and springs in the West Bank (MOA, 2014b)......................................................... 71
Figure 26 : Groundwater recharge in Gaza Strip (AlMasri, 2006)..................................................... 72
Figure 27: Groundwater pollution vulnerability map in Gaza Strip (AlMasri, 2006)........................... 72
Figure 28: Distribution of wells in the Gaza Strip (after PWA).......................................................... 73
Figure 29 : Spatial distribution of soil types in the WBGS (MOA, 2014b)......................................... 80
Figure 30: Improvement livelihood program performance chart (Jong et al, 2012).............................. 82
Figure 31: Approval and review process for permitting projects (infrastructures, major housing plans and master plans) involving change of land use. 94
Distance
1 centimeter (cm) = 0.394 inches
1 meter (m) = 39.370 inches
1 kilometer (km) = 1000 meters = 0.6214 miles
Area
1 dunum = 0.1 hectare
1 hectare = 10,000 square meters
1 square kilometer (km²) = 0.386 square miles
Weight
1 kilogram (kg) = 2.205 pounds
1 metric ton (mt) = 2,205 pounds
Currency
Exchange Rate for UN in December 2014, United Nations Treasury http://treasury.un.org/operationalrates/Default.aspx
Currency Unit = New Israeli Shekel (NIS)
1 USD = NIS 3.874
List of Abbreviations
ANERA | American Near East Refugee Aid |
ARIJ | Applied Research Center of Jerusalem |
CARE | CARE International |
E | East |
EIA | Environmental Impacts Assessment |
EQA | Environmental Quality Authority |
ET | Evapotranspiration |
EU | European Union |
FAO | Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations |
GPD | Gross Domestic Product |
GIS | Geographic Information System |
GS | Gaza Strip |
Ha | Hectare |
IEE | initial environmental evaluation |
IPA | Irrevocable Power of Attorney |
Km | kilometer |
LAP | Land Administration Project |
LPTF | Land Policy Task Force |
LRC | Land Research Center |
MCM | Million cubic meter |
MCM/a | Million cubic meters per Annam |
MDG | Millennium development goals |
mm | Millimeter |
MOA | Ministry of Agriculture |
MOPAD | Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development |
MOF | Ministry of Finance |
N | North |
NDP | National Development Plan |
NGOs | Non-Governmental Organizations |
OCHU-OPT | Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs- Occupied Palestinian Territory |
OXFAM | OXFAM International |
P | Precipitation |
PA | Palestinian Authority |
PARC PCBS | Palestinian Agricultural Relieve Committees Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics |
PHG | Palestinian Hydrology Group |
PLA | Palestine Land Authority |
PLC | Palestinian Legislative Council |
PSI | Palestine Standards Institute |
PT | Property Tax |
PWA | Palestinian Water Authority |
RS | Remote Sensing |
SLR | Systematic Land Registration |
SLM | Sustainable Land Management |
RWS | Rural Women Development Society |
VGGT | Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests |
“Waqf” | A common local term for lands of religious endowment |
WB | West Bank |
WBGS | West Bank and Gaza Strip |
UAWC | Union of Agricultural Work Committees |
UNDP | United Nations Development Program |
USA | United States of America |
USAID | United States Agency for International Development |
USDA | United States Department of Agriculture |
· Zakariyah Salawdeh, Qasim Abdo, Ammar Salahat and Hasan Ashqar from the Ministry of Agriculture:
· Zaghloul Samhan, Murad Madani and Ahmad Abu Zaher from Environmental Quality Authority.
· Jamal Al-Amleh from Land Research Center.
· Nader Hrimat from Applied Research Center of Jerusalem.
· Ali Abed Al-Hameed from Urban Planning Center of An-Najah National University.
The work team would like to acknowledge the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Applied Research Center of Jerusalem and Land Research Center for the data provided which was essential in completing this study. Acknowledgment and thanks are extended to Yacoub Kilani from the Ministry of Agriculture and Mohamad Al-Amleh from Land Research Center for the maps they prepared for this study.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Key Messages |
· The current unresolved political conflict and the restrictions on access to land and water resources remain major constraints towards sustainable management and effective planning for land administration and use. · The complicated, cumbersome procedures and systems in land tenure characterization combined with over fragmentation of land have resulted in significant negative impacts on land market, land use and land management. · The divergence and non-uniformity in available data and information regarding land use, classification and degradation restrict the development of efficient plans for land use planning and management. · Local and international organizations have undertaken a large number of projects / interventions in the past 20 years to improve the use and management of land and natural resources. However, these interventions do not follow a coherent plan towards sustainable land use and management. · Lack of coordination and poorly aligned efforts among stakeholders in land use, planning and management is observed to undermine effectiveness · Quantitative assessment and accurate evaluations of the impacts of interventions, strategies and policies are missing or lacking. · Building human and institutional capacities and creating enabling environments to evaluate and assess land use and land degradation are essential in developing interventions, plans and policies to improve land use and management. |
Main Findings
The WBGS cover an area of about 6,024 km2. Arable land is estimated at about 2,559 km2; however, only about 1,854 km2 are cultivated with agricultural crops. While there is a large discrepancy in land use data, some estimates show that rain fed crops cover an area of about 1,590 km2; of this area, about 1,097 km2 are planted with fruit trees and 459 km2 are field crops. Although more than 600 km2 are suitable for irrigated agriculture, only 264 km2 are irrigated due to limitations in water availability and water resource access.
Trends in land use show a significant increase in urban areas. Urban areas have nearly doubled during the past 20 years enhanced by population growth reaching an area of nearly 400 km2. Existing political situation limits the ability of the Palestinian Authority to implement plans towards improving the utilization of natural resources including land and water.
The designation of the West Bank into areas A, B and C according to the Oslo interim agreements and the lack of a final status agreement between the Palestinians and Israel have restricted Palestinian access and control to less than 40 percent of the West Bank. Urbanization and investment in lands accessible to the Palestinians (areas A and B) have caused the loss of fertile lands and have resulted in further degradation of land. The expansion of Israeli settlements, their roads and the separation wall have resulted in even more land loss. The restrictions and accessibility to land also make it impossible to implement policies and plans for sustainable land use and management in significant portions of the WBGS.
Although the Palestinian Authority was established after Oslo interim agreements in 1995, it does not yet have full control over land and water resources. However, the PA managed to develop policies, strategies and development plans for water, environment, natural resources, agricultural and other economic sectors. These policies and strategies became evident after 2010 through the development and adoption of bi-annual national development plans for the various economic, environmental and natural resources sectors. This development followed the move of reforms and restructuring of the PA towards building Palestine as a state. Within this process, land use planning and management became evident in the adoption and further amendment of the National Spatial Plan developed to protect high agricultural value lands. However, plans and policies are not adequately implemented due mainly to lack of implementation mechanisms owing to different political, socio-economical and financial factors taking into consideration that the PA does not have control over large areas of the West Bank (area C).
Land tenure practices in the WBGS were inherited from different empires and occupations who applied different rules reflecting their characterizations on tenure rights. The changing objectives imposed by the past occupants and their consequential actions on the land tenure created gaps in property governance and land management. The methods adopted for characterization are very complicated; involve cumbersome procedures and systems; high percentage of common ownership and land related disputes reducing certainty, liquidity and investment. Thus, the characterization has resulted in significant impacts on the land market, land use and land management.
The Ottoman registration system was effectively superseded during the British Mandate, but it remains as evidence for land ownership even today. The land registry was rendered more inaccurate during the Israeli occupation as the Israelis introduced different interpretations for “Mulk” ownership. The Israelis also introduced restrictions to title ownership over cultivated “Miri” lands and all other uses of land were not recognized to confer ownership and thus deemed as Public Land. The application of inheritance law which relies on Sharia’ and other religious laws resulted in over fragmentation of land lots and shares. It also increased the miss-management of land use as inheritance also depends on the type of property being inherited.
Some initiatives taken by the PA to improve land governance; however it is still premature within the current context of protracted crisis. Due to political problems, the PLC has not been in session since 2007 and the unstable context of the WBGS prevents it from fully operating in accordance with good governance principles. Both factors render any streamlining initiatives ineffective.
Land degradation forms include natural degradation due to soil erosion and desertification, in addition to human induced degradation including loss of fertile lands by urbanization, soil contamination by untreated wastewater, solid waste disposal and agro-chemicals, loss of soil fertility, salinization of soils, loss of biodiversity and loss of vegetation due to overgrazing. Data and information available about land degradation, especially related to soil erosion are descriptive, restricting the capacity to evaluate and quantify effective methods for reducing degradation.
During the past 20 years, a large number of projects and interventions were implemented in the area of land development including land reclamation and rehabilitation, soil and water conservation measures, reforestation, rangeland management and rehabilitation of agricultural water resources and irrigation systems. These projects aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of vulnerable rural communities, improving food security and reducing poverty. Many organizations and institutions participated in the implementation of these projects and interventions. However, these interventions did not follow a coherent coordinated national development plan towards efficient use of water and land resources. Moreover, it was observed that there is inaccuracy and inconsistency in the data collected and documented on land use. Therefore the information available is neither sufficient nor reliable enough to develop a comprehensive plan for land use and management.
Water is supplied to domestic and agricultural sectors from groundwater resources in the WBGS. In 2012, the total water utilization was estimated at 350 MCM which included 147 MCM for agricultural purposes. Agriculture utilizes about 42 percent of total water. The groundwater aquifer in the Gaza Strip is over exploited resulting in severe deterioration of groundwater quality and sea water intrusion. In the West Bank, groundwater utilization is restricted by the Israeli authorities. Thus, water availability for agriculture is severely limited requiring the need to develop additional water sources including runoff harvesting, brackish water and treated wastewater reuse. In addition to that, water conservation, reducing water losses, improving water infrastructure and optimization of water use in agriculture are essential for agricultural development.
The Gaza Strip experiences severe depletion of water and degradation of natural resources including land. The high population density, the poor infrastructure combined with the severe political constrains as well as the frequent armed conflicts and invasions are causing long term damages to the land and water resources in the strip. The deterioration of natural resources and the severity of people’s needs demand urgent actions to restore these resources and rehabilitate the infrastructure to provide basic human needs. The destruction of urban, agriculture, energy and water infrastructures in the recent war resulted in human suffering requiring immediate action to rebuild the infrastructure. There is a pressing need to rehabilitate and rebuild agricultural roads, land, irrigation wells and irrigation systems.
Recommendations
Many organizations have been involved in the planning and implementation of projects, plans and programs to improve land use and land management in the WBGS. However, due to lack of harmonized approaches / methods and coordinated actions, it was not possible to have a harmonized system for land data and information, which provides a solid base for planning. Furthermore, there is need to have in place a system to monitor, quantify and analyze land degradation including soil erosion, salinization and soil pollution These activities should be accompanied by human capacity development enhancing skills that enables to undertake sound planning for land use and management. When reliable information, data and skills are available, comprehensive plans for land use and management become more feasible. There is urgent need to develop the human and institutional capacities of the Palestinian institutions so that they will be able to (i) gather, verify and document data and information required for land use planning and management that could assist the institutions in the preparation and the periodic updating of development plans and strategies; and to (ii) improve the capacities of institutions in the follow up and implementation of land development, land use planning strategies and plans. Considering the large number of local and international institutions working in land use planning and management, improving the coordination among these institutions is essential to achieve the national development goals adopted in the national plans and strategies. Support to activities and interventions in the areas of land development, master planning and National Spatial Planning should continue.
Research institutions need to be strengthened to carry out applied research, develop good practices and appropriate technologies that are suitable to the local conditions in the WBGS. The extension services offered to the farmers should continue to be provided by the Ministry of Agriculture. Public awareness programs in treated wastewater reuse in agriculture, irrigation with brackish water, sustainable land management and gender equality are highly needed.
The table below shows a summary of key recommendations made based on this study.
Recommendations for specific areas of intervention | |
Improved Land and Territorial Governance
Recommendations that are beyond one single entity (Ministry or Authority) for its implementation, therefore needing inter-sectorial collaboration or recommendations that apply to the entire natural resources sector | A. Institutional and Policy Support
· Stimulate the operation of the National Land Council to ensure more efficient management of land administration, management and land use planning. · The National Spatial Plan to be applied for protecting lands with high agricultural, aesthetic and biodiversity values from urbanization. There is a need to support and update the national spatial plan in protecting lands with high agricultural value and addressing the concerns of the private sector to abide by the plan · Periodically prepare and adopt a development strategy for land use planning and management. · Encourage inter-sectorial planning to reduce degradation and improve land productivity with emphasis on harmonizing and combining agricultural and water strategies and policies. · Improve the coordination among governmental, non-governmental and international institutions in all activities related to land use and management. · Gender equality objectives should be clearly integrated/be part on the agenda for all land development activities. · Adopt and implement good governance approaches for land use planning and management including transparency and decentralization options. · Evaluate different approaches in institutional coordination for the planning and implementation of activities and interventions. · Develop strategies for harmonization of efforts, collaboration and alignment of stakeholders that lead to effective implementation of land use plans and SLM. · Adopt comprehensive and integrated detailed national plans and policies for land development to guide and direct all activities and interventions in this field. · Enhance planning and implementation of activities and interventions in land development, land protection, land reclamation, protection of biodiversity, reforestation and natural vegetation cover. · Support and encourage macro and micro scale water harvesting and storage, and enhance the introduction of sustainable land management programs. · Support intensive and efficient use of limited resources (land and water), recycling and reuse of waste. · Strengthen interventions to combat desertification, adapting mechanisms to climate change, mitigation of climate change effects, adopting friendly and green agro-techniques to optimize water utilization in a sustainable manner · Continue international support to governmental organizations in developing and harmonizing strategies, policies and plans related to land use and management.
B. Legal Support
· Establish specialized land courts and improve capacity in solving land related disputes in timely manners. · Promote public awareness on women’s legal rights in owning, using and managing land, as well as fostering affordable and accessible mechanisms so that women can claim their rights · Enhance implementation and enforcement of environmental law in aspects related to land use and management. · Land with common ownership among several individuals or groups must be addressed among the owners to facilitate zoning, planning and other land use and management decisions.
C. Physical Infrastructure
· Urgent reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure destroyed through the recent crisis in Gaza Strip. · Strengthen the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure including irrigation wells, irrigation systems and water distribution networks. There is a need to complete harvesting projects at a larger level by constructing dams/ponds to collect runoff water for agricultural use and groundwater recharge. Also needed is the construction of seasonal storage structures to store treated wastewater in winter and runoff for reuse in summer
D. Overall Capacity Development (including raising awareness) · Improve capacities in research, public awareness, governance and private sector involvement. · Improve human and institutional capacities in developing plans, policies and strategies in areas of land use and planning in a participatory and gender equitable way · Raise local public awareness, buy-in and capacities towards adopting and implementing the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) approach. |
Land Tenure / Land Administration
| · There is a need to conduct a comprehensive review and gap analysis of the regulatory framework related to land tenure and registration. · Registration, zoning and planning processes need to be consistent. · Strengthen the registration of unregistered land parcels to facilitate zoning, planning and other land use and management decisions. · To support the above-mentioned corrective and preventive measures, local and national public awareness and outreach programs should be implemented in parallel with any land related project to inform the people about the process, educate them about their rights and benefits with special focus on women and marginalize people. In addition, special attention should be given to education and informative meetings to the public in the field of land administration. · Improve human and institutional capacities in legal and land administration. · The PLA and the MOF should co-ordinate their valuation processes so as to ensure a single valuation process and methodology for all PA institutions. |
Land and Water Use / Management
| · Develop unified systems of land classification and land use · Assess, quantify and document land degradation · Continue the support for the current activities in the area of protecting land from degradation including interventions in the areas of land reclamation (constructing of terraces), use of organic fertilizers, zoning (the national spatial plan), protection of biodiversity, combatting desertification programs, improving management of water and fertilizers, afforestation and proper rangeland management · Activities in the areas of wastewater collection, treatment and reuse, solid waste collection and disposal should be supported and continued to assist in reducing land degradation. · Considering the importance of groundwater sources and aquifers, there is a need to consider ground water pollution vulnerability in land development. Activities on these sensitive lands should be restricted and monitored to protect groundwater aquifers from contamination. · Evaluate and document local land management practices for up scaling SLM · Develop a comprehensive land and soils information system that is responsible for data collection, continuous monitoring, and verification of data and information on land use planning, land degradation, land classification and soil mapping. · Enhance and coordinate the role of local universities and research institutions · Stimulate research to address local needs and fill the gaps in soil erosion by wind and water, brackish water use, treated wastewater reuse, drought management and adaptation to climate change. · Encourage the involvement of the private sector in land use planning and programs that aim to combat land degradation through public-private sector partnerships. · The dialogue and analysis concerning land degradation and its impacts should be based on more quantitative than qualitative data and information. · Develop strategy for scaling up sustainable land management practices. · Develop strategies and actions for minimizing the risk of land fragmentation and protecting arable lands from urbanization · Adopt watershed management and eco-system approaches and plans for the different watersheds in the WBGS. In particular: 1) Improving the existing water and wastewater infrastructure through rehabilitation of existing systems and establishing new systems to convey and distribute water. 2) Constructing and implementing wastewater collection, treatment and reuse systems in order to reduce environmental degradation. The reuse of treated wastewater is essential in improving the socio-economic conditions of the localities within the watersheds. 3) Solid waste collection and disposal systems are also of high importance in achieving efficient and sustainable integrated watershed management. 4) Effective activities to enhance water supplies in the watershed include water harvesting and artificial recharge of groundwater. 5) There is a need to emphasize integrated watershed management regardless of the administrative boundaries among localities and governorates. 6) Emphasis should be on conducting studies to plan interventions for improving the existing situation in the watersheds Specific Capacity Development: · Improve capacity and enabling environment in collection, unification and verification of data, to improve the quality of information collected and documented in land use and land degradation. The institutional capacity in monitoring and quantifying land degradation should also be improved and enhanced. Field studies to monitor, measure and assess land degradation including soil erosion by water and wind should be supported and encouraged · providing the Ministry of Agriculture with the tools (suitable computer hardware and software) in addition to periodic information (aerial maps, photos and satellite images) is essential to establish a reliable data base on land use · Address the issue land development and land use planning in a way it becomes more attractive to funding sources. · The institutional capacities in the design, construction and operation of water harvesting, especially dams and treated wastewater reuse projects should be enhanced and improved. · improve water availability for agriculture and thus improve the sustainability and profitability of agriculture
|
CHAPTER 1.GENERAL COUNTRY PROFILE
1.1 Introduction
The West Bank and Gaza Strip (Figure 1) are two geographic areas which were part of British mandated Palestine before 1948; a mandate that took control following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire after controlling the region for about 400 years. Following the British mandate, Israel was formed over about 78 percent of historical Palestine, while the West Bank and Gaza Strip became under the control of Jordan and Egypt respectively. As a result of the 1948 war, waves of refugees entered the WBGS forming a number of refugee camps in these areas. Following the 1967 war, the WBGS were occupied by Israel. In 1995, as a result of the Oslo accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, the Palestinian Authority was established. Following a number of political agreements, the control of the West Bank was classified into three areas A, B and C (Figure 2). Area A is under the control of the Palestinian Authority, area B is under Israeli security control and administratively under Palestinian control, area C is under Israeli control. These arrangements were supposed to be temporary pending the results of permanent status negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis; however they have continued as de facto situation. Israel completely withdrew its military forces and settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005 but kept control of its borders. In 2012, Palestine gained a non-member state status in the United Nations. The combination of the existing political status of the WBGS and the number of countries that have occupied or controlled the WBGS have severely affected the land tenure, land use and land planning status, regulations and policies.
1.2 Location, Climate, Topography
The WBGS are located east of the Mediterranean coast and west of the Jordan River (figure 1) between latitudes of 31.2 to 32.5oN and longitudes of 34.2 to 35.5oE. The Gaza Strip is a small strip of land of about 363 km2 (PCBS, 2008) in area on the south eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea extending about 6 to 10 km from east to west and 40 km from north to south. The West Bank is located on the western side of the Jordan River with an area of 5 661 km2 (PCBS, 2008) and extends for about 135 km from north to south and about 30 to 50 km from east to west.
The topography of the Gaza Strip is characterized by a coastal plain with sand dunes and elevations extending from sea level up to 80 meters above mean sea level. For the West Bank, the topography starts with semi-coastal plains in the northwest, followed by a chain of mountains and hills in the middle with moderate slopes on their western sides and elevations extending from 400 meters around Jenin in the north to about 1 000 meters around Hebron in the south. The eastern side of the West Bank Mountains and hills are characterized by steep slopes with high erosion and low vegetation. At the bottom of the eastern slopes, the Jordan River Valley (Ghore) area extends along the Jordan River and the Dead Sea with elevations ranging from 200 meters below sea level in the north to 400 meters below sea level around the Dead Sea in the south. Figure 3 shows a general topographic contour map for the WBGS.
Figure 1: General location of the WBGS (FAO, 2014)
Figure 2: Political map of the West Bank (FAO, 2014)
Figure 3: Topographic contour map for the WBGS (FAO, 2014)
The climate in the WBGS is generally characterized as Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers and rainy cold winters. As a result of the location and the topography, the WBGS could be divided into five agro-climatic zones (figure 4):
1) The coastal zone: the Gaza Strip with an area of 363 km2 is a coastal area with annual precipitation ranging from 200 to 400 mm and elevations up to 80 meters above mean sea level.
2) The semi-coastal zone includes about 470 km2 of plains around Qalqiliya, Tulkarm and Jenin in the northwest corner of the West Bank. The soil is medium texture and of alluvial origin suitable for fruit trees, field crops and vegetables.
3) The Central highlands zone constitutes an area of 3 144 km2 which is the largest portion of the West Bank forming the central hills and mountains. The cold winter climate, moderate summer temperatures and annual rainfall rates of 400 to 700 mm, make this area suitable for rain fed production of olives, grapes, stone fruits in addition to field crops and vegetables.
4) The eastern slopes: these semi-arid slopes extend from the eastern sides of the central mountains and hills to the Jordan Valley over an area of about 1 594 km2. Rainfall in these slopes declines from west to east and from north to south. The steep slopes of these hills result in high erosion rates and thus shallow soils. These areas are usually used for grazing.
5) The Jordan Valley: this is an arid area of about 413 km2 extending along the Jordan River with elevations more than 200 to 400 meters below sea level. Precipitation is low in this area; summers are dry and hot while winters are warm making this area suitable for planting winter vegetables and tropical fruits if irrigation water is available.
Considering the spatial distribution of annual precipitation and evaporation in the WBGS, the area could also be classified into 5 aridity zones ranging from sub-humid and humid in the central mountains, to arid and extremely arid in the Jordan Valley as shown in figure 5.
Figure 4: Agro-climatic zones in the WBGS (MoA, 2014b)
Figure 5: Aridity Classifications for the West Bank (LRC, 2014)
1.3 Socioeconomic conditions
The total population of the WBGS is estimated at 4.293 million as shown in table 1. The population density in the West Bank is estimated at 468 persons per square kilometer. This is far exceeded by the 4 500 persons per square kilometer in the Gaza Strip, which is a very high density. Considering the annual population growth rate of 3 percent, the population will double in nearly 22 years (figure 6) resulting in an increase of the population density putting a lot of pressure on land and natural resources. Evaluation and updating land use policies and plans would be required to adopt sustainable land use management plans that take into consideration effective use of the limited resources in the face of increasing demand on land resources. In addition to the increase in population, political solution to the current conflict will result in more Palestinians and Palestinian refugees returning to the WBGS. Such an influx of people enhances the need to adapt better land use and management policies.
Table 1: Summary of Demographic Indicators in the WBGS by Region (PCBS, 2014)
Demographic Indicators | West Bank | Gaza Strip | WBGS |
Estimated Number of Population mid-year (2012, million) | 2.649 | 1.644 | 4.293 |
Population Density mid-year (2012, person/km2) | 468 | 4 505 | 713 |
Sex Ratio (2012) | 103.2 | 103.2 | 103.2 |
Natural Increase Rate (2012) | 2.6 | 3.5 | 3 |
Life Expectancy at Birth (male, 2012) | 71.7 | 70.7 | 71.3 |
Life Expectancy at Birth (female, 2012) | 74.5 | 73.5 | 74.1 |
Average Household Size (2011) | 5.6 | 6.3 | 5.8 |
Total Fertility Rate (2010) | 3.8 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
Infant Mortality Rate (2010) | 18.2 | 22.4 | 22.4 |
Figure 6: Population estimates and forecasts in the WBGS from 1996 to 2016 (PCBS, 2014)
Agriculture plays an important role in the Palestinian economy. The contribution of agriculture reached 13.3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) when the Palestinian Authority was established in 1995 (PCBS, 2014). This contribution dropped to about 6 percent of the GDP in 2011 as shown in table 2. Although the contribution of agriculture dropped to 6 percent of the GDP, it still employs about 10 percent of the male labor force and more than 20 percent of the female labor force (table 3). Thus, improving land use planning and management will be essential in improving the job opportunities in the WBGS, especially for women resulting in a possibility to promote gender equality in addition to improving women’s social and economic status in society.
Table 2: Percentage contribution to GDP by economic activity in the region for the years 2009 - 2011 at current prices (PCBS, 2014)
Economic Activity | WBGS | ||
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 5.6 | 5.2 | 5.9 |
Mining, manufacturing, electricity and water | 13 | 12.6 | 13.1 |
Construction | 4 | 4.4 | 7.3 |
Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 15.1 | 15.9 | 15.4 |
Services, public administration, defense | 35.6 | 35.7 | 34.7 |
Others | 26.7 | 26.2 | 23.6 |
Total | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Table 3: Basic Changes for the Agriculture Labor Force in the WBGS, 1998-2012 (PCBS, 2014)
Variable | 1998 | 2000 | 2002 | 2004 | 2006 | 2008 | 2010 | 2012 |
Percentage Male Workers in Agriculture, Forest, Hunting and Fishing Activities from the Total Employees in Different Activities (%) | 9.5 | 9.8 | 11.9 | 12 | 12 | 10.1 | 9.9 | 8.9 |
Percentage Female Workers in Agriculture, Forest, Hunting and Fishing Activities from the Total Employees in Different Activities (%) | 29.1 | 34.6 | 29.9 | 33.7 | 34.4 | 27.5 | 21.4 | 23.7 |
Average Daily Wage in Agriculture (US $) | 14.4 | 16.4 | 11 | 8.3 | 9 | 8.3 | 6.5 | 11.2 |
CHAPTER 2.LAND TENURE PRACTICES AND POLICIES
2.1 Introduction
Land in the WBGS is of a great importance to economic and development activities as is the case of many developing countries. It is often one of the most common means for preserving wealth and is a powerful economic asset. Land provides a foundation for economic activities in sectors as varied as agriculture, industry, housing and tourism. It is also a key factor in the functioning of market (e.g. credit) and non-market institutions (e.g. local governments).
Land tenure and property rights securities have taken on a great historical and cultural significance to the Palestinians. Land-tenure security, land value, socio-economic development of land titling, registration and establishment of efficient land administration have significant importance in the Palestinian context.
The WBGS have never enjoyed an independent sovereign government, as they were either under occupation or protectorates of other kingdoms or empires. Various occupations of the WBGS resulted in a series of arsons at the registries, where registration data (births and property ownership) were burned. Up until today, it is very difficult to reconstruct the data that were lost in those times.
The WBGS have a common legacy inherited from the Ottoman and the British Mandate periods, characterized by distinct legal heritages. The West Bank’s system reflects the influence of the Jordanian civil law, Islamic law, and some measure of common law principles. In contrast, Gaza’s heritage has more clearly retained the legal concepts from the Ottoman and British mandate periods. Islamic and Christian laws and traditions for personal and civil status matters (marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance) continue to apply equally in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. However, both legal systems were also paralyzed by the Israeli military occupation.
Following the Oslo accords, the West Bank was divided into area A, B and C with different civil and security powers in the three areas.
· Area A: The Palestinian Authority (PA) has full civil and security control, this area consists of the main cities of the West Bank (except Hebron).
· Area B: The PA has full civil control and the security is jointly controlled by the PA and Israel. Most Palestinian towns and villages are in Area B.
· Area C: is fully controlled by Israel and consists of rural and unpopulated areas of the West Bank including the Jordan Valley and the eastern slopes.
Both areas A and B have rapidly increasing population densities with limited space for urban expansion, and usually severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinians among the various areas depending on political circumstances. Area C is under full Israeli military control for both security and civilian affairs, including land administration and planning, and is the focus of the continuous Israeli settlement expansion. Area C covers about 60 percent of the West Bank land, including good agricultural lands. The restrictions in Area C have negative impacts on the growth in Areas A and B. Because Areas A and B are heavily built up there is limited space remaining for new development. Area C provides the only significant space for potential development. However, development constraints are pushing up land prices, making housing more expensive (a housing shortage makes for severe overcrowding) and limiting land availability for agriculture and other investment opportunities.
Figure 7: The WBGS Cities and Areas A, B and C
2.2 Land Tenure Regulations and Polices: Historical Overview
Land ownership rights have been recognized in historical Palestine since 1858 based on the Ottoman code. The “Ottoman Land Register Law” known as “Tabu” was introduced to establish rights of land ownership that allows the owners to register their lands in the registry with a number and year without reference (boundaries and location). The Ottoman code which is still applicable for registration purposes up to now classified lands, "Aradi", into five classes defined as follows:
1) Mulk: Lands held in fee simple; freehold lands and subdivided into four types: (i) building sites within towns or villages; (ii) Land separated from Aradi Miri, which has been given into the possession of a person to be freehold; (iii) Aradi Ushria: Places given into the possession and distributed among the (Muslim) conquerors at the time of the conquest and; (iv) Aradi Kharaj: Places left in the hands of the original non-Muslim owners at the time of the conquest.
2) Miri: Crown lands belonging to the state exchequer, however these lands could be owned, possessed and managed by the state, a public or private entity, or individual(s). These lands are traded as “Mulk” lands but different laws and regulations are applied to them.
3) Waqf: An inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically donating a building or plot of land or even cash for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. These lands are administrated and managed by the Ministry of Waqf and Religious affairs.
4) Matruka: Lands abandoned without cultivation or an ostensible owner. These lands are typically state lands.
5) Mawat: Dead lands, uncultivated and inappropriate for cultivation: these lands are considered state lands.
In addition, the main types above were subdivided into other rights such as: (a) Masha’(communal lands), (b) Miri kharaj (c) Miri Bir Maa (d) Miri Marwi (Irrigated Miri land) (e) Miri mftalah (cultivated Miri land)
The Ottoman Land Law provided for the land registry and required owners to register their properties, but many owners never did it. The Palestinians perceived the Ottoman system as a threat to their tradition and most of the owners continued maintaining land according to their customs. As a result, the Ottoman registry was not definitive on private land rights; furthermore, the records were vague and often did not clearly identify specific parcels of land.
Following the Ottomans and during the British Mandate, the Land Settlement Ordinance of the year 1928 was issued to consolidate rights of land ownership. The Ordinance obliged owners to get their land surveyed and to register ownership rights in the names of specific persons instead of the names of the village or family (tribe or clan). This was the first attempt to promote private and individual ownership in the country. Palestinians challenged the British land settlement law as it was considered contradictory to the Palestinian customs’ regarding the common ownership of land. The individual ownership introduced represented a threat to the prevailing authority over the village according to the social system at that time. Both systems failed to document the status of land ownership in what is now the WBGS, as the majority of the ownership was family (tribe) based communal farms. Palestinians resisted these systems as these neglected the tradition of collective ownership. The Ottoman Land Register Law imposed high taxes on the registered cultivated lands that were classified as Amiri (Miri) Land. Despite this resistance, during 1918-1948, around half of the inhabited areas were registered in historical Palestine. In this period, several surveyor’s training centers were created (Java and Nazareth centers). The surveying was based on the modern systems of that time: geodetic network and distribution points.
After that and during the rule of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan over the West Bank during the period 1948-1967, land settlement activities started but with varying approaches for the “west and east banks”. The Jordanian authorities started settling land issues in 1956 in applying a “land settlement law” which generated a systematic registration and surveying system, but left more than 70 percent of the West Bank lands unregistered.
The Egyptians who had the mandate over the Gaza Strip during the same period, registered 98 percent of the Gaza Strip lands and did not make laws on land in Gaza. They administered the British Mandate laws, but did not add or change any legislative procedures.
In 1967, land settlement activities were suspended due to the Israeli occupation which developed policies and laws to implement a methodical and premeditated strategy of a de facto physical domination on Palestinian’s privately owned and public lands. The Israeli military order of 1967 halted the process of land registration in the WBGS under the pretext of “Peril of protectionism” of Palestinian Absentee’s property rights. This strategy ended with the confiscation of more than 2 910 km2 (51%) of the West Bank geographic area as “State Land”.
Based on the historical review of land tenure regulations and policies, the following issues are observed:
1) The WBGS have a common legal legacy from the Ottoman and the British Mandates that have separately distinct legal heritages.
2) Consolidation of existing laws has been underway since 1995 when the PA assumed power over its legal system; however, up to date land laws have not been fully consolidated. The West Bank’s system reflects the influence of the Jordanian law in its system of civil laws, Islamic laws, and with some measures of common law principle. In contrast, Gaza’s Strip heritage retained more clearly the legal concepts from the Ottoman and the British mandates.
3) Approximately 2 500 Israeli military orders remain in force today. Both legal systems (Ottoman and British) were paralyzed by the Israeli military orders. Judicial control was severely restricted prior to the Oslo Agreements, and the Palestinian court systems were dismantled in many cases and rendered almost entirely ineffective and moot in others. Today, efforts to resurrect and reinvent the formal justice system to serve the Palestinian people are slow to be realized.
4) A land policy formulation was conducted during LAPI (2007 -2008) with a vision and objectives to address the fundamental needs of the Palestinian people in securing property ownership rights, the livelihoods and the socioeconomic development (economic growth, poverty reduction). The proposed Land Policy framework of LAPI, consolidated in 32 policy statements, was endorsed by the Land Policy Task Force (LPTF) (February 2008), approved by the Cabinet (April 2008) and was subject for the PLC consideration. The fact that the PLC has not been in session since June 2007 due to political conflict among Palestinian factions has delayed the consideration of those polices as well as delayed the passage of the draft laws supporting the polices.
5) Due to the uncertainty of the sovereign status of the WBGS, the strategic approach of the policies considered three scenarios (annex attached):
a. Policies that can be implemented immediately given the existing environment, for example, those that support the settlement process (systematic adjudication);
b. Policies that can be implemented pending resolution of medium term external issues of LAPI, and;
c. Polices that can be implemented pending resolution of ‘final status’ issues.
6) Some of the policies proposed under the 1st scenario above are not subject to the passage of new draft laws but were subject to instructions and guidelines simplifying and enhancing the efficiency of the systematic registration, mostly those that support the settlement process which has been implemented immediately through the settlement process 2008 – till now. Others under the 2nd scenario (project based) were implemented through LAPI and are currently being implemented through LAPII. Policies under the third scenario are still pending the ‘final status’ issues with the Israelis.
7) In 2007 -2009, the land settlement process was piloted in three locations in Ramallah (Qarawat Bani Zied, Bir Nabala and Bitunia) through the financing of the World Bank and the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Office modernization and computerization were also initiated in 2008 and 2009. Currently, Palestinian Land Authority is implementing the land settlement process in Dura city (in the southern parts of the WB, Hebron governorate) through LAPII, (see: http://www.worldbank.org/en/ news/loans-credits/2012/04/26/west-bank-and-gaza-second-land-administration-project). The land settlement process has also been ongoing since 2009 in Bethlehem and Salfeet governorates.
2.3 Institutional Setup: Historical overview
Until 2002, authority over surveying and land registration was divided between the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Housing had authority over the Surveying Department, which was responsible for examining maps and plans prepared in connection with the land adjudication process, partition, subdivision, first registration and other transactions. The Ministry of Justice had control over the Land Registration Department, which registered all types of land related transactions.
Presidential Decree on the establishment of the Land Authority No. 10 of 2002 gave the Palestinian Land Authority (PLA) supervisory control of land registration and surveying operations and granted the PLA an independent, legal personality and authority to assume its function.
Presidential Order No. 6 of 2010 set out the mandate of the PLA as a land administrator responsible for preserving the rights of land ownership and other consequent rights on land for individuals, government and non-government institutions by surveying and registering the lands. According to this order, the PLA reports to the President. A National Land Council was also established by the above-mentioned President’s Order. The Council is chaired by the President with the following members:
· Minister of Finance / Member and Deputy Chairman
· Minister of Agriculture / Member
· Minister of Local Governments / Member
· Minister of Tourism and Antiquities / Member
· Minister of Planning and Administrative Development/ Member
· Minister of Waqf and Religious Affairs / Member
· Minister of Public Works and Housing / Member
· Chairman of the Land Authority / Member and Secretary
· Representative of Engineering Association / Member
· Representative of the Union of Local Councils/ Member
The Council shall assume and undertake the following tasks:
· Approving land polices
· Approving programs, plans and activities of the Land Authority
· Deciding on the annual budget and submitting it for the cabinet (Council of Ministers) approval
· Approving the periodic and annual reports of the Land Authority and its ongoing functions
In February 2014, the Land Authority was subordinated to the Council of Ministers. Now, the PLA is operating in 10 offices in the West Bank. Most of the offices are poorly equipped undermining the principles of good governance and are considered unsuitable for their highly important mandate.
2.4 Legal Framework and Institutional Arrangements
The land laws applicable in the West Bank (currently areas A and B only) are derived from the Jordanian and earlier Ottoman and British mandate periods. Among these laws, the Land and Water Settlement Law No. 40 of 1952 and its amendments deal with the process of registering unregistered land (including water resources); it sets out the mechanism for the settlement of rights and disputes within a gazetted area and clarifies how to proceed in the event of conflicting claims on unregistered lands.
Law No. 6 of 1964 for Registration of unregistered immovable property: this law was enacted to state and clarify the procedures regulating the process of land titling and registration at the Land Registration Department. Law No.1 of 1996 relates to registration of condominiums, apartments and commercial units; Law of Immoveable Property (No. 51 of 1958) as amended by Law No. 98 of 1966 addresses matters such as pre-emptive rights, powers of attorney and other priorities and restrictions. Law No.48 of 1953 concerns the partition of common immovable properties, establishes general rules for annulment of assignment transactions, interstate and inheritance divisions; and addresses the applications for the partition of the common immovable properties. Law No. 46 of 1953 governs the mortgage of immovable property; and the public land law No. 6 of 1942 covers the “preservation and management of state land”.
The Council of Ministers adopted in 2012 and later in 2014 amended a protection plan for Natural Resources and Archaeological Sites for the Northern Governorates entitled “The National Spatial Plan of the West Bank”. The plan allows determining the minimum thresholds of land holdings classified as agricultural lands of High and Medium Values to at least 5 dunums of a parcel subject to include agricultural roads. This plan aims at protecting high agricultural value lands from further fragmentation but it does not solve the existing fragmentations. The minimum size of a parcel is also specified in the Agricultural law Number 2 of 2003 (MoA, 2003a). This law is applied to agricultural lands which are lands not used for housing and other non-agricultural uses including those within limits of cities, towns and villages as specified by the master plans of the local councils.
Institutional responsibilitiesfor land administration are distributed as follows:
(a) The Palestinian Land Authority (PLA) is responsible for land administration, surveying and registration for all types of lands, drafting policies and laws and for land valuation for the purpose of registration fees. It is also responsible for the state land management in coordination with Cabinet.
(b) Ministry of Finance (MOF) is responsible for the land valuation with the purpose of property tax and acquisition of land for the public interest.
(c) Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs is responsible for the management of Waqf Land
(d) Municipalities are responsible for public land management within their boundaries
(e) Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for the management of forest lands. The Ministry of Agriculture is also responsible for assisting farmers in managing agricultural lands.
(f) The Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for protecting agricultural lands from degradation including protecting land of high agricultural value from changing its land use from agricultural to other uses.
(g) Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development is responsible for spatial planning in coordination with other entities of the PA.
(h) Ministry of local Governments responsible for issuing permits for buildings and development projects involving land use change as approved by the upper planning council in which several entities are represented.
The Property Tax department at the Ministry of Finance maintains a database on property tax payers, (having 445,000 registered owners), which is also used as one of the supporting documents for the registration purposes by PLA.. The property tax department deals with transactions for lands unregistered with PLA and provides supporting documents of those transactions (Sales contracts). According to the Property Tax Department, it annually records 11,000 such transactions which are almost half of the total number of property registrations in the PLA. Despite the fact that these properties are not considered as legally registered, the transactions are ongoing and supporting documents indicate buyers as new owners which is considered as a more secure method for documenting property transactions as compared to the other methods of transaction for the unregistered lands.
Table 4: The distribution of the A, B, C areas and the percentages of registered land in each category by mid of the year 2014.
Classification | Area (km2) | Percentage Registered |
Area A | 1 004.5 | 8.9% |
Area B | 1035 | 5.3% |
Area C | 3 607.2 | 26% |
Total | 5 646.7 | 40.2% |
2.5 Land Tenure Security
Tenure security is essential for investment, conservation and sound use of natural resources, improving agricultural productivity, encouraging temporary rights of land use including leasing of the land and to reduce the land related conflicts and disputes. Land tenure in the WBGS is secured by formal and informal systems through the following options:
1) Formal register “Tabu”: Lands with titles held in the PLA and applicable only for those areas that had been registered through the land settlement process or lands which were privately registered through the sporadic registration system (under law 6/1964). All parcels of land holding "Tabu" registration have preserved rights and could be used as collateral and tradable in the land market. This includes only 40 percent of the land in the West Bank. All the subsequent transactions of registered land should be registered with the land register at the PLA (for lands located in areas A and B) or at the Israeli land department for lands in area C. However, high percentages of the subsequent transactions continue currently to be held outside the land register using the Irrevocable Power of Attorney through the notaries. Irrevocable power of attorney is tradable in the land market but could not be used as an evidence for collateral nor fully preserve the ownership holders. As a result, high percentages of land disputes within the society are pending in the courts.
Table 5: Unregistered areas in the Governorates of the West Bank.
Governorate | Area (km2) | Unregistered Area (km2) | Percentage of unregistered area |
Hebron | 1 041.01 | 1 041.01 | 99.99% |
Bethlehem | 608.85 | 608.84 | 99.99% |
Salfeet | 210.67 | 131.18 | 62% |
Qalqiliya | 148.15 | N/A | N/A |
Jerusalem | 353.04 | 268.30 | 76% |
Nablus | 581.22 | 359.94 | 62% |
Ramallah | 809.93 | 442.84 | 55% |
Tubas | 420.43 | 93.45 | 22% |
Jericho | 643.08 | 128.29 | 20% |
Jenin | 549.50 | 45.54 | 8% |
2) Ikhraj Qeid: this land record is held in the Property Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance and is applicable for unregistered lands (60% of the West Bank and 2% of the Gaza Strip). The Ikhraj Qeid is used as a supporting evidence of ownership to register the land officially during the land settlement process or through the sporadic registration at the land register. Currently all the subsequent transactions for Ikhraj Qeid holders are held at the Property Tax Department. Ikhraj Qeid is tradable in the land market but cannot be used as evidence for collateral.
3) Irrevocable Power of Attorney (IPA): a number of land registrations outside the land register and Property Tax Department are done at the Embassies of Palestine abroad or at the different public notaries in the WBGS. The legal advisor of the Embassy acts as a notary and verifies the deal, which is approved by the Ambassador and sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice for clearance. Unfortunately, information on such transactions do not automatically get to the land register or the Property Tax Department for registration. Since the IPA is not recorded or implemented automatically at the land register or the Property Tax Department, fraud is possible as the owner might issue more than one IPA for the same land. The IPAs are common and tradable and an evidence of formally registering land but they do not provide full protection of rights. Many cases of fraud and conflict have been taken to the courts involving IPAs.
4) Other evidence of rights: these could preserve tenure rights on land during the land settlement process and could be used as supporting documents for the sporadic registration process. Other evidence of rights include tax receipts, powers of attorney and contracts of leases, fee payment receipts, affidavits from claimants, corroborating neighbors and witnesses, testimony of the Village Committee members and inheritance documents.
2.6 Land Administration of Public and “Waqf” Lands
The PLA is responsible for land survey, registration, protection and administration of public land. The current classification and custodianship of public land including state and municipal lands as inherited from the Ottoman code as well as the subsequent objectives and orders from different occupations have led to inefficient land use, tenure disputes, and unaccountable systems. The state and the local authorities have the right to take over land for the public interests. However, there is no clear rule for providing fair compensation.
Waqf (religious endowment) lands are a widely spread tenure type. There are two types of Waqf: public Waqf which is for the benefit of the entire religious Muslim and/or Christian community; and family Waqf which is a lifetime interest for the family of the donator and is converted into public Waqf upon the death of the donator. Both public Waqf and family Waqf lands are administered and managed by the Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs. The Ministry invests in public Waqf lands by observing compliance of the business activity or the investment with the Shari’a rules and collecting the revenues. Waqf lands are exempt from taxes. Both developed and agricultural Waqf lands are often in very attractive locations, but there is no comprehensive inventory available. Although inalienable, Waqf lands are in high demand for lease or rental agreements. For social, educational and religious institutions, Waqf lands are a major source of revenue used for the upkeep of mosques, charity for the poor, and in orphanages, schools, universities, etc. Therefore, there is a requirement to protect Waqf lands by registration and to develop a land administration strategy for investment and development of Waqf lands. It is important to note that these lands are not considered public lands to be managed by the public institutions and it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs to manage these lands in accordance with Shari’a law. Thus, adopting policies and strategies for developing these lands should be initiated and approved by the Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs.
2.7 Land Administration and Registration
Land registration and official recording rights in land are governed by two different laws in the WBGS. The British mandatory government completed a topographic land survey in 1933, which divided villages and towns into large natural blocks with multiple locations for property tax levying purposes. For some areas, this survey is still all the formal land information that is available. It seems that the tax records are updated somewhat better than any other land administration records. The official records of tax tables refer to the general locations in this survey and are legally considered a proof of ownership in the absence of any other title records. During the Egyptian and Jordanian administration, 98 percent of land parcels in Gaza were registered, and 30 percent of the West Bank was surveyed and registered. However, the use of the registration system has been very modest as the subsequent land transactions and especially successions have often not been recorded in the registers; many transactions are instead conducted outside the registers offices. There is a number of disincentives to register land or subsequent transactions. While registration fees themselves are not high, there are often lengthy delays and burdening requirements as land classification for registration is still the same as per Ottoman code and taxes must be paid prior to registration. Documents prepared by public notaries and land tax records have often functioned as an alternative but a less effective means of proof of rights resulting in outdating registration records not reflecting current ownership . Causes for these outdated records include the following:
· The registration systems for different types of registration as well as transactions, sporadic sales, mortgages, inheritance, unification, and sub-division are cumbersome and bureaucratic for physical verification of survey works as well as legal documents, thus increasing the cost and the time for registration.
- There are inadequate capacities and poorly equipped offices with an inefficient manual paper based system (These issues are gradually being addressed by the LAPI and LAPII and had been taken into consideration in the project formulation and implementation).
- The lack of clear, complete and documented survey guidelines leads to inconsistent and poor quality services.
· The existence of easier, cheaper and faster systems to provide a service for conducting transactions in the form of using an Irrevocable Power of Attorney.
Fees for land transactions were reduced from 5 percent during the Israeli occupation to 1 percent after 1995 (for transactions held at the PLA). A key reason for minimizing fees was to encourage land registration, especially the selling and buying transactions of the registered land. In 2012, the fees had been increased to 3 percent for sales transactions and sporadic registration.
The MOF has undertaken a process to revalue property in the West Bank since 2009 in an effort to increase property tax collections. This process has progressed quickly. Concerns remain over the valuation methods employed and the authority assigned during public land alienation and disposal. The PLA also has a role in the valuation process but currently there is no relationship between the process of valuation followed by the Property Tax Department of the MOF and the PLA. However, the Property Tax Department of the MOF is currently undertaking a process of revaluing and valuing all property in all municipalities in the West Bank. This process will also re-examine the process and assumptions behind the calculation of the property value.
2.8 Land Fragmentation and its effect on Investment, Agricultural Production and Food Production
The high level of land fragmentation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip was due to the fact that land rights were mostly inherited by many inheritors who applied the traditional inheritance laws and consequently land was divided into smaller parcels. Additionally, since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, large numbers of the Palestinian people have been employed as civil servants by the governmental institutions which offer them a steady income. The governmental institutions are mainly concentrated in Gaza city for the southern governorates and in Ramallah and Albireh cities for the northern governorates. As a result of that divide and during the last two decades, the West Bank witnessed substantial migration from the main cities and rural areas to Ramallah and Albireh cities. The high increase of the population in these two cities caused an enormous demand for land for housing and building purposes followed by incredible increases in the prices of land within and around these two cities. The prices of apartments have doubled 3- 4 times in the last two decades in Ramallah and Albireh cities from an average selling price of 30-40 thousand US dollars per apartment in 1994 to 150-200 thousands US dollars nowadays. The same increase is observed for apartment rental costs which grew from an average of 150-200 US dollars per month in 1993 to 500-800 US dollars per month in 2014.
The increase in the demand for land in Ramallah for housing and commercial buildings witnessed in the last two decades and the increase in the supply in other cities provided the market with a large number of small parcels.
This fragmentation has a significant positive impact on the property market and investment growth in this sector. However, with the absence of both clear policies regulating the property market and the provision of affordable housing for newcomers, this economic growth and wealth has been concentrated within a small segment of the population: original land owners, big investors and land brokers in these two cities.
While this was an incredible opportunity for investment for some people including the original landowners in Ramallah and Albireh cities, it has had a significant negative impact on the rest of the people in general and on the poor in particular who are migrating from other cities and towns seeking job opportunities in Ramallah and Albireh. They have been obliged to sell their small inherited portions of land for low prices and abandon their farms. Consequently, it has also negatively impacted agriculture and food production in the Palestinian market.
Although there are some regulations to protect agricultural land from fragmentation, however, it is also important to notice that agricultural parcels get unofficially (without being recorded at the land register) divided into smaller parcels among the owners/holders resulting in increasing the number of agricultural holdings and further fragmentation of land. The high unemployment rates encourage owners of agricultural lands to divide a plot of land among their sons to give each one a smaller plot to cultivate and have a separate source of income. This also occurs after the death of land owners when their kids divide each parcel of land among themselves in accordance with the inheritance law. These divisions are rarely recorded or documented with the land register. As a result of this fragmentation process, the agricultural holdings for plant production were estimated at 65 267 and 13 909 holdings in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip respectively (PCBS, 2012). The average size of agricultural holdings ranges from 6.0 dunums in Gaza Strip to 13.4 dunums in the West Bank (PCBS, 2015). However, in the West Bank 28.9% of holdings are smaller than 3 dunums while 54.3% of holdings in Gaza Strip are smaller than 3 dunums. Thus, nearly one third of agricultural holdings are less than 3 dunums (PCBS, 2015). Such small sizes result in reducing the efficiency by which land is being used and many holdings get neglected by their owners because of their small size. The small sizes encourage owners to sell land and subsequently changing the land use into urbanization. The percentage of small sizes of plots is expected to continue increasing with the continuing fragmentation process.
2.9 Land Tenure Governance
FAO defines land tenure as the relationship, whether legally or customarily defined, among people, as individuals or groups, with respect to land. Rules of tenure define how property rights to land are to be allocated within societies. They define how access is granted to rights to use, control, and transfer land, as well as associated responsibilities and restraints. In simple terms, land tenure systems determine who can use what resources for how long, and under what conditions.
Land tenure governance does not only depend on the land institution. It also depends on the general governance situation. In times of transition, governance generally suffers. The land tenure in the West Bank and Gaza strip over which the Palestinians have control is still challenging. Issues such as fragmentation of the territory and restricted access by the Israeli government as well as political instability are still critical factors confronting the operation of the government and its institutions.
Avoidance of corruption is one obvious aspect of good governance. However, features of good governance also include accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality and the rule of law as well as a strong commitment to the people involved.
The unclear and unregulated land rights, the high percentage of land related disputes, the inefficient land related justice system, and lack of trust in authority to reach solutions in a timely manner and conformity to formal procedures are all features of weak governance.
The complexity of the registration procedures with the absence of valuation and quality control standards and limited staff capacity are other important factors undermining the principles of good governance. The PA as the state actor as well as non-state actors have to mainstream the good practices and principles from the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) in land (use, tenure and management) policies. According to the VGGT, the following principles are recommended to be suiting the WBGS to adapt responsible governance in land tenure:
A) General principles (section 3A):
· States to recognize and respect all legitimate tenure right holders and rights, safeguard legitimate tenure rights against threats and infringements, promote and facilitate the enjoyment of legitimate tenure rights, provide access to justice to deal with infringements of legitimate tenure rights, Prevent tenure disputes, violent conflicts and corruption.
· Non-state actors including business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights and legitimate tenure rights. Business enterprises should act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the human rights and legitimate tenure rights of others.
B) Principles of implementation (3B)
These principles of implementation are essential to contribute to responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests:
1) Human dignity: recognizing the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable human rights of all individuals.
2) Non-discrimination: no one should be subject to discrimination under law and policies as well as in practice
3) Equity and justice: recognizing that equality between individuals may require acknowledging differences between individuals, and taking positive action, including empowerment, in order to promote equitable tenure rights and access to land, fisheries and forests, for all, women and men, youth and vulnerable and traditionally marginalized people, within the national context.
4) Gender equality: Ensure the equal right of women and men to the enjoyment of all human rights, while acknowledging differences between women and men and taking specific measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality when necessary. States should ensure that women and girls have equal tenure rights and access to land, fisheries and forests independent of their civil and marital status.
5) Holistic and sustainable approach: recognizing that natural resources and their uses are interconnected, and adopting an integrated and sustainable approach to their administration.
6) Consultation and participation: engaging with and seeking the support of those who, having legitimate tenure rights, could be affected by decisions, prior to decisions being taken, and responding to their contributions; taking into consideration existing power imbalances between different parties and ensuring active, free, effective, meaningful and informed participation of individuals and groups in associated decision-making processes.
7) Rule of law: adopting a rules-based approach through laws that are widely publicized in applicable languages, applicable to all, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and that are consistent with their existing obligations under national and international law, and with due regard to voluntary commitments under applicable regional and international instruments.
8) Transparency: clearly defining and widely publicizing policies, laws and procedures in applicable languages, and widely publicizing decisions in applicable languages and in formats accessible to all.
9) Accountability: holding individuals, public agencies and non-state actors responsible for their actions and decisions according to the principles of the rule of law.
10) Continuous improvement: States should improve mechanisms for monitoring and analysis of tenure governance in order to develop evidence-based programmes and secure on-going improvements.
2.10 Gender Equality in Land Tenure Governance
Land rights for women are protected by the Islamic inheritance law. The Quran clarifies, in a number of verses such as al-Nessa, the inheritance rights and details the divisions among the heirs including wives, widows, daughters and children upon the death of any person. Under the Islamic Law, a daughter receives half of the land that the son receives after the death of their parent. Upon the death of the husband, the wife’s shares of inheritance are also secured but the shares depend upon the existence of other inheritors or relatives of the husband and the existence of other wives as clarified by the Islamic Law. However, political and cultural issues and family conflicts stand as main obstacles for women receiving their rights in accordance with international standards to which PA abide.
For decades and especially during the Israeli occupation, people were reluctant to divide and formally transfer the inherited shares among each other for different reasons. At the top of these reasons was the protection of the rights of their absentee relatives as most of the Palestinian families had absentees outside the country before and after 1967 who lost their residency rights to their original homes.
Since that time and up until 1995, most of the land divisions of the inherited lands were done informally among the heirs. In most cases, women used to give up their rights to brothers without any compensation or with some financial compensation. In most cases, they usually sign off their rights without fully receiving them.
In general, the Palestinian society is a male dominated society, particularly with land and property related issues. Women’s rights to use the land for grazing, agriculture, growing crops and gathering products are accepted or required in some rural communities to secure food and money for the family. But when it comes to land control or transfer issues, it becomes a critical issue leading to limited ownership rights that prevent women from dealing with land related transactions, such as entering financial markets or using the land as a pledge to receive a loan. The insecure tenure rights of women become more critical upon the changes in household structure through divorce, death or disability.
The Palestinian community is typically a rural community and women mostly use or work informally in the development of the land without payment. In the case of divorce, land is often left with husbands. Thus, women usually remain without land and without compensation.
Even though the Palestinian woman is usually well educated and knows her rights very well, the cultural issues and the insecure feeling of women remain main obstacles to having full control over their inherited rights.
Recently during settlement projects, it has been observed that many disputes are occurring among men themselves: those who are heirs of a woman and the other male relatives. The heirs are demanding and claiming their mother’s lands that she has sold and signed off to her brothers decades ago knowing that she had already been paid for her share. As this compensation was informal, the heirs pursue a claim for their mother’s lands. As a result, more conflict arises among family members.
To further illustrate the social institutions denying women their land rights, the following situation was observed during the monitoring of a workshop informing women about their inheritance rights in 2012. One lady expressed her concerns that if a woman gets her inheritance rights from her brothers, she might lose that right to her husband. Participants in the workshop agreed with this woman and expressed their concerns that a woman might get divorced from her husband and consequently lose those rights if transferred to him. Thus, for women to attain their inheritance rights, it would be essential to improve their social and legal status in the society through education and socio-economic development. The education of Palestinian women gives them greater opportunities for employment and self-sufficiency and encouragement to claim their legal rights including full control over their land rights. However, there remains a high percentage of women who might be classified as vulnerable such as widows and divorced. Those should be informed and educated about their rights and how to obtain them especially during the land settlement projects.
Inclusion of women during the preparation and implementation of any project through having female staff, conducting outreach and public awareness campaigns targeting women as well as other vulnerable people has proved to be very effective.
2.11 Land Market, Challenges and Opportunities
The Palestinian property market is active, but mainly informal where transactions are ratified and recognized among the players of the local community but not recognized outside that community. The land transactions in the WBGS completed without registration at the land register were estimated to be 85 percent of total transaction in 2007. The land market in the WBGS is propagated by transactions operating largely through social networks and assisted by independent resources such as Irrevocable Power of Attorney (IPA), public notaries and village networks. Sales and other transactions are carried out within a closed network with minimal information exposed to outside sources.
Challenges: Market information in the WBGS is generally unreliable leading to values being under declared especially when collecting transaction fees, as they are set on an ad valorem basis according to property market value. These arrangements allow distortions to occur in the market and are not conducive to enabling an open property market. Another main factor is the requirement that current owners who wish to register their property have to pay the property taxes for all previous owners who did not register the property. This requirement forbids any transaction to take place unless all property associated taxes have been paid and stands as a main obstacle against the formality of the land market.
Opportunities: The ongoing settlement process in different locations in the West Bank, the re-engineering process of the register, the streamlining of the procedures in addition to other activities being implemented under LAPII are opportunities for a formal land market.
The level of formal land transfer of registered land has tripled in the last 7 years from an average of 8 000 transactions in 2008 to around 23 000 transactions by the year 2014 following the re-engineering of the process that was implemented through the land administration project in Ramallah, Jenin and Nablus cities.
In addition, the formalization of property rights within the regulated areas in light of high level of land fragmentation currently ongoing between the inheritors in the West Bank within the regulated areas specifically in areas classified A and B is another important opportunity for an active land market as well as for formal property markets.
2.12 Land Disputes
Land disputes constitute a large portion of court cases. The majority of land dispute cases in the formal system are civil cases, notably of fraudulent land transactions. The main source for the common land disputes of fraudulent land transactions is from using irrevocable power of attorney ranging from breach of contract claims to fraud. Issues fuelling disputes are claims relating to ownership of land, boundaries and rights of water use. In Gaza, land claims at the village level tend to be claims relating to land ownership (especially joint and communal ownerships), inheritance, and registration.
The most common cases brought to the trial court level are registration claims, inheritance, and co-ownership. The most common cases appealed are disputes regarding evictions, refusal to allow challenges to land rights, and transaction-based claims. A preliminary study of appellate cases conducted under LAPI showed that in 15 percent of the cases the government was a party, while 85 percent of the appeals were disputes among private parties. It was found that cases related to registration constituted 43 percent; planning and zoning cases were 40 percent; government land acquisition cases were 9.7 percent; and public land cases were 7.5 percent of the total land dispute cases.
The most prevalent system of informal dispute resolution operating throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip is the “Sulh” process. The “Sulh” relies on unwritten, customary law “Urf” and traditional practices; it is not linked to formal procedures of arbitration. Those with the understanding and economic ability to do so can elect their dispute resolution system depending on their needs and can play one system against another to their advantage. The wide use of the informal system is due to the decades of neglect of the formal court system. The applicable rules of civil procedure lack strong provisions for judicial and court control of the calendar and proceedings. The formal system suffers from a large backlog of cases, inattention to procedures, shortage of judges, inadequate facilities and insufficient human capacity. This situation fostered the informal system, tribal law, and informal dealings.
A social assessment of 2012 conducted for the Dora project showed the following results in this regard: the majority of people interviewed (48%) trust the tribal law, while 28 percent of them have trust in the formal law, 10 percent in religious systems, 3 percent in local authorities, only 4 percent have trust in themselves and 7 percent do not have trust in any one in regards to solving land disputes.
The government legislation plan of 2008 stated that “the legislative policy of the legal and judicial sector is enshrined in the activation of the principles of participation, transparency, accountability and the rule of law”. The plan sets out, among other requirements, that the Palestinian judiciary system in order to achieve justice requires quick decisions on disputes to enable Palestinian citizens to obtain their rights.
However, results of a legal observatory study conducted by the Palestinian Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal profession (MUSAWA) in 2010 showed that:
· The majority of the public still believe that the Palestinian Authority has failed to preserve the independency of the judiciary system. They see that the Palestinian judiciary does not have neutrality.
· The majority of the public believe that the tribal judiciary has more capacity to resolve disputes than the courts and that the rules of the courts are not quickly implemented. They see that the courts do not deal with them on the basis of equality and that the expenses do not fit their financial capacities.
· About 70 percent of the public believe that public culture prefers to resort to tribal judiciary not to the courts.
· 50.4 percent of the public do not trust the regular courts to solve their disputes in a timely manner, 56.3 percent of them do not trust the staff of the courts and 53.8 percent do not trust the attorney general.
· 59.1 percent of the public do not consider going to court to get their rights and 52.3 percent prefer to go to alternatives to resolve their issues.
Figure 8 shows a case of dispute management in Dora Town
Figure 8: Results from a perception survey conducted on views regarding methods that participants trusted for land dispute resolution in Dora town (Dora Social Assessment 2012).
Disputes in the settlement projects: the high percentage of disputes is one of the major obstacles facing the timely implementation of the settlement projects currently being undertaken in the West Bank.
The pilot settlement project conducted in Qarawat Bani Zied, Bir Nabala and Bitunia under LAPI (2005 -2008) showed that each judge could not solve more than five disputes per day. The time for solving disputes is reduced when the judge faces people who better understand the process and lawyers who better understand the law.
Most types of disputes noticed during the pilot project in the above three mentioned locations were ownership disputes including inheritance disputes, boundaries disputes and other disputes related to beneficial use such as water rights and right of way.
In the Bethlehem settlement project and upon the issuance of the first table of rights, the percentage of the disputed parcels was around 25 percent of the total announced parcels which were about one thousand. About 250 parcels were disputed which required about 25-50 judge working days to solve. The availability of judges is limited to only two days per week. This meant that it would take around 3-7 months for the judge to solve these disputes for only one announced table of rights. While the process is ongoing, the delay would be accumulated and it would take years to finalize the settlement process.
The most common types of disputes noted in Bethlehem were ownership rights including inheritance issues, boundaries and cadastre issues, cases resulting from fraudulent cases in addition to some related to the original inherited land classification.
Currently, the ongoing Dora settlement project under LAPII is faster and less costly in comparison to the Bethlehem project and other projects. This project introduced mechanisms for dispute resolution, as preventive and supportive measures in the field before the announcement of the table of rights (see Figures 9 and 10). The percentage of the disputes in 2014 on the first three announced table of rights had increased from around 18 percent to 20 percent of the total. These disputes were 77 percent ownership disputes including inheritance disputes, 11 percent disputes on roads and borders and 11 percent objection on the valuation of fees. This shows the effectiveness of the introduced mechanisms for dispute resolution shown in figures 9 and 10.
Figure 9: Process of Settling Boundaries Disputes in the Dora project under LAPII
Figure 10: Process of settling land ownership disputes in the Dora Project under LAPII
CHAPTER 3.LAND USE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
3.1 Land Use
Land use data in the WBGS is available from different sources including Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), Land Research Centre (LRC), Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ) and others. Although, MOA collects land use data and PCBS is responsible for the publication of the data, a considerable variation in data in the areas cultivated was observed in the WBGS. This could be attributed to the methods by which data was collected and analyzed. Generally, there were two approaches used for collecting data on land use. The commonly used approach was through analyzing satellite images, areal-photos and topographic maps and apply GIS tools to estimate areas under different land uses. Using these tools, land use maps for the WBGS were developed and shown in figures 11 and 12. This approach was adopted by PCBS and MOA up to 2010. All the available data regarding land use in the records of MOA and PCBS are based on this approach. The approach does not provide data on the intensity of trees and thus results in inaccurate yield estimates, especially for olives, which is the most dominant crop in the WBGS.
The PCBS and MOA conducted an agricultural census to estimate agricultural land use in 2010 (PCBS, 2011). The results of this census were published in the Palestinian Agricultural Atlas of 2012 (PCBS, 2012). The results from the census became the official land use values of the Palestinian Authority, although, without evidence for verification. The areas found in the census are different from those estimated earlier through analyses of areal mapping especially for olive trees and field crops. The census used the number of trees to estimate the area, neglected small holdings and holdings which were not maintained in the five years prior to the census. Thus, the census does not show a complete record for land cover and land use. It was done only once, thus it does not provide changes of land use over time. Therefore, it becomes useful to use data before 2010 to evaluate changes in land use trend over time and discuss the land cover. Based on data available from the PCBS (2008), table 6 shows a summary of the different land uses in the WBGS.
| West Bank | Gaza | WBGS | |||
Type of Land Cover | Area (km2) | Percent | Area (km2) | Percent | Area (km2) | Percent |
Total area | 5 661 | 100 | 363 | 100 | 6 024 | 100 |
Cultivated and Arable Land | 2 361 | 41.7 | 197.9 | 54.5 | 2 559 | 42.5 |
Pastures | 753.7 | 13.3 | 0 | 0 | 753.3 | 13.3 |
Forest and Wooded Land | 78.9 | 1.4 | | | 78.9 | 1.3 |
Land with Special Vegetation cover | 213.8 | 3.8 | 7.6 | 2.1 | 221.4 | 3.7 |
Open Land without or with Insignificant Vegetation cover | 1 693.6 | 29.9 | 71.4 | 19.7 | 1 765 | 29.3 |
Palestinian Built-up Land | 314.2 | 5.6 | 82.3 | 22.7 | 396.5 | 6.6 |
Built-up Land in Israeli Occupation Sites including wall | 244.3 | 4.3 | | 0 | 244 | 4.1 |
Figure 11: Land use map for the West Bank (MoA, 2014b)
Figure 12: Land use in Gaza Strip
Land uses in the WBGS are described as follows:
1) Cultivated and arable lands: these lands are estimated at about 42 percent of the WBGS with a total area of 2 559 km2; however, the area actually cultivated by the Palestinians is only 1 800-1 900 km2 as shown in table 7 (this area is much less according to agricultural census). The difference between these two values includes land cultivated in Israeli Settlements, land not accessible to Palestinians in the West Bank and land suitable for cultivation yet not cultivated for different political and technical reasons. Crops and cultivation practices utilizing estimates of land use based on PCBS estimates of 2008 and 2009 include the following:
a) Fruit trees: fruit trees cover about 1 172 km2 land area. Most of the trees are rain fed with olives as the most dominant crop. Olive trees are usually planted under rain fed conditions in areas with rainfall exceeding an annual average of 350 mm. These plantations are in nearly most of the West Bank with the exception of the Jordan Valley and areas close to it. In addition to olives, grapes are dominant in the southern parts of the West Bank in areas with precipitation exceeding an annual average of 300 mm. Irrigated trees cover about 76 km2 as shown in Table 8 with citrus, bananas, guava and palm trees as the most dominant irrigated trees. Table 7 shows that the area of fruit trees has increased slightly in the past 10 years. This could be attributed to the different land reclamation activities performed by farmers and other local and international organizations to improve agricultural productivity. Analyzing crop data, farmers tend to plant olive trees in rain fed areas as these trees require little maintenance and are drought-tolerant. In irrigated agriculture, farmers tend to shift from citrus to other higher economic value fruit trees including grapes, tropical fruits and palm trees. In addition to providing low economic returns, citrus trees consume large quantities of fresh water. Thus, farmers in the Jordan Valley and Gaza strip have shifted from citrus to other crops tolerant to salinity. The Jordan Valley area has seen a shift towards planting palm trees which are tolerant to salinity to cope with the quality of brackish water there and benefit from the high returns from palm trees as compared to citrus.
b) Vegetables: vegetables are mostly grown under irrigated agriculture both under open field and under greenhouse conditions. However, there are small areas of rain fed vegetables in the West Bank that include growing of: okra, snake cucumber and squash. There are small variations in the area planted in vegetables from one year to another as shown in table 7. The variations in area of vegetables are usually due to the availability of water and rainfall. In years with high annual rainfall the areas planted with vegetables both rainfed and irrigated increase. The general trend in the WBGS in vegetable production is towards protected agriculture where the productivity per unit area and per unit of water used is much higher than open field agriculture. Also in protected agriculture, farmers can produce in winter months or plant earlier in the spring to increase returns from vegetables growing. Due to fluctuations in vegetable prices, there is a trend towards medical plants and herbs that usually provide higher return and higher potential for exports. The expansion of medical plants and herbs is usually done at the expense of vegetables (open field and protected).
c) Field and fodder crops: most field and fodder crops are commonly grown under rain fed conditions with the exception of potatoes. The area extent, types and production of field crops depend on rainfall. Only small areas of cereals and fodder are irrigated as the cost of irrigation water is usually high. Under irrigated agriculture, farmers grow field and fodder crops as crop rotation. Farmers apply supplementary irrigation to improve the productivity of field and fodder crops, in areas with low rainfall. In some areas of the Jordan Valley such as Wadi Fara’a where spring water is available, field crops such as wheat, barely, fodders and corn are planted as part of the crop rotation. Onions are planted under both rain fed and irrigated conditions depending on the area at which they are planted. Tobacco is another crop which is commonly planted as a rain fed crop in the flat plains of Jenin area (the northern parts of the West Bank) benefiting from the good rainfall, relatively high humidity and the high water retention capacity of the soils (mostly heavy soils rich with clay) there. There is an expansion in the areas planted with tobacco as it has higher economic returns compared to other field crops. Additionally, the local demand for tobacco is increasing due to increase in population and the higher taxes on imported cigarettes. There is also a trend of increased productivity of tobacco through supplementary or full irrigation when irrigation water is available in the plains of Tulkarm and Jenin. However, planting tobacco is negatively affecting food security by taking away land out of cereal / food crop production.
Table 7: Changes in agricultural land use in km2 (PCBS, 2009b)
| Fruit trees | Vegetables | Field crops | Cut flowers | Total cultivated |
1996/1997 | 1 137 | 186 | 511 | 0.95 | 1 835 |
1997/1998 | 1 148 | 182 | 530 | 0.72 | 1 861 |
1998/1999 | 1 124 | 158 | 329 | 0.72 | 1 612 |
1999/2000 | 1 193 | 174 | 470 | 0.59 | 1 837 |
2000/2001 | 1 174 | 173 | 467 | 0.55 | 1 816 |
2001/2002 | 1 181 | 174 | 495 | 0.52 | 1 851 |
2002/2003 | 1 158 | 174 | 483 | 0.53 | 1 815 |
2003/2004 | 1 153 | 179 | 491 | 0.33 | 1 824 |
2004/2005 | 1 148 | 179 | 507 | 0.33 | 1 834 |
2005/2006 | 1 137 | 193 | 496 | 0.44 | 1 826 |
2006/2007 | 1 165 | 187 | 482 | 0.45 | 1 835 |
2007/2008 | 1 172 | 186 | 495 | 0.41 | 1 854 |
2010/2011 | 659.9 | 129.6 | 245.4 |
| 1 034.9 |
Note: 2010/2011 data was taken from PCBS website (http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/site/lang__en/887/ Default.aspx). The large variability in the data for 2010/2011 is a result of using a different method for the collection of agricultural data. This data was taken from the agricultural census adopted since 2011(PCBS, 2011), published in the Agricultural Atlas of 2012 (PCBS, 2012) and the website of PCBS.
Table 8: Areas in km2 for different agricultural production practices during 2007/2008 (PCBS, 2009b)
Type of crop | Agricultural practice | West Bank | Gaza | WBGS | |
Fruit trees | Bearing | Rain fed | 1 039.8 | 8.6 | 1 048.4 |
Irrigated | 19.4 | 42.5 | 61.9 | ||
Un-bearing | Rain fed | 48.0 | 0.37 | 48.4 | |
Irrigated | 5.5 | 8.3 | 13.8 | ||
Total | Total | 1 112.7 | 59.8 | 1 172.5 | |
Vegetables | Rain fed | 31.6 | 2.8 | 34.4 | |
Open irrigated | 80.7 | 25.7 | 106.4 | ||
Protected irrigated | 27.6 | 17.7 | 45.3 | ||
Total | 139.9 | 46.2 | 186.1 | ||
Field crops | Rain fed | 426.2 | 32.9 | 459.1 | |
Irrigated | 15.0 | 21.2 | 36.2 | ||
Total | 441.2 | 54.1 | 495.3 | ||
2) Forests and wooded lands are either natural or planted forests with an estimated area of 80 - 90 km2 (PCBS, 2008). There is some variability in the data available regarding forest areas as some studies consider natural bushes with heterogeneous cover and density as forest lands while others consider only planted or natural wood land as forests. Other sources of information that use different classifications of forests, estimated the forest lands to be about 230 km2 (ARIJ, 2006b). These lands are mostly governmental/public lands and are situated on the mountains of West Bank. Afforestation activities started during the British mandate to historical Palestine when about 230 hectares of mountainous and steep lands in the West Bank were planted with cuperssus and pinus species (ARIJ, 2006b). During the Jordanian times, many forests were planted in an effort to increase the green area. The main species planted during Jordan’s administration were pinus spp. (pinus pinea, pinus halepensis, pinus brutia and pinus canariensis), eucalyptus camaldulensis, cupressus spp., and acacia spp. (ARIJ, 2006b). After the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, there were efforts made for reforestation in the West Bank. The total area under forests remained nearly the same without any significant change during the past 10 years. However, forests degradation is taking place due to lack of sufficient management, trees/ wood cutting, and natural loss of trees caused by wind, snow, erosion of soil and fires. Forest trees have important ecological functions such as water retention, soil protection, biological diversity preservation and climate stability. They also represent recreational centers as natural attractions and contribute to the economy through their non-timber products such as fruits, nuts, honey, wax, resins and dyes (ARIJ, 2006b).
3) Palestinian built up areas: built up areas in the WBGS were estimated at about 400 km2 in 2008 as shown in table 6. These built up areas include more than 600 cities, towns, villages, refugee camps and small communities. Built up areas increased from 201 km2 in 1995 (ARIJ, 1995) to about 314 km2 in 2008 (PCBS, 2008) in the West Bank. In the Gaza strip, built up areas increased from 55 km2 in 2000 (ARIJ, 2006a) to 82 km2 in 2008 (PCBS, 2008). This increase in built up areas is estimated at about 50 percent in 10 years or nearly 5 percent per year (figure 13). The increase in built up areas is due to the increase in population which is expected to continue increasing urbanization and affecting other land uses. The increase in built up areas is restricted to areas A and B where the Palestinians could build their houses without Israeli permits. In many cases and many areas, the increase in built up areas is at the expense of fertile and cultivated lands around and among the existing cities, towns and villages. Due to the current political situation, the Palestinians cannot build new towns and houses in area C which is fully controlled by Israel. Most of the marginal lands in the eastern slopes which are sparsely populated are not available for build-up expansion by the Palestinians as these lands are located in area C. The result is usually increased prices of land in areas A and B around existing towns and villages. The high prices of land generate an active market for lands in the WBGS converting land uses towards urbanization, many of these conversions were done without proper permits especially in the period from 2000 to 2008. After that period, the improved political and security situation combined with the reforms and restructuring of the Palestinian Authority resulted in controlling and organizing urbanization activities through the Ministry of Local Governments as discussed in a later section (3.11 Institutional Linkages and Coordination). In an effort from the Palestinian Authority to protect high value agricultural lands from urbanization and to improve land use planning, it developed the national spatial plan which is discussed in a later section (3.9: policies and strategies). It is also important that the Agricultural Law Number 2 of 2003 restricts and limits constructing buildings on agricultural lands (MoA, 2003a).
Figure 13: Built up area in Gaza Strip (ARIJ, 2006a and PCBS, 2008)
4) Israeli settlements and military closed areas: Israeli settlements occupy a significant area exceeding 244 km2 in the West Bank. Settlements and settlement expansion are core issues of political negotiation between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The area of settlements was estimated at 78 km2 in 1995 (ARIJ, 1995). This expansion has been an obstacle for the negotiations regarding resolving the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Palestinians have no control over the expansion of the Israeli settlements. In addition to Israeli settlements, there are 1 175 km2 of the West Bank (ARIJ, 1995) which are closed to the Palestinians as military zones. These areas are closed by the Israeli military either as security zones around the borders or around Israeli settlements and military bases or closed as military training areas. These areas are not accessible to Palestinians without political arrangements or agreements with Israel. There are areas behind the separation wall or the barrier with limited access to Palestinians or completely inaccessible restricting their use. Some of these areas are irrigated areas with irrigation wells which are now located on the western side of the Israeli barrier. In some cases, the Israeli authorities have constructed gates which allow the entrance and exit of farmers to their lands at certain specific times in the day. This has restricted the use of these lands considering the extensive activities needed in irrigated agriculture affecting the productivity and utilization of these lands behind the barrier. Forms of restricted access to land include check points, closed roads either with gates, barriers or check points, closed lands as firing ranges, closed lands next to Israeli settlements, closed lands next to the Jordan River and closed lands behind the barrier. These forms are illustrated in Figure 14 as developed by OCHA-OPT.
5) Pasture lands and lands with sparse or low vegetation: these lands are mostly used for grazing or unused. They include large portions of the eastern slopes which are either too steep for agricultural production or rainfall is too low for rainfed agriculture
These include steep slopes and lands with a high portion of rock outcrop (seen in the picture right) among the hilly areas of the West Bank. Soil among these lands is usually shallow (less than 0.5 meters deep) and contains high percentages of rock cover. Soil is generally located in pockets among the rocks making these lands difficult for reclamation. In addition to grass cover, these lands include natural bushes, shrubs and wild plants which could extend their rooting system among rocks and stones through shallow soils to withstand long dry summers. |
These lands are usually exposed to excessive grazing and high soil erosion by wind and water. Some of these lands are protected as natural reserves while others are used for grazing by Bedouins who establish temporary homes in some of these lands especially in the eastern slopes of the West Bank.
6) Other lands: natural stream lands, water bodies, wet lands and rivers are small in area; however, important for environmental protection due to the sensitivity of these areas. There are more than 300 springs in the West Bank. Around each spring is usually a small area where the spring comes out which is usually protected to preserve the quality of spring water. Some of these protected spring areas form a natural habitat and environment for important species. In some areas, the land around these springs is utilized for touristic purposes as they become important attractions such as in the case of Bethan and Dead Sea springs.
The Jordan River is the only river in the WBGS; however, it is not accessible for the Palestinians although it has high touristic and religious values. Around the river is a small alluvial plain with unique natural vegetation which is also within a closed military area. Most streams in the WBGS are perennial streams which are dry in summer and run for short times in winter. Water from springs running along these streams is usually diverted in channels or pipes for irrigation and/or domestic purposes. The stream areas might be recharge areas for alluvial aquifers running among Valleys requiring protection, as these aquifers are vulnerable to pollution.
A portion of the Dead Sea is considered part of the West Bank which could be of high importance for industrial and touristic purposes. Due to the continuously dropping level of the Dead Sea, new land area is added to the shores of the Dead Sea on all sides including the part of the West Bank. However, the Dead Sea and its shore are not accessible to Palestinians for development. This case is not expected to continue provided there is a political solution to the conflict.
Considering the information and trends of land use discussed above, there is a need to adopt a harmonized and standardized system for classifying land use and estimating the area under different land uses. A combination of the use of aerial photos, remote sensing tools and maps with field verification could be useful for this purpose. Improving the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture including improving the capacity of its staff in mapping skills (GIS/RS software) and providing them with the tools (suitable computer hardware and software) in addition to periodic information (aerial maps, photos and satellite images) is essential to establish a reliable data base on land use. Emphasis should be on verifying the information published and coordinating activities of the different institutions to achieve reliable, dynamic and accurate information.
Figure 14: Forms of restriction on land accessibility in the West Bank (after OCHU-OPT)
3.2 Land Degradation
Land degradation results from either human or natural causes. Human causes of land degradation include urbanization, construction of roads and structures, misuse of land, contamination of soil and other activities resulting in different forms of land degradation. Natural causes of degradation include climate (wind and rainfall), topography and geomorphological factors causing degradation in forms of erosion, desertification, loss of fertility and salinization. The following are different forms of land degradation in the WBGS:
1) Soil erosion: soil erosion occurs in the forms of wind and water erosion. Wind erosion is a common cause of soil erosion in arid and semi-arid areas. As soil aridity increases, wind capacity for detaching soil particles increases resulting in more soil particles movement (erosion). Clay soils have better soil structure and strong cohesive forces which are hard to overcome by wind forces. Vegetative cover is essential in reducing wind erosive power and improving soil structure to reduce erosion by wind. The eastern and southern slopes of the West Bank are arid areas with small vegetative cover and hence, are highly affected by wind erosion. Soils in the Gaza Strip are also affected by wind erosion due to the low vegetative cover, the low rainfall and the high portion of loess soils there. However, there is no data available on the extent of soil erosion by wind. Wind erosion could be reduced by improving soil vegetative cover by leaving crop residues in the field and protecting rangelands from over grazing.
Soil erosion by water is severe in areas with steep slopes and long runs. Figure 15 shows an erosion risk map for the West Bank. This map could be related to the topographic map of the West Bank where steep slopes are the areas with highest risk of erosion. The map was developed using theoretical estimates of soil erosion by water considering influencing factors such as rainfall, soil type, vegetation cover, existing cultural practices and land slope without field verification. There are no comprehensive field studies or field verifications available for erosion by water utilizing actual field measurements and monitoring of erosion and sedimentation.
All forms of erosion by water are found in the WBGS including sheet, rill, gully and stream bank erosion. Controlling runoff is the most critical factor in reducing soil erosion by water. Steep slopes with low vegetation cover and areas with high rainfall suffer from excessive runoff due to erosion by water. The erosion of soil in the hilly areas results in soil loss that often exceeds the rate of soil formation and shallow soils are easily degraded in these areas. Soil erosion is evident in the eastern slopes due to the very steep slopes and low vegetation cover. Areas with more than an estimated 1 tons/ha of annual soil loss comprise more than 50 percent of the West Bank area (LRC, 2007). Controlling soil erosion by water could be reduced by reducing runoff in applying soil and water conservation measures such as terraces, contour tillage, reforestation, crop rotation, improving soil cover and micro watershed management.
Figure 15: Erosion Risk in the West Bank (LRC, 2007)
2) Salinization of soil and land: salinization of soil occurs when precipitation and/or irrigation water are not sufficient to leach out salts from the soil. Figure 16 shows the variations of monthly precipitation and evapotranspiration at different climatic zones in the WBGS. In the coastal, semi-costal and central mountain areas as demonstrated by the cities of Gaza and Nablus in Figure 16, monthly precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration for about three months of the year. In these areas, the total excess of monthly precipitation over evapotranspiration is nearly 20 percent to 40 percent of annual precipitation. This excess precipitation is sufficient to leach out salts from soils at these locations.
Figure 16: Monthly evapotranspiration and precipitation at different locations in the WBGS
In irrigated areas, salinization is affected by the amount of salts applied through irrigation and the amount of water utilized in leaching salts. In open field irrigated agriculture at the central mountains, western slopes and semi-coastal areas of the West Bank, the salinity of irrigation water is small (less than 2 or 3 dS/m) and rainfall is sufficient to leach out salts in these areas. However, when protected agriculture is performed in these areas, salinity increases as a result of excess use of fertilizers, thus excess amounts of irrigation water are needed to leach out salts. In the Jordan Valley and Gaza strip areas, salinity of irrigation water from brackish irrigation wells is high (exceeding 3 or 4 dS/m) and the amount of rainfall is not sufficient to leach out salts added by irrigation water resulting in salinization problems. In these areas, farmers are shifting towards salt tolerant crops such as grapes and palm trees to cope with salinization problems.
Figure 17: Soil salinization in the West Bank (MoA, 2014b)
3) Soil contamination: soil contamination originates from point and non-point pollution sources. Non-point pollution sources are mostly agricultural activities in which excess fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides and plastic mulch are used. The investments in irrigated agriculture are usually high and farmers want to maximize production, thus farmers tend to over use fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides resulting in soil contamination by the residues of these chemicals. Point sources pollution includes solid and liquid waste dump sites. Wastewater is not treated in most cities and towns in the WBGS. However, many of these towns and cities collect the wastewater and dump it in wadis where it spreads to agricultural fields contaminating soil with different pollutants found in domestic and industrial waste. During the olive harvesting season, olive oil mills produce large quantities of liquid waste which is usually dumped in agricultural fields and wadis contaminating soils with strong organic waste rich in acids and other chemical compounds negatively that affects soils. However, it is important to mention here that soils in the WBGS are mostly calcareous with high percentages of calcium carbonates which improves their buffering capacity reducing the acidity effects on these soils from contamination. In addition to the described contamination sources, many villages do not have wastewater collection systems and domestic waste is transported by trucks and dumped into agricultural fields resulting in soil contamination, and many environmental and health hazards.
In addition, quarrying and cutting of lime stones resulted in slurry waste which is disposed untreated in agricultural and other non-agricultural lands. This is also another source of contaminants to soils.
4) Decline in soil fertility: decline in soil fertility is caused by erosion, salinization and contamination of soils. Irrigated agricultural land is cultivated continuously and cropped about two times with vegetables a year on the same field. This leads to soil nutrient mining and it is also a cause for soil fertility decline. The high agricultural intensity and excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides result in depletion of soil fertility.
5) Urbanization and loss of fertile lands to urban areas: the increase in population and the increasing demand for housing, roads and infrastructure is resulting in rapid urbanization in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Due to the political restrictions on land use in many areas of the West Bank, the areas available for urban expansion are limited to around existing cities, villages and towns. Consequently, large areas of fertile land are being lost to urban development. An example of that is the conversion of the plains of Jenin, Tulkarm and Qalqiliya from agricultural lands to urban areas. Many citrus farms and open agricultural fields have been taken away by urban development. The rapid increase in land prices due to the high demands for housing resulted in the conversion of many agricultural areas into urban spans. Protection of fertile agricultural lands from urbanization requires adopting a zoning plan to restrict the use of land according to its qualities and value. The Palestinian Authority recently adopted a national spatial plan in which lands from an agricultural point were classified into high, medium and low values (see section 3.9 Policies and strategies). In the plan, lands with high agricultural and environmental values are being protected from urbanization.
6) Loss of vegetation, loss of biodiversity and desertification: erosion by water and wind, overgrazing, loss of fertility, salinization of soil and depletion of natural resources are resulting in soils, vegetation and biodiversity losses and desertification, especially in the eastern slopes of the West Bank. In 2011, the Palestinian Authority formed a national team constituted from different institutions to develop a plan for combating desertification. The plan provides strategies for soil-water conservation, protection of land and preservation of biodiversity.
7) The Gaza Strip is seriously affected by severe degradation of natural resources including soil and water resources. The forms of degradation stated above are severe in the Gaza strip as a result of high population density that puts pressure on the use of the resources, the severe depletion of natural resources and other political and socio-economic pressures. Urbanization, deterioration of water resources, intensive agriculture coupled with poor infrastructure are resulting in rapid land degradation. The frequent armed conflicts in the area, the extensive use of different types of ammunitions during these attacks, the military closed areas and other constraints are severely impacting the environment, eco-system and the natural resources in the Gaza Strip.
A recent study was conducted to evaluate the land conditions through remote sensing and analyses of monthly satellite images for the period from 2000 to 2010 with resolution of 250 meters. The study showed that 16% of land in the West Bank is under active ongoing degradation processes. It also showed that about 35% of the West Bank land is under fluctuating trend, 46% under the static trend, and only 3% is under the improving trend (Alkhouri, 2012). The degradation processes considered in this study included loss of vegetative cover and aridity. Figure 18 shows land conditions map for the West Bank. From figure 18, many degrading lands are located around existing urban areas and in the eastern dry areas of the Jordan Valley and eastern slopes. The degradation around urban areas is usually as a result of urbanization as seen around Tulkarm and Qlqilya. Degradation in the Jordan Valley and the eastern slopes are usually as a result of increasing aridity and other natural causes.
Figure 18: Land Condition Map of West Bank between 2000 and 2010(Alkhouri, 2012).
3.3 Land Classification Based on the Potentials (Values)
Land classification for determining the agricultural potential of land depends on soil type and quality assessed by methods for soil classification. Soil type and classification are related to soil parent material, land topography and climate. Topography plays an important role in the soil formation and development process. Flat or nearly flat topography allows soil to develop into deep fertile soil with high agricultural potential. Soils at steep slopes is susceptible to erosion by water and have little chance to stay intact under conditions of intense rains and low vegetative cover.
a) Grade 1 lands (Lands with high agricultural, environmental, aesthetic and archeological values): These lands include those with low slopes (up to 5%), minimal rock outcrops, deep soil, and exceeding 250 dunums. These lands are suitable for all agricultural activities including planting fruit trees and irrigated agriculture. These lands are protected from non-agricultural use according to the plan. Most of these lands are located in the northern parts of West Bank around Jenin and Tubas. They include large plains such as Marj Ibn Amr, Yaabad plain, Marj Sanour, Aqaba plain, Buqayaa Valley, Wadi Fara’a and several other smaller plains. The small slopes of these plains allow the soil to develop increasing their clay content which improves water retention capacity and fertility. Urbanization from the nearby cities and towns is the biggest threat threatening these lands. Lack of sufficient irrigation water supplies is the biggest obstacle to agricultural development in these plains, especially in the eastern areas where rainfall is low.
b) Grade 2 lands (Lands with moderate value): These lands are used in rain fed agriculture; their use for irrigated agriculture is restricted by slope, rock outcrop and soil fertility. These lands suffer from erosion in addition to spatial and temporal fluctuations of rainfall. The profitability of rain fed agriculture is low and thus some farmers tend to neglect these lands especially when planted with olive trees. Due to the low productivity and alternating yields of olive trees, farmers neglect the maintenance of the trees further reducing economic returns from these lands. Soil and water conservation in addition to water harvesting are essential activities to improve income from these lands and to improve the sustainability of land management.
c) Grade 3 lands (Lands with low value): These lands require land reclamation to be used for agriculture. They are mostly used for grazing. The plan allows development in these lands including industrial and others.
Figure 19: Classification of lands according to their value (MOA, 2014b)
Considering the low return of rain fed agriculture and the high importance of agriculture to the Palestinian economy, many activities were implemented in the last 20 years to improve income from agriculture and reduce poverty. The international donors in association with many local groups and the Ministry of Agriculture have carried out many land reclamation and development projects. These projects included reclamation of land, planting fruit trees and improving income from agriculture to improve food security and reduce poverty in the WBGS. Activities included constructing cisterns to harvest rain water to supplement irrigation for fruit trees, constructing terraces to reduce soil erosion and remove rocks from land to enable mechanical cultivation of lands with low or medium agricultural values.
The lessons from reclamation projects and the land potential classification improved the understanding of farming systems and encouraged more efficient use of land. One of the major activities implemented by the Land Research Centre under the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture was to evaluate the suitability of land in the West Bank for land development including reclamation, rangelands and forestation (LRC, 2010). Figure 20 shows the distribution of land evaluated for development. Land suitable for reclamation was defined as land with slopes less than 32 percent, annual rainfall more than 300 mm and rock outcrop to be less than 40 percent. Based on this classification, it was estimated that land suitable for reclamation constitutes about 497 km2 (LRC, 2010). Figure 21 shows the distribution of land suitable for reclamation, rangelands and forestation developments in the West Bank. The map shows that there is a large area suitable for reclamation compared to the area currently planted.
Figure 20: Land evaluated for reclamation suitability in the West Bank (LRC, 2010).
Figure 21: Land classification for development (reclamation, rangelands and forestation suitability) in the West Bank (LRC, 2010).
Evaluation on the economics of different crops and agricultural patterns was conducted through a comprehensive study commissioned by the EU (Italtrend, 2006). The study showed that significant economic, social and political returns could be obtained from the ongoing and past land reclamation projects in the WBGS. The study further showed that the lack of water and access to water will present significant limitations to future development. All models for land development are significantly sensitive to the provision of water supply which is costly and enables irrigated agriculture.
3.4 Soil and Water Conservation / Water Harvesting
Considering the climatic conditions in the WBGS, water availability is the most critical factor in agricultural development and agricultural productivity. Irrigated agriculture is constrained by the availability of water. Irrigated areas (shown in Table 9) are small compared to the total cultivated areas. Table 10 shows the productivity of irrigated agriculture is much more than that of rain fed agriculture. However, rain fed agriculture, although less profitable than irrigated agriculture, it is the most dominant agricultural land use in the WBGS. The productivity and feasibility of rain fed agriculture is highly dependent on annual rainfall and its distribution. Figure 22 shows the spatial distribution of average annual rainfall. Olive and grape trees are usually planted in areas with annual rainfall exceeding 300 mm. Most field crops are also planted in areas with rainfall exceeding 300 mm. Drought tolerant crops such as barely and fodders are planted in areas with annual rainfall of 250 to 300 mm. The Gaza Strip, the eastern slopes and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank are hardly used for rain fed agriculture. Areas with annual rainfall less than 300 mm usually require irrigation for agricultural activities.
Table 9: Crops Irrigated in km2 (PCBS, 2014)
Crop | Agricultural practice | Area in the West Bank (km2) | Area in Gaza (km2) | Area in the WBGS (km2) |
Fruit trees | Bearing | 19.4 | 42.5 | 61.9 |
Un-bearing | 5.5 | 8.3 | 13.8 | |
Total | 24.9 | 50.8 | 75.7 | |
Vegetables | Open irrigated | 80.7 | 25.7 | 106.4 |
Protected irrigated | 27.6 | 17.7 | 45.3 | |
Total | 108.3 | 43.4 | 151.7 | |
Field crops | 15 | 21.2 | 36.2 | |
Total area | 148.2 | 115.4 | 263.6 | |
Table 10: Productivity of irrigated agriculture as compared to rain fed agriculture in tons per dunum (adapted from PCBS, 2014)
Crop | Agricultural Practice | West Bank | Gaza Strip | WBGS |
Field crops | Rain fed | 0.132 | 0.181 | 0.136 |
Irrigated | 1.026 | 0.720 | 0.892 | |
Vegetable | Open field rain fed | 0.399 | 0.231 | 0.391 |
Open field irrigated | 1.877 | 1.666 | 1.814 | |
Protected | 5.455 | 2.051 | 4.525 | |
Fruits | Rain fed | 0.144 | 0.910 | 0.148 |
Irrigated | 1.261 | 0.988 | 1.076 | |
Total | Rain fed | 0.146 | 0.284 | 0.150 |
Irrigated | 2.400 | 1.335 | 1.973 |
Rainfall distribution over time and space influence the natural recharge of groundwater aquifers of a given area. The distribution of annual ground water recharge is shown in figure 23 for the West Bank and figure 26 for Gaza Strip. Figure 2 shows the pollution vulnerability map of the West Bank; while figure 27 shows the pollution vulnerability map for the Gaza Strip. Although maps for groundwater recharge and its vulnerability to pollution are avaialble, the use of these maps in planning land use activties is not evident. There is no evidence for using these maps in preparing the national spatial plan or considering these maps and information in permiting and planning land use changes. However, projects requiring environmental impact assessement (from EQA) have to assess their environmental impacts and propose mitigation measures to reduce these impacts on groundwater resources.
Groundwater is extracted from four aquifer basins to supply water for domestic and agricultural uses in the WBGS. Table 11 shows the extractions from the aquifers in the West Bank according to the Oslo agreement. The western aquifer basin includes the upper and lower Cenomanian aquifers and has a sutainable yield estimated at 362-400 MCM/a. Palestinians extract about 28 MCM/a from this aquifer while the Israelis extract another 340-430 MCM/a from the aquifer (PWA, 2013). The North eastern aquifer basin includes the shallow Eocene aquifer, Upper and Lower Cenomanian aquifers. The annual recharge for this basin is estimated at 100-145 MCM/a. The estimated extractions from this aquifer include around 23 MCM/a from wells and springs by the Palestinians and 103 MCM/a by the Israelis (PWA, 2013). The eastern aquifer basin has a sustainable yield of 145-185 MCM/a. The utilization of the eastern aquifer includes about 50 MCM/a by the Israelis and 53 MCM/a by the Palestinians through wells and springs (PWA, 2013). It is estimated that 100 MCM/a of brackish water is discharged from this aquifer to the Dead Sea. The most depleted aquifer is the coastal aquifer in the Gaza Strip. Pumping from this aquifer is estimated at 189 MCM/a to satisfy domestic and agricultural needs in the the Gaza strip (PWA, 2013). This rate significantly exceeds the annual recharge of this aquifer which is estimated at 55-60 MCM/a resulting in sea water intrusion and deterioration of groundwater quality (PWA, 2012).
Table 11: Characteristics and recharge of aquifer basins in the West Bank (PWA, 2012)
| Western Aquifer | North eastern Aquifer | Eastern Aquifer | Total |
Natural Characteristics | ||||
Area (km2) | 1,767 | 981 | 2,896 | 5,644 |
Average Recharge (MCM/a) | 318-430 | 135-187 | 125-197 | 578-814 |
Utilization according to Oslo Agreement | ||||
Israeli Utilization (MCM/a) | 340 | 103 | 40 | 483 |
Palestinian Utilization (MCM/a) | 22 | 42 | 54 | 118 |
Additional quantity for development |
|
| 78 | 78 |
Total Quantity (MCM/a) | 362 | 145 | 172 | 679 |
Water is supplied to domestic and agricultural sectors from wells and springs distributed in the West Bank as shown in figure 27. In Gaza, water is supplied from more than 4 500 shallow wells distributed all over the strip (figure 28). In addition to wells and springs, Palestinians purchase water from the Israeli National company for mostly domestic purposes. The total amount purchased in 2012 was 53 MCM for the West Bank and 4 MCM for Gaza. The total use of water in the West Bank was estimated at 93 and 64 MCM for domestic and agricultural purposes respectively (Table 12). In the Gaza Strip, the water utilization included 110 and 83 MCM for domestic and agricultural use. Therefore, agricultural use of water is about 42 percent of the total use of water in the WBGS.
Table 12: Domestic and Agricultural utilization of water in the WBGS (PCBS, 2014)
| Domestic (MCM/a) | Agricultural (MCM/a) | Total (MCM/a) |
West Bank | 92.4 | 63.8 | 156.2 |
Jenin | 5.5 | 0.6 | 6.1 |
Tubas | 1.7 | 6.3 | 8.0 |
Tulkarm | 5.2 | 10.4 | 15.6 |
Nablus | 15.0 | 5.4 | 20.4 |
Qalqiliya | 5.6 | 6.2 | 11.8 |
Salfeet | 2.8 | 0.2 | 3.0 |
Ramallah & Albireh and Jerusalem | 21.6 | 1.6 | 23.2 |
Jericho & Al-Aghwar | 5.6 | 32.2 | 37.8 |
Bethlehem & Hebron | 29.4 | 0.9 | 30.3 |
Gaza Strip | 110.0 | 83.0 | 193.0 |
WBGS | 202.4 | 146.8 | 349.2 |
As shown in table 12 above, the agricultural utilization of water is estimated at 147 MCM/a. This amount includes about 83 MCM/a from the Gaza coastal aquifer which has been over exploited and thus unsustainable for pumping. The 64 MCM/a utilized in the West Bank include about 35 MCM/a from springs which tend to varry from one year to another. Considering the water sources utilized in agriculture and the increasing demands of the domestic sector, water available for agriculture is projected to reduce in the future.
Figure 22: Average Annual Rainfall Distribution in the WBGS (MOA, 2012)
Figure 23: Recharge areas in the West Bank (MOA, 2014b)
Figure 24: Pollution vulnerability map for the West Bank (MOA, 2014b)
Figure 25: Wells and springs in the West Bank (MOA, 2014b)
Figure 26 : Groundwater recharge in Gaza Strip (AlMasri, 2006)
Figure 27: Groundwater pollution vulnerability map in Gaza Strip (AlMasri, 2006)
Figure 28: Distribution of wells in the Gaza Strip (after PWA)
The importance of water for agriculture and the pollution vulnerability of water resources in the WBGS encouraged the Palestinian Authority to adopt policies and strategies to improve the utilization of water in agriculture. The agricultural sector strategy adopted policies targeting the effective and sustainable management of agricultural water resources through:
· Increasing the water availability and improving supply management by: Rehabilitating water infrastructure and raising water sources designated for agriculture.
· Improving demand management of the agricultural water by: Enhancing the efficiency of water transportation and distribution systems, upgrading irrigation systems and use of complementary irrigation.
· Sustainable use, increasing the area and reclaiming land through: Identifying, classifying and reclaiming lands and enhancing their productivity, afforesting government and privately-owned land, developing and rehabilitating rangelands, and conserving and sustainably using agricultural biodiversity.
The Palestinian agricultural strategy has been implemented through many interventions related to water harvesting and soil water conservation including the following interventions:
1) Water Harvesting Programs: optimal use of runoff water through utilization of available rain water for agriculture. In this aspect, most land reclamation projects included water harvesting components. The water harvesting components have been on the micro scale in which cisterns were constructed to harvest runoff water from impervious areas at the farm or house level. Water harvested in these cisterns is usually used to supplement irrigation for trees planted in reclaimed land. The program has been effective in harvesting and has been implemented at a large number of farms involving many farmers. The operation of such a harvesting option has been simple as the harvesting is done on a small scale. The benefits of harvesting have been effective and direct to the farmers as they utilize harvested water in irrigating their plants. However, the initial cost of such small harvesting plans is high, especially when considering the cost per unit of water utilized. The harvesting through cisterns also utilized indigenous knowledge of farmers and thus farmers have been involved in constructing and operating these cisterns.
In addition to harvesting at the farm level, many activities were implemented to harvest runoff water from open impervious areas as well as roofs of houses and green houses. However, these harvesting activities, although effective, stay on a small scale with high cost per unit of water.
Harvesting on a large scale has been very limited in the WBGS. The Ministry of Agriculture in 2011 implemented the construction of a small earth dam in Wadi Auja with a storage capacity of about 0.7 MCM. The project was the first of its type in the WBGS and demonstrated a great potential to harvest runoff from wadis to utilize that runoff for agricultural purposes. Another dam with a storage capacity of 32,000 m3 was constructed in Wadi Fara’a in 2013 by PWA to harvest runoff water and utilize it for the recharge of groundwater. Although this dam was designed with the assistance of international experts, however it failed to store runoff water because of excessive leakage. In 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture started the construction of 10 earthen ponds with storage capacities between 10,00 and 15,000 m3 in several locations in the West Bank including Nassariyah, Jiftlick, Auja, Nuwaymia and wadi Qilt for harvesting wadi runoff water for agricultural use Some of these ponds were completed and managed to store runoff water during the 2014/2015 rainy season while the construction at others was halted by Israeli Authorities. Early in 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture contracted local engineering firms to design a number of water harvesting structures including dams and earth ponds in Jenin (north of the West Bank) and Bani Naim (south of the West Bank) areas.
Constructing dams and earth ponds along wadis to harvest runoff water has a great potential for improving water supplies for agriculture. However, this method of harvesting faces many challenges. These challenges include political constraints (approval by Israel) and operational constraints regarding who and how to utilize the harvested runoff water. The technical and economic constraints include the insufficient experience in the design and construction of these structures as have been seen in Fara’a dam, the low reliability of these sources of water, the large variability in the amount of water harvested from one year to another due to the large variability in rainfall and the short life of these dams due to the large sediment loads from runoff water. The effectiveness of these systems is site dependent and thus extensive studies are needed for constructing such dams and ponds. It is also observed that local experience in the design and construction of dams is very limited and should be enhanced as seen in the technical problems with the dams constructed. Institutional capacity in constructing and operating dams and ponds should also be improved.
2) Rehabilitation of Wells and Springs Program: this program aims at water conservation and improving water use efficiency to insure the sustainability of available water resources. Many organizations (local and international) have been involved in the rehabilitation of wells, springs and their distribution and storage systems. The rehabilitation usually includes replacing old pumping equipment, transforming the wells to electrical power, replacing pipe networks to distribute irrigation water to farmers and constructing new storage reservoirs to improve the reliability and operation of irrigation systems. These projects result in a reduction in pumping costs and an improvement in the availability of water for irrigation to the farmers. Therefore, farmers have been encouraged to irrigate more lands and plant more cash crops, which has assisted farmers in improving their agricultural income.
3) Treated Wastewater Reuse Programs: considering the small amounts of water available for irrigation and the importance of irrigated agriculture in the Palestinian economy, treated wastewater is an important source of irrigation water in the WBGS. The Palestinian Standards Institute and the Ministry of Agriculture issued regulations, standards and guidelines to utilize treated wastewater in agriculture (PSI, 2003; MOA, 2003b; PSI, 2012). However, the actual utilization of treated wastewater in agriculture is still very limited as the number of wastewater treatment plants which operate effectively is very limited. There are ongoing projects to utilize treated wastewater from newly constructed wastewater treatment plants such as the Nablus West and Jenin plants. These projects have been facing many constraints including the quality of treated wastewater and thus the suitability of that treated wastewater for irrigation. The treatment plants do not usually have nitrogen and phosphorous removal from treated wastewater restricting the reuse of treated wastewater to irrigating fruit trees and fodder crops. The treatment plants do not have any disinfection or advanced treatment options to reduce or eliminate intestinal nematodes and pathogens which result in restricting the reuse and increasing the health risks associated with reuse. Maximizing the benefits of treated wastewater reuse requires constructing seasonal storage structures to store excess water produced in winter for summer use. Seasonal storage of treated wastewater will result in significantly reducing treated wastewater flow into Israel and thus avoiding paying extra charge on its treatment in Israel where the treatment standards are more restrictive. Seasonal storage requires large storage structures which could be accomplished through constructing small dams in wadis. These dams could also be utilized for harvesting runoff water in addition to winter flows of treated wastewater. The mixing of treated wastewater with runoff water allows for improving the quality of water and the local acceptance of its reuse in agriculture.
4) Soil and water conservation: soil and water conservation practices commonly used in the WBGS include terracing, mulching, contour tillage and crop rotation. There is a tremendous amount of indigenous knowledge by farmers of these practices which result in effective soil and water conservation through terracing, use of mulches, selection of crops and relevant agricultural practices.
5) Improving irrigation efficiency, irrigation scheduling practices and water management at the farm level: Although most farmers in the WBGS are utilizing drip and sprinkler irrigation systems, the management of these systems could be improved to maximize the benefits of water use in agriculture. Proper selection of crops, irrigation timing and scheduling could be improved through providing enough training and information to the farmers. Due to improper planning, lack of storage and marketing options, farmers end up producing large amounts of certain irrigated vegetables causing a large drop in their prices. As a result of low prices, farmers suffer large economic losses and large amounts of irrigation water are lost through producing such crops. Thus, there is a need to help farmers plan the types and times of crops to be planted considering the marketing potentials of these crops. Through the production process, farmers will need assistance regarding the timing and quantities of irrigation needed considering climatic conditions. The role of agricultural extension services should be emphasized in the area of irrigated agriculture considering the high costs of irrigation water and agricultural inputs.
3.5 Soil Quality and Fertility Improvement Measures
Soil classification is governed by soil forming factors including parent material, topography, vegetation, climate and time. Parent materials for soils include weathered materials from limestone, chalk and marls which are usually rich with calcium carbonates. The weathering process of rocks results in materials either moved by water forming an alluvial parent material for soil, material moved by wind forming loessial soils or material moved by gravity forming colluvium soils. The climate of the WBGS ranges from humid or semi-humid Mediterranean to arid desert climate. Thus, the climate prevailing in the area results in having Terrarossa, Rendzinas and Loessial soils as the most common soil associations,
Soils formed in moderate climate zones are characterized as productive soils without salinity problems. They have high contents of calcium carbonates, high saturation with basic cations as rainfall is not sufficient to leach out these basic cations and a pH ranging from 7.0 to 8.5. Rainfall in these regions is sufficient to remove salts from the root zone. The depth of soil is influenced by topography and soils affected by water erosion in these areas. The organic content is low and soil texture ranges from loamy to clay loams depending on the land slopes. Examples of these soils are the Terrarossa and Rendzinas which prevail in the central mountains and the western slopes of the West Bank. These soils usually have good drainage conditions due to the land slopes and their texture. They are suitable for fruit trees, vegetable crops, field crops and grazing. The use of these soils depends on land slope, the percentage of rocks present and their depths.
In the bottom lands there are flat or nearly flat plains which have deep rich soils in the West Bank. The soils have originated from mostly colluvial-alluvial materials which were transported from the nearby mountains and deposited in these plains. Soils in these plains have developed significant amounts of clay content. The moderate weathering conditions in these plains have resulted in forming vermiculite and montmorollonite clays which expand when are wet and crack when dry due to clay particles shrinking. The severe cracking in these soils results in moving clays and organic matter from the soil surface horizon to the subsurface horizon. The process ends up with developing these soils into Grumusols (vertisols). These soils have high water retention capacity, high nutrient content, high organic matter content and are dark soils. These are rich soils with high agricultural value. They are typically used for field and vegetable crops. These soils have poor drainage conditions, crack in the summer (when they dry out) and thus not suitable for fruit trees unless irrigated
Loessial, arid brown and sandy dunes are soils with low clay content prevailing in arid areas with low rainfall. They have low capacity for water retention and low fertility. These soils have sparse vegetation and could have high agricultural value if irrigation water could be available. These soils are exposed for wind erosion, sparse vegetative cover and salinity. Table 13 shows a list of soil types in the WBGS and figure 29 shows their spatial distribution.
Table 13: Correlation between soil associations and the international soil classification systems (Dudeen, 2001)
Soil Association | FAO | USDA Classi-fication | Parent material | Natural vegetation | Agricultural land use |
Terrarossa (area = 235,210 ha) | Luvisols | Xerochrepts, Rhodoxeralfs | Hard limestones, Dolomites with other inclusions of chalk and marl | Mediterranean Evergreen sclerophyllous Quercetea calliprini), Park woods (Pistacia Lentiscus) | Fruit trees (grapes, olives, plums, apricots), grazing and afforestation |
Brown Rendzinas and Pale Renzinas (area = 145,698 ha) | Lithosols and Rendzina | Xerorthents, Haploxerolls | Soft chalk and Marl covered partly Nari crust and hard Chalk | Semi-steppe vegetation (Ballotetalia undulatae) | Fruit trees, grazing and afforestation |
Pale Rendzinas (area= 762 ha) | Lithosols and Rendzina | Xerorthents | Soft chalk and Marl | Spontaneous woods (pinus halepensis) | Non-irrigated orchards, field crops, grazing |
Grumusols (area = 28,760) | Vertisols | Xererts | Fine textured Alluvial or Aeolian sediments | Segetal vegetation Of Prosopis farcata, Scolymus Maculatus | Annual crops (wheat, corn, barely) |
Brown Lithosols and Loessial Arid Brown Soils (area= 48,391 ha) | Lithosols | Torriorthents | Chalk, marl, limestone or conglomerate, Loessial dust | Semi-steppe vegetation (Ballotet alia undulatae), steppe vegetation (Artemisietea herbae-albae)
| Grazing, annual Crops (wheat, barely) |
Solonchaks (area= 6,608 ha) | Solonchak | Salorthids | Recent alluvial deposits | Halophytic vegetation (Tamarix, Suaeda, Nitraria, Juncus) | Bare area, some plantations where water is available |
Loessial Serozems (area =5,265 ha) | Yermesols | Haplargids | Loessial sediment, sandy sediments and gravel, calcareous loamy sediments | Segetal communities of annual plants | Grazing, annual crops, some orchards |
Sandy Regosols and Arid Brown (area=418 ha) | Regosols | Xerorthents, torriorthents | Sand deposits, loessial deposits | Association of Artemisia monosperma, Artemisietum herbae-albae arenarium | Irrigated crops (citrus, subtropical orchards, grazing |
Sand dunes | Arenosols | Quartzipsamments Torripsamments | Unconsolidated dune sand | Ammophiletum arenarium, Stipagrostis scoparia | Barren, some fruit trees if irrigated |
Regosols (21,220 ha) | Regosols | Xerorthents, Tprriorthents | Sand clay loess, lisan marls | Mosaic of icroassociation of dwarfshrubs and annual crops | Grazing and afforestation |
Figure 29 : Spatial distribution of soil types in the WBGS (MOA, 2014b)
The productivity of the soils shown in the Table above depends mainly on their capacity to retain water and nutrients. To improve the productivity of these soils farmers will need to apply sufficient fertilizers and irrigation. Under rain fed agriculture, increasing water and nutrients retaining capacity of soils is required. Measures to improve soil quality include soil water conservation measures by terracing, mulching and supplementary irrigation. Fertility improvement could be achieved through the use of organic fertilizers and compost.
In the Jordan Valley where soils are saline, removing excess salts is the most critical factor for soil development and soil improvement. The removal of excess salts requires using irrigation water to leach out salts from the soils. Also, to reduce leaching requirements, farmers use salt tolerant crops such as palm trees.
3.6 Land Rehabilitation, Restoration and Reclamation
Land development projects and plans have expended millions of dollars, much of which was provided by international donors to assist the Palestinian people. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the reclamation and rehabilitation activities in the past 15 years comprised more than 85 000 dunums (or 85 km2) which is about 20 percent of the land regarded suitable for reclamation.
According to a recent assessment for the land reclamation and land development projects (Jong et.al, 2012), the activities above were effective and sustainable at the local level but lacked strategic coherence and depth. The programs were generally effective at the local level as they resulted in improving productivity of agricultural lands, transferring rocky and unproductive lands into productive lands. However, the programs did not follow an overall coherent strategic national plan for land development and land reclamation. Although there are studies available about the suitability of lands for development, the implemented activities in developing lands did not follow or not in line with the results of the studies. This was partially due to the fact that the study was based only on technical and physical data regarding land suitability for reclamation without considering the socio-economic factors. The factors should have considered land tenure and the willingness of the land owner to contribute and participate in the land reclamation activities.
Figure 30: Improvement livelihood program performance chart (Jong et al, 2012)
In addition to the activities funded by international donors and directed by the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers and land owners implemented reclamation activities on their own. However, private reclamation activities are more productive in irrigated areas. When irrigation water is available, the profitability of agriculture is higher encouraging farmers to invest in land development and land reclamation. In the Jordan Valley, reclamation of saline soils was needed to plant palm trees. Farmers invested in drilling new wells to supply irrigation water, leach out salts and plant palm trees. They are able to succeed in transforming saline unproductive lands into productive lands effectively with high economic returns obtained. The only limitation has been the availability and sustainability of groundwater to use for irrigation in the farms.
3.7 Watershed Management
Watershed management has been the subject of several projects in the WBGS. The projects were under different success levels both at national and local levels. At the national level, management of the Jordan River watershed was addressed in several regional projects. These projects involved Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority as riparian partners of the Jordan River. The major issues addressed in these projects were depletion of water resources, conflict over water allocations and environmental degradation in the Jordan River Basin. The diversions and abstractions of water from the Jordan River tributaries by Syria, Jordan and Israel have caused conflict over water resources among the regional riparian countries and left small amounts of water flowing in the river, negatively affecting the Jordan River water quality and the Dead Sea. Due to reduced flow into the Dead Sea there is a continuous drop in the elevation of water surface of the Dead Sea. As a result, the Dead Sea is divided into two separate lakes (North and South). Several studies and plans are under review for restoring the water level in the sea. The two seas canal (Red Sea, Dead Sea) project has been evaluated by many studies and a pilot for that project is in the process of implementation by the World Bank. In addition to the two seas canal, the diversion of fresh water from the Jordan river combined with the disposal of waste and saline water into the river are causing severe environmental degradation to the river. Projects to restore the Jordan River are also under political and technical review. The restoration of the Jordan River and Dead Sea are subjects of political negotiations.
On the local level, many watersheds in the WBGS have been under evaluation and study. Watersheds which were evaluated and studied in the past 10 years include Wadi Fara’a, Wadi Gaza, Wadi Al-Nar, Wadi Zomer, Wadi Abu Nar, Marj Sanour and others. The studies included: environmental degradation, water resources depletion, rainfall runoff analyses, climate change impacts, drainage, socio-economic analyses and special aspects of watershed and the interests of the institution performing the study. However, common aspects among the studies of these watersheds, included:
1) Environmental degradation. The environmental degradation is mostly caused by the disposal of untreated wastewater in the watersheds such as Wadi Fara’a, Wadi Zomer, Wadi Abu-Nar and Wadi Al-Nar. Wastewater collected in the nearby cities and towns is being disposed without sufficient treatment or no treatment causing contamination of soil and groundwater and negatively affecting the socio economic conditions in the watershed. Tackling this problem requires proper design and constructing wastewater treatment plants to improving sanitation and health in the watersheds.
2) The depletion of water resources in the watersheds due to over pumping from groundwater aquifers and the increasing demand for additional water supplies to satisfy the local needs for water are major problems in the watersheds. The problems are being addressed through improving water infrastructure, encouraging efficient use of water and water conservation.
3) There are studies conducted to review watershed management projects, but the actual number of projects implemented for managing watersheds is significantly small. One of the studies to mention in this regard is the watershed management study of the flood control in the Marj Sanour watershed. Many institutions were involved in the study for over 20 years. However, no projects were implemented to translate the studies in action to tackle the problem. Wadi Fara’a is another area where many studies were conducted during the past 20 years but still the implementation is minimal. Conducting studies at the watersheds without implementing them affects the credibility of the institutions among the local residents who face the problem.
4) Land use planning and management was rarely addressed in the studies. Emphasis was on water resources management, sanitation and hydrology.
Important aspects to consider for effective watershed management planning and implementation are:
7) Improving the existing water and wastewater infrastructure through rehabilitation of existing systems and establishing new systems to convey and distribute water.
8) Constructing and implementing wastewater collection, treatment and reuse systems in order to reduce environmental degradation. The reuse of treated wastewater is essential in improving the socio-economic conditions of the localities within the watersheds.
9) Solid waste collection and disposal systems are also of high importance in achieving efficient and sustainable integrated watershed management.
10) Effective activities to enhance water supplies in the watershed include water harvesting and artificial recharge of groundwater. The activities implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Palestinian Water Authority in building retention structures and earth ponds to harvest runoff water and recharge ground water aquifer in Wadi Fara’a will have a good potential in reducing water shortages in the area.
11) There is a need to emphasize integrated watershed management regardless of the administrative boundaries among localities and governorates. Al-Fara’a integrated watershed management project (EQA, 2004) is a good example of such an initiative; however, the study should be followed by an implementation program to actually achieve integrated management.
12) Emphasis should be on conducting studies to plan interventions for improving the existing situation in the watersheds.
3.8 Sustainable Land Management Practices
Sustainable management of land requires managing the land in accordance to its capacity through adopting appropriate spatial planning land initiatives. Sustainable land management is the use of land resources, including soils, water, animals and plants, for the production of goods to meet changing human needs, while simultaneously ensuring the long-term productive potential of these resources and the maintenance of their environmental functions” (UN Earth Summit, 1992).
Sustainable management of land for agricultural purposes requires the use of environmentally sound agricultural inputs and practices. Activities adopted in the WBGS to use environmentally sound agricultural inputs and practices include:
a. Utilizing mechanical methods in plant protection instead of pesticides: The use of traps for insects in olive fields and in greenhouses has been very effective in fighting insects and reducing the use of pesticides. The use of screen mulches around green houses or planting crops in small tunnels are effective in farming vegetables especially in the summer months when using pesticides becomes ineffective and insufficient to protect the vegetable crops from the various insects.
b. The use of organic farming or partially organic farming is becoming a practical option especially in the production of olive oil.
c. The use of organic fertilizers is an effective and common way to reduce the amount of chemical fertilizers needed in irrigated agriculture as well as rain fed agriculture. The effectiveness of organic fertilizers is high in rain fed agriculture as rainfall varies considerably and organic fertilizers become more reliable.
d. The production and use of compost has high potential. Although not commonly known, compost is increasingly being used as animal feed and/or as a soil fertilizer. This is reducing agricultural waste and is helping transform waste to beneficial products. Efforts to produce methane gas from compost are still under trial on a pilot scale without any significant amounts of methane gas produced through composting.
Forest and rangelands: afforestation and rangeland management activities have been rare despite the enormous potentials existing. The Ministry of Agriculture established a nursery for forest trees in the North of the West Bank which supplies forest trees to be planted by different groups, individuals and organizations. Only small areas have benefited from afforestation since the land available for these activities under the control of the Palestinian Authority (areas A and B according to Oslo) is very limited and most of it is privately owned. The same applies to the management of rangelands which are mostly located in the eastern slopes and considered within area C under the Oslo agreement.
Water is the most critical factor for agriculture in arid and semi-arid areas, activities and practices to enhance water supplies are essential for sustainable land use and management in agriculture. Sustainable land management practices consider the effective management of water through harvesting effective use, soil water conservation, land productivity enhancement and utilizing marginal water such as brackish water and treated wastewater. Selecting appropriate cropping patterns that take into consideration water availability, water quality, climate, soil characteristics, land conditions and socio economic factors is another essential factor for sustainable land management. In the relatively high rainfall areas of the northern parts of the West Bank, appropriate crops include vegetables and fruit trees such as citrus around Qalqiliya, Tulkarm, Nablus and west of Tubas. On the free draining reclaimed lands, appropriate crops may include fruits such as peach, plums, apricots and almonds, which are intercropped with vegetables in the first three to seven years. Intercropping of fruits and vegetable provides employment, food for home consumption and a limited amount of income. In the south of Jerusalem, the climate is generally dryer and influenced by the Sinai desert, suitable crops to consider include grapes, figs, apricots, almonds and to a lesser extent peaches, and plums. Young fruit trees are intercropped with vegetables in this part. In the Gaza Strip, the amount of rainfall is less and irrigation is required for nearly all crops. However, since water is saline, the amount of water required for any given crop is more than if water was fresh. Extra water is required to flush out the salts from the soil to minimize the problem of salinity. Crops grown are limited to tomatoes and barley that tolerate salinity – crops such as cucumbers wheat - alfalfa and vetches are less tolerant to salinity.
Intercropping is a practice of growing vegetables or field crops with fruit trees / perennial crops in the same field. Intercropping maximizes the use of land and water to grow fruit trees and field crops. Intercropping provides opportunities to maximize benefits from the land (food, work and income) for farmers. Intercropping also help to reduce costs for tillage, manure and other costly inputs. Intercropping with legumes and crops that fix nitrogen in the soil will increase soil fertility and improve the soil structure. Winter intercropping (potatoes, onions, beans, cauliflowers etc.) is a good source of food and income for the farming family. It increases the productivity of land with low cost farming operations.
Fodder crops are usually planted immediately after the land reclamation operation is completed. Planting leguminous fodder crops – such as vetch – takes place immediately after the first rains in December or January, for harvest in April/May. Vetch improves soil structure and fertility through the processes of nitrogen fixation by root nodules.
3.9 Policies and Strategies
After its establishment in 1995, the Palestinian Authority started setting up its institutional structure and developing policies, legislations, laws and strategies for the different sectors including agriculture, water and environment taking into consideration the particular status of WBGS. The development of the strategies and policies was supported by the international community and were based on the local, regional and international experiences.
Land use planning and management are affected by economic, environmental, agricultural and water policies and strategies. The prevailing political problems are the most important factors affecting land use in the WBGS. The emphasis after establishing the Palestinian Authority was to gain control over the land to be able to establish and implement land use plans. It took the Palestinian Authority several years of negotiations (until Wye River agreement in 1998) to gain control over less than 40% of the West Bank. Thus, the Palestinian Authority was not able to develop land use plans and the Palestinians continued to use the land accessible to them without national land use plans. The Palestinian Authority during that period concentrated on developing and structuring its administrative and institutional structure. At the same time, the Palestinians worked on developing water, environmental and agricultural policies. However, the political situation and the ongoing peace process without political agreement on the final status and boundaries are hindering the implementation of policies and strategies that affect land use, planning and management.
The deterioration of the political and security situation following the failure of reaching a political settlement for the conflict in 2000 (the Intifada after the failure of Camp David negotiations) resulted in hindering the work of the Palestinian Authority for several years. The Israeli actions including restriction of movement, the construction of the separation wall, the expansion of Israeli settlements, the expansion of security zones and military closed areas resulted in loss of land and affected its use impeding any plans and strategies developed by the Palestinian Authority. Due to the political situation, the different development projects including the establishment of industrial zones and other large infrastructure supported by international donors were usually subject to political negotiations and agreements. The locations and types of projects were impacted by political agreements and arrangements instead of pure technical decisions and planning.
Following the second Intifada and in 2004, the Palestinian government published its Medium development plan 2005-2007 which was directed to channel external aid delivered by donors. However, in 2007, the scope of the national development process was expanded to include internally and externally funded government activities (MOAD, 2010). The Palestinian Reform and Development Plan 2008-2010 was started and followed by launching the Palestinian National Plan in 2009. These activities were enhanced by the 13th government program “Palestine: Ending the occupation, Establishing the State”. This program resulted in changing the thinking process in the Palestinian Authority to reform and restructure Palestinian institutions to be capable of running a state. Thus, the ministries, entities, agencies and departments of the Palestinian Authority were restructured and organized as those of a state. The responsibilities and duties of the different entities were defined and work in developing national development plans for the different sectors was initiated and continued since then. Establishing and defining responsibilities and duties were essential steps to improve the coordination and make it more effective in serving the Palestinian people. At the same time, it was essential in maximizing the benefits from international aid and maximizing the effectiveness of activities and interventions implemented by local and international groups.
For WBGS to achieve the millennium goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and ensuring environmental sustainability, it is essential that sound land use, planning and management polices and strategies are in place and are implemented
Among the MDGs above, Goal 1 to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger has been a primary goal for many local and international organizations. These organizations have been trying to achieve this goal by encouraging economic development through creating new jobs, improving income and improving food production. Thus, agricultural and water policies target improved use of land and water resources to increase production, productivity and food security. The importance of water to achieve the MDG is recognized by both the water and agriculture sector strategies of 2011-2013 and 2014-2016 (MOA, 2011 and MOA, 2014b). These strategies target policies towards the effective and sustainable management of agricultural water through:
1) Increasing water availability and improving supply management by rehabilitation of water infrastructure and increasing water sources designated for agriculture.
2) Improving water demand management of the agricultural sector by: Enhancing the efficiency of water transportation and distribution systems, upgrading irrigation systems and use of complementary irrigation.
3) Increasing the area, reclaiming the land and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity by: Identifying, classifying and reclaiming lands, enhancing productivity, afforesting government and privately-owned land, developing and rehabilitating rangelands, conserving and sustainably using agricultural biodiversity.
4) Considering the limited availability of water resources, the Palestinian Water Strategy clearly targets enhancing water availability through pursuing Palestinian Water rights in the surface and groundwater resources, increasing harvesting of runoff water and increasing the utilization of marginal water resources such as brackish water and treated wastewater.
In addition to the above strategies, a climate change adaptation strategy (2009) identified the following measures which are of relevance to land use, land degradation and land management:
1) Development of flood contingency plans
2) Local increases in rainfall interception capacity
3) Incorporating climate risks
4) Increasing the use of marginal water resources such as brackish water and treated wastewater
5) Increasing the use of water harvesting
6) Protection of coastal sand dunes in the Gaza Strip
7) Incorporation of climate adaptation in land use planning
8) Increasing the use of precision agriculture for improving soil and crop management
9) Selecting crops that are more tolerant to heat, salinity and drought.
10) Prioritization of irrigation for highest value crops
11) Diversification of rural livelihoods
Considering the impacts of Israeli Occupation and the restrictions imposed on implementing Palestinian strategies and policies, the 13th government of the Palestinian Authority developed a program for ending the occupation and establishing the State (PA, 2010). The program included the following objectives and statements which are related to land use and land degradation:
· Upgrading and advancing international relations with other countries to seek and gain full membership in international organizations.
· Supporting private sector participation in the development process
· Developing optimal utilization of natural resources
· Creation of a centralized and computerized land data base, identifying and registering state owned lands
· Developing policies for the use of state lands.
Following this, the National Development Plan (NDP) was developed for 2011-2013 and then later updated for 2014-2016 entitled “State Building to Sovereignty” (Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development, 2014). The NDP comprises of policies and strategies designed to finally materialize a Palestinian Sovereign state and consolidate control over the natural resources in the WBGS. The NDP adopted strategic objectives for the economic development sector, social development sector, good governance and institutional building sector, and infrastructure development. The NDP set national policies for the sector strategies in which strategic objectives were developed for the different development sectors by these sectors. Sector strategies related to land use planning and management include the following sectors: water and wastewater, agriculture, environment, local government and administration, housing and economic strategy. The sector strategies are developed every two years by the concerned ministries and submitted to the Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development. This formulated a formal policy in strategic planning and periodic policy development in the Palestinian Authority. Land use planning and management is considered in the different economic sectors by different Ministries (Agriculture, Environment, PWA, Local Government, Housing, etc.). However, land use is not considered a separate sector and thus there are still no coherent strategies addressing land use planning and management directly by itself.
Reviewing the strategies and policies, it is clear that the different development sectors have developed strategies and policies which affect land use and land management. The following could be cited:
1) Development sectors have plans and policies for investing on land use. The sectors compete over the use of land and its management. This competition results in transferring rich agricultural lands into urban areas. Although the plans and strategies are official for the different ministries, however, abiding by them and following them is not evident especially following administrative changes among decision makers. This could be because the process is new as it has started in 2010 and several changes to the government were done since then.
2) Policies and plans for the different sectors are usually too general, might intersect with each other and lack implementation mechanisms, time frames and effective follow up.
3) The policies and plans are usually made on the national scale and rarely on the regional or local scales. Thus, local and regional details are usually missing in the planning process.
4) It is only just recently that a national spatial plan for land use based on value and quality has been developed. The plan was approved by the government in 2012. Then, there were several objections and concerns about it from the private sector and many local councils. The government reviewed these objections and approved a modified version of the spatial plan in 2014. The implementation of the plan might result in additional objections and concerns considering the limited land under Palestinian control in the West Bank.
5) Although plans and strategies are developed by relevant institutions, the public participation in the development of these strategies is minimal.
6) It is only just recently that strategic planning became a clear periodic process in the Palestinian Authority through the National Development Plan and its sector strategies which are being updated every two years by the relevant ministries.
3.10 Projects, Programs, Research and Extension
In addition to individual farmers and private sector activities, there are 127 projects either ongoing or recently completed tackling issues of relevance to desertification, land degradation and drought, which are major issues of sustainable land management in the WBGS (EQA, 2012). The total budget of these projects is around US$ 86 million. These projects cover different sectors including land use, livestock, water harvesting and storage, water management and plant production and irrigation. The funding for these projects was provided by most active donors including USA, Canada, the EU and EU countries, Arab and Islamic countries. The following is a list of the types of projects, activities and interventions which are implemented in the WBGS:
1) Development of water infrastructure including rehabilitation of wells, constructing water conveyance and water distribution systems. The rehabilitation of water infrastructure is to reduce water losses, reduce pumping costs, conserve water and energy. These activities improved the sustainability of irrigated agriculture through reduced water shortages and improve water availability for irrigation. Since the financial and economic returns from irrigated agriculture are much higher than rain fed agriculture, these interventions resulted in positive socio-economic impacts.
2) Utilizing efficient irrigation practices and technologies in addition to crop varieties with high economic returns especially those planted under protected agricultural conditions. The high economic returns per unit of water used in agriculture allow the agricultural sector to compete with other sectors for water use and thus improving the sustainability of irrigated agriculture.
3) The utilization of marginal water resources such as brackish and treated wastewater is essential for sustainable land management. More fresh water is being diverted to the domestic sector and the amount of wastewater is increasing. Marginal water available for agriculture is expected to increase with time. The reuse of properly treated wastewater in agriculture is an essential policy towards sustainability of irrigated agriculture in the arid and semi-arid areas. For this purpose, many pilot projects have been implemented for the reuse of treated wastewater. In addition, many studies and research work on treated wastewater have been conducted. Manuals for the reuse of treated wastewater and marginal water in agriculture have been developed within the framework of regional projects in the Middle East.
4) Home-gardens. Especially when expensive potable water has to be purchased and delivered by tanker, developing a home-garden with its associated cistern is of importance both for nutritional and health perspectives. The home-garden referred to here is typically 200m2 – 700m2 in area at the homestead (area surrounding the houses) and are often headed by women supporting many dependents. Home-gardens are considered to be feasible interventions for food security at the household and community level.
5) The most common land development and land reclamation projects include those involving heavy reclamation of constructing retaining walls, terraces and cisterns, planting fruit trees and cleaning the land from rocks. These activities are socio-economically beneficial and they are essential in transforming land from unproductive state to productive. Farmers’ contributions amounting to 25 percent of the investment cost is seen to be financially beneficial and could be paid back usually in three years. The land development activities included in this are planting olive trees, almonds and fruit crops. In social terms, all the land development models and practices performed in the WBGS are reasonable and accepted. However, planting olives should be limited to land that is not suitable for other types of tree crops which have higher economic returns. Intercropping in the early years of the project is advisable for financial viability. The eastern slopes have a high potential for low cost land development. The Gaza Strip land development model has short term potential only. The high rate of population growth, the need for housing and its associated pressure on limited land resources together with a limited quantity of water that is currently over exploited and the increasingly saline nature make the sustainability of land reclamation and agricultural development, in the long term, questionable.
6) Reforestation activities included activities with priority given to governmental and Awqaf lands for planting with horticultural trees. “The greening of Palestine project” is contributing to sustainable land management through planting trees in private, governmental and Awqaf lands.
7) Restoration of top soil, re-seeding of rangelands and increasing soil fertility through projects such as the “Sustainable management of lands in the communal lands of the West Bank” project funded by the Brazilian government will have a positive impact on sustainable land management of rangelands in the WBGS. The project extends from 2010 to 2015 trying to improve farmers’ awareness to establish control systems based on the carrying capacity of the rangelands.
8) The development of the national spatial plan (NSP approved in 2012 and amended in 2014) in which lands with high agricultural and environmental values are protected from urbanization is an essential step towards sustainable land management through encouraging the utilization of land according to its value and capacity. This spatial plan should be considered in all national development plans of the various development sectors as it will guide the development of land according to its capacity and value.
While reviewing the projects and interventions accomplished or ongoing in the WBGS, it is noticed that most of the projects were funded by international donors with socio-economic or environmental objectives, set. The purposes of the projects are/were improving the socio-economic conditions, reducing poverty, increasing food security for vulnerable communities or improving the environmental conditions of an area or a watershed. Therefore, land planning and management were not primary objectives of these projects or interventions. Thus, the projects lack the needed integration and coordination as they do not follow a specific national plan or a well-defined land use management plan. Short term projects usually end up only in studies regarding a certain problem or location and when an intervention is planned for that location or problem, another study is proposed or conducted that often overlaps with the study conducted earlier.
Research and development questions are either directly or indirectly addressed in these interventions. For each intervention, a study is performed to identify problems and proposed solutions to address the socio-economic and/or the environmental problems of the area. At the same time, there were many projects which were directed to research the optimal management of natural resources, adaptation to climate change, coping with salinity and water shortages, impacts of irrigation with marginal water and other aspects of relevance to land use planning and management. However, it is rare to find projects targeting at or trying to develop plans for the optimal management of land uses.
Reviewing the process through which the interventions were implemented, it is clear that training of farmers and public awareness programs are usually included. The extension services have been requirements for the funding agencies and are essential to cover the running costs for the local implementing groups. In addition to the extension services supported by the implementing institutions, the Ministry of Agriculture provides extension services to all farmers in the WBGS. The Ministry usually acts as the direct link between farmers and the implementing institutions of projects and interventions.
It is observed that good experiences from projects and interventions accomplished in the WBGS, area being replicated in other localities by other projects. Examples of these interventions are land reclamation and water resources development projects implemented in various localities. The successful lessons learnt are being applied in many areas by several institutions. This shows that there is an accumulated experience in the field being accomplished by the different actors in land use and management. Evaluation of land development projects showed that although the interventions are effective in achieving their objectives at local level, their impact is barely noticed at the national level. There is a lack of coherent plans directing the activities towards clear goals which were set in advance. This applies to most interventions undertaken in agriculture, environment and water sectors. Even in cases where plans are available, the interventions rarely follow the plans.
3.11 Institutional Linkages and Coordination
National, regional and local planning for land use and management usually involve several institutions that includes the Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Public Works and Housing Environmental Quality Authority Ministry of National Economy and Ministry of Local Governments. The institutions listed above participated in developing the National Spatial Plan (NSP) for the West Bank which was initially approved in 2012. The plan produced maps showing lands of high, medium and low values in terms of agricultural, archeological, environmental, biodiversity and aesthetic values. The participation of these institutions was vital in considering all important values of land use in the planning process. The involvement of the institutions in the NSP process resulted in the development of a comprehensive plan for land use. However, considering the political situation and the categorization of land into areas A, B and C under Oslo agreements, the NSP restricted areas available for urban, commercial and industrial development, raising objections and concerns from various local councils and private investors. For the private investors, the NSP will result in increasing real estate prices and thus restricting urban and industrial development. These concerns and objections resulted in adjusting and amending the NSP in 2014.
Land use planning for urban and industrial use requires approval from local, regional and national planning councils which include several ministries including Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Public Works and Housing Environmental Quality Authority and Ministry of National Economics. Local (city and village) councils prepare master plans (usually with the help of private firms) for the development of the locality indicating the new limits and boundaries of the locality, in addition to proposed roads, infrastructure, utilities and different land uses in a locality. Regional planning committee recommends the approval to the Upper planning council which grants the approval of plans submitted by local councils as shown in figure 31. The regional planning committees and upper planning council consist of representatives from the Ministry of Local Governments, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Agriculture Archeology Office (Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities), National Economics and others. Plans for large infrastructures and large utilities including major industrial projects which will have environmental impacts require environmental permits (from EQA) in addition to the approval from the Upper Planning council (The National Planning Council).
Local Governments, Tourism and Antiquities, Agriculture, Transportation, Planning and Administrative Development, Health, Land Authority, Justice, Finance, Engineering Union, National Economics, Environmental Quality Authority |
High Planning Council: grants approval |
Regional planning committee reviews and recommends approval |
Local planning committee reviews and submits plan |
Approval from: transportation, tourism and antiquities |
Developer: Local council, firms, individuals |
Engineering firm prepares detailed development plan |
Figure 31: Approval and review process for permitting projects (infrastructures, major housing plans and master plans) involving change of land use.
It is clear that permitting plans of activities involving change of land use is a long extensive process starting bottom up. The local councils submit their plans to a regional committee; however, the regional committee does not have an overall regional plan to guide the decision making and perceive how it should look like. The currently available national plan is the National Spatial Plan which was initially approved in 2012. The plans and uses of land prior 2012 were not based on any national plans for land use. This resulted in land being used for purposes not intended for, further leading to land degradation and loss of fertile soils to urbanization. It is important to notice that during the period from 2000 to 2008, many activities and structures were constructed without prior approval of the Palestinian Authority which was not able to regulate or control these activities due to the political constraints in that period.
Institutional coordination and linkage for interventions and projects is recognized by forming steering committees for interventions and projects. Steering committees usually include representatives from the funding institution, implementing institution, Ministry of Agriculture, Palestinian Water Authority (for projects including water development), Environmental Quality Authority (for projects related to environment) and others as needed depending on the tasks of the project. The steering committees need to periodically assess the tasks and activities implemented by the project. Nonetheless, the project implementation is strictly governed by the terms of reference limiting the inputs of steering committee.
The land development and land reclamation program is a good example of institutional linkages and coordination practiced for nearly 15-20 years. Local organizations were given financial support for land development and land reclamation through the projects. The local organizations conduct field surveys to select beneficiaries of the projects based on criteria set by with the Ministry of Agriculture and the funding agency, jointly. Based on a recent evaluation of the land development projects, the funders contracted a consortium of local organizations to implement a five year project for land and water development in the West Bank. The Ministry of Agriculture and the local organizations participated in planning the types of interventions for the project. The Ministry of Agriculture is a member of the steering committee for the project. The experience gained from this project is expected to give lessons for establishing effective institutional linkages that will improve the planning and implementation of projects and activities.
In some projects such as water resources development, the Ministry of Agriculture selects beneficiaries based on field surveys conducted by its extension staff and submits the names of the beneficiaries to the implementing organization. The Ministry follows up on the implementation and continues to assist farmers through its extension services.
Quite a number of institutions are involved in land use and land management activities, with limited coordination among them. The limited collaborations seen in developing integrated plans for land use and land management is not enough as it stops there, unless collaborative actions for translating the plans to action is well coordinated. The common practice prevailing is that different sectors of housing, economics, water and environment develop strategies and plans confined to their sector without any indications for coordination with other sectors. Commonly agreed land use plans need to be developed with the sectors whose projects and activities that engage land The Upper Planning council before it approves land use plans proposed by any development sector should check whether or not the plans are prepared engaging the various sectors that have interest in land and it is also in line with the National spatial plan. In the same way, the coordination among private and non-governmental organizations is negligible. In many circumstances, individual groups obtain funding for projects and interventions without proper coordinating with relevant institutions being ensured. More often the projects overlap resulting in improper use of funds and aid. The work of these organizations stays limited to certain areas and locations without having larger impact on the macro scale.
There is a need to enhance coordination among governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations. Governmental institutions need to develop coherent plans for land use and land management to satisfy the socio-economic development needs of the Palestinian people taking into consideration the limited availability of natural and land resources and the need for sustainable use of land and natural resources. There is a need to develop plans for establishing new urban areas and centers to provide housing needed for the increasing population; plans for developing the transportation network; and plans for industrial areas, wastewater treatment plants, solid waste disposal sites, power generation and others. These plans should take into consideration the limited availability of land and water, the need for protection of natural resources and environmental impacts of such developments.
3.12 Environmental Policies, Laws and Regulations
The Palestinian Environmental Law was adopted in 1999 with objectives specified in Article (2) of the law which includes: protection of environment from pollution, protection of public health, protection of biodiversity and sensitive areas and improving environmentally affected areas. The law is meant “to guarantee that the industrial, agricultural and construction activities will not harm the ecosystems and to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of Palestine” (Article 5). The Environmental Quality Authority with other specialized agencies shall advise the public policy for land uses taking into account the best use thereof and the protection of natural resources and areas with special natural characteristics as well as the conservation of the environment (Article 6). Article 7 of the law requires EQA in coordination with other specialized agencies to set a comprehensive plan for solid waste management including the designation of sites for solid waste disposal. It also requires setting instructions and standards for agro-chemicals that are allowed to be imported, manufactured and distributed (Article 15).
The Palestinian environmental law addresses desertification and encourages coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and others to encourage undertaking appropriate procedures for farming wasteland and preventing desertification and drifting (Article 17). The environmental law forbids drifting of arable lands and transporting soil for use for purposes other than farming (Article 18).
The law requires setting up standards for the quality and characteristics of fresh water, norms for collecting, treating, reusing or disposing waste and storm water in a sound manner along with the preservation of the environment (Articles 28 and 29). EQA is to prescribe rules and regulations for the prevention of pollution, preservation and control of marine environment against what is generated by the different activities that occur in the free economic zone or the continental drifting or the activities occurring in the sea bottom (Article 35).
For the protection of natural, historical and archaeological areas, EQA is to prescribe bases and standards for the protection of natural reserves and national parks (Article 40). EQA is to specify the conditions necessary “to guarantee the preservation of bio-diversity in Palestine” (Article 42).
The environmental law requires every owner of a facility to perform self-monitoring operations in conformity with the standards and conditions stipulated by EQA (Article 54). The law gives the specialized agency the right to permanently revoke or temporally suspend the license granted to any facility or project that violates environmental conditions required in the environmental approval used to grant the license (Article 55).
EQA adopted a policy to establish an environmental assessment process in the WBGS to achieve sustainable development. The goals of this process include preserving biodiversity, landscapes and the sustainable development. The policy requires conducting an initial environmental evaluation (IEE) for projects where significant environmental impacts are uncertain and an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for projects which are likely to have significant impacts. Projects requiring EIA include: power plants, quarries and mines, wastewater treatment plants, cement plants, solid waste disposal sites, Airports, Seaports, industrial Estate, major dams, major roads and others.
In addition to the environmental law, EQA developed the environmental sector strategy in 2010. The strategy included formulation of a national strategy to combat desertification, implementing the national plan to combat desertification, developing rangeland management and rehabilitation plan, planting additional land and preparation of a plan for reclamation and rehabilitation of areas affected by erosion.
Reviewing the environmental law, the environmental assessment policy and environmental sector strategy, it is clear that the law, the assessment policy and the strategy are comprehensive. The environmental law includes articles to protect land resources, preserve quality, prevent pollution and degradation, protect bio-diversity and limit activities that might cause negative impacts on land resources. The environmental assessment policy requires that activities that might cause negative impacts on the environment including land and soil be evaluated for their impacts and propose mitigation measures to reduce these impacts to tolerable levels. The environmental law and assessment policy acknowledge and consider the need for coordination with other specialized agencies and require the involvement of stakeholders.
However, the environmental law requires that the facility owner performs the monitoring process to guarantee the performance of the facility in accordance with the license and environmental requirements specified in the environmental approval. There are no guarantees or stipulations to insure that the owner is performing the monitoring or acting in case the monitoring shows low performance. This is a severe problem in wastewater treatment plants when treated wastewater is reused in agriculture. To insure a sustainable reuse of treated wastewater, the farmer will need guarantees and assurances that the quality of treated wastewater is acceptable for reuse. In case the performance of the treatment plant falls below the acceptable level, there are no guarantees that the operator will act to produce water with acceptable quality in accordance with regulations. This situation is one of the obstacles for wastewater reuse in agriculture.
The coordination among different agencies is usually effective during the environmental impacts assessment process for projects under consideration. The coordination continues until the permit or license is granted. However, coordination is very limited during the monitoring and follow up processes to guarantee that the owner is abiding by the permit and the environmental approval. EQA needs to put more efforts in following up and monitoring the facilities to insure that they abide with the environmental approval.
The environmental sector strategy is also comprehensive; however, the implementation of the development strategies is very limited due to budget allocations. The financial constraints in the PA budget result in directing most of the budget towards the operation of the different ministries and authorities. The implementation of development projects requiring outsourcing is limited to interventions that funding agencies are willing to sponsor. Since the implementation is subject to approval by funding agencies, the strategy does not include clear time frames or implementation mechanisms.
The environmental law requires adopting policies and strategies to protect the natural resources, biodiversity, protection of land resources, reducing land degradation and others. These policies and strategies should be reflected in the policies of other sectors such as agriculture, water and wastewater. However, it is not clear if these sectors abide by these requirements or what mechanisms the EQA would adopt to encourage other sectors in abiding with the environmental law.
3.13 Gender equality mainstreaming in land policies
Women play an important role in agricultural practices. It is estimated that 24 percent of the female employed labor force work in agriculture, forest, hunting and fishing activities (PCBS, 2014). This percentage is much higher than the 9 percent of males working in agriculture, forest, hunting and fishing activities from the total employees in different activities. Thus, developing sound agricultural land use plans and policies will result in creating more jobs for women in the WBGS which would appear as improving gender equality. However, the actual jobs performed by women in agriculture are usually restricted to crop harvesting, weeding, crop handling and processing, planting seedlings and other activities in animal production. Jobs requiring the use of machinery such as land plowing, spraying of crops, spreading of plastic mulch, irrigation and crop transportation are usually done by men. This results in a restricted role for women in land management to engage in mostly cheap labor for crop harvesting and crop handling. Gender inequality is a direct outcome of social practices and existing social traditions.
Although women have legal and religious rights to own land and managing the land they own, traditions still tend to favor dominance of men over the broader land tenure and management affairs. In many villages, women have been giving up their inheritance rights of land or persuaded to sell their rights at very low prices to their male siblings. This combined with other social traditions men have been enjoying for years makes them the owners and a greater access right to agricultural lands while women are made workers.
In irrigated agriculture, water control and availability are the most critical factors in this sector. Owners of water sources and water rights control, plan and manage land use as they usually rent agricultural land from its owners. The majority of irrigation wells are owned and operated by men who usually control and manage the irrigation practices restricting the role of women in land use planning and management.
Land reclamation and land development projects tried to address gender equality through prioritizing land owned by women in their development. The activities performed by these projects require the use of heavy machinery which is usually done by men. Even when the owner of the land benefiting from the land development project was a woman, there was no guarantee for improving the status of women due to the existing traditions.
Home-gardening projects are directly implemented by women. The home gardens are small in area and agricultural practices in these gardens are usually done by women. Men often work in larger farm areas that raise more income. Home gardens projects are good example which directly benefit women with additional income, and in improving food security at the house-hold level.
Protective agriculture for the production of vegetables is another option where women could have an independent role in land use planning and management. In many areas, protective agriculture is usually implemented in small green houses very close to the homes of rural families which allows women, often with the help of their kids, to look after these greenhouses. When water is available for irrigation, the small plots of land are usually converted into greenhouses which in many cases are managed by women.
It is observed that land development and reclamation projects have been blind to gender equality and improving women status. The planning process is usually performed by men with occasional participation from women as the number of decision makers who are women is still very few. However, there are changes in the society and there are governmental regulations which encourage gender equality. The Palestinian Authority requires women representation in village and city councils. With time, this will improve the role of women in the decision making process and participation in land use planning and management. The improved awareness of women to their legal rights is encouraging women to pursue their legal rights in inheritance which will allow them to own land and property. This will give them the power to participate in land use planning and management.
There is a need to improve the awareness of women and educate them about their legal rights. Women participation in the planning and development process should also be encouraged. Gender equality should stay on the agenda for all land development and reclamation activities, strategies and policies. Interventions to support women to manage their lands should be given priority. In this regard, the principles and best practices of the Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance of the Tenure (VGGT) of Land, Forests and Fishers will be useful for mainstreaming gender in land policies.
3.14 Stakeholders and Partners Analysis
The direct users and planners of land are usually individuals, institutions (governmental and non- governmental) and private firms which are major stakeholders in the process for land use planning and management. All users will need approval for the proposed use of land when it involves a major change of existing use including uses for housing, commercial, traffic and transportation, industrial, touristic and other purposes. Local planning committees and city councils grant approval for individual and institutional housing and commercial plans at the municipal or town level. The expansion of villages and cities require approval by the upper and the regional planning councils and committees through master plans for areas to be developed. Large infrastructure, facilities, major industrial projects, major touristic projects, large hospitals and other major changes of land use require the approval of the national (the Upper) planning council which is headed by the Ministry of Local government and includes representatives from many stakeholders including the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Agriculture, Tourism and Antiquities, National Economics Ministry and others. The Ministry of Local Government plays an important role in urban planning and in changing the use of land from agricultural or natural (rangeland or forests) to urban, industrial, touristic and other uses.
Agricultural land uses are guided by the Ministry of Agriculture which is responsible for protecting agricultural lands in the land use planning process. The role of the Ministry of Agriculture in land use planning and management includes:
1) Developing policies and plans for agricultural land use and management.
2) Proposing interventions in the area of land use and management to the different local and international organizations for implementation.
3) Guiding and assisting the local organizations in implementing interventions and selecting beneficiaries.
4) Reviewing, evaluating and approving plans of land use.
5) Collecting and analyzing data and surveys for agricultural land use.
6) Providing extension services to farmers in agricultural land use.
The Water Authority is responsible for water resources development and protection. The responsibilities include monitoring, regulating and limiting activities that might affect ground water or surface water quality through environmental impacts assessment process. The water authority is also responsible for developing policies, regulations and plans for water resources development and protection. These plans and policies will have an impact on land uses and management. The use of marginal water including treated wastewater in agriculture is subject to PWA regulations and policies to ensure that the fate of contaminants included in treated wastewater will not reach groundwater resources.
The Environmental Quality Authority is responsible for developing plans, policies, regulations and projects with environmental impacts including solid waste management and wastewater disposal. The Environmental Quality Authority has been involved in developing plans and policies regarding desertification, drought management and sustainable land use.
The Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development is responsible for developing national development plans. Sector strategies and development plans are developed by the sector authority or Ministry and submitted to the Ministry of Planning to be considered in the overall national development plan.
It is important to note that the coordination among the governmental authorities is usually done per project or activity including developing plans, strategies, policies and regulations in aspects related to land use, land management and land protection.
In addition to the governmental bodies, there are several organizations and groups which have been active in land use and land management. These include:
1) Land Research Center: The land research center is active in implementing land development projects and in conducting studies and surveys regarding land and soils in the WBGS. The center has developed a geographic information system and a data base on land and soil classification and mapping. It has also collected data and information on land use and management and conducted spatial analysis using data from remote sensing
2) Applied Research Center of Jerusalem (ARIJ): This center has been involved in analyzing aerial photos, remote sensing data and other available information on land use especially those related to land degradation including loss of agricultural lands due to the expansion of Israeli settlements, separation wall, bypass roads, closed military areas, uprooting of trees and others. It also participated in research and survey studies in the areas of environment, biodiversity, agriculture and water.
3) The Palestinian Hydrology Group (PHG), the Palestinian Agricultural Relieve Committees (PARC), Agricultural Development Organization, Rural Women Development Society (RWDS) and others. These organizations and groups have been heavily involved in implementing projects in the field regarding land use and land management mainly for agricultural and rural development purposes. These groups sometimes work also in public awareness through providing training and information for people at the farm or at the household levels regarding sustainable use of land and natural resources. They also participate in studies needed for rural and agricultural development.
4) Universities and the research centers are involved in research activities regarding sustainable and optimal use of natural resources including land and water. They participate in training activities and developing appropriate technologies for implementation in the field level. In addition to that, researchers from the universities participate in developing plans, policies and regulations with relation to land use and management.
5) UAWC (Union of Agricultural Work Committees) implemented many projects in Gaza Strip and the West Bank. UAWC has a leading role in the fight against poverty and for sustainable development through its Seed Bank Project initiative. For this role, UWAC was among the winners of the Equator Prize 2014, announced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The award ceremony in New York was in the presence of more than 2 000 international and personal figures, with a number of presidents, ministers, kings, former senior representatives, artists and many other well-known figures.
Many international organizations have direct involvement in developing policies, strategies, plans and activities for socio-economic development in the WBGS. These activities have direct and indirect impacts on land use and land management. These organizations include:
1) The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO): FAO has offices in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Gaza to coordinate activities related to agricultural and rural development. FAO sponsored and implemented many projects in the area of agricultural development which have impacts on the use of land and its protection from degradation. The activities of FAO are usually coordinated with the Ministry of Agriculture. FAO also provided technical support to the Ministry of Agriculture in its activities especially those related to developing strategies, plans and policies in agriculture.
2) The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): UNDP remains active through its offices in Jerusalem and Ramallah financing and implementing field activities and projects in the areas of agricultural development, environment, water and rural development. It also supported the Palestinian Authority in developing strategies, policies and plans for agriculture, desertification, sustainable land use, water and environment.
3) The USAID through its Compete project and infrastructure development program sponsored projects in the areas of agricultural development, infrastructure development, water and environment. These activities have direct effects on land use.
4) ANERA, OXFAM, GIZ, CARE, International Red Cross and others have been implementing projects in the water, environment and agricultural sectors which also have effects on land use and land planning.
Various organizations and institutions are involved in the development of natural resources that includes land and water use and planning. The Palestinian Ministries and authorities are responsible for developing plans and policies in addition to regulating the use and management of these resources. International organizations are supporting the Palestinian government in developing these policies and plans. They are also providing funding to the local institutions in implementing interventions.
3.15 Knowledge Management
Agriculture has been an old tradition practiced for several thousand years in historical Palestine. Up to now, rain fed lands are called “Baeli” land in reference to “Bael” the god of rain for the Canaanites who built agricultural communities which inhibited historical Palestine more than three thousand years ago. The long history of agriculture in historical Palestine resulted in a rich indigenous agricultural and land use knowledge.
Considering the location of historical Palestine at the cross roads of ancient civilizations and in the heart of the Middle East, many civilizations and peoples have occupied the area. This resulted in further enhancement of the culture and the indigenous knowledge of people in the area of agriculture and land use management. This resulted in improving the knowledge regarding the types of crops planted, the practices in agricultural production, water conservation practices, terracing, water harvesting and different aspects of land use planning and management. Up to now, many olive farms are known as Roman olives indicating that the trees were either planted at the time of the Romans or from varieties brought to the area by the Romans. There are very old cisterns and terraces which are still operational in the West Bank. Remains of old irrigation structures and old structures for wheat grinding mills operated by hydraulic turbines are still found in the area.
The indigenous knowledge of the Palestinian society in land use planning and management have been inherited through generations. No actual documentation is available for the indigenous knowledge which is common among most societies and cultures.
More recently, the indigenous knowledge has been enriched by the modern innovations, research and learning. Since the time of the Jordanians, agricultural education was brought into the educational system in primary and secondary schools in the West Bank. Community colleges and universities started agricultural education and providing extension service workers who assisted the farmers in improving their agricultural practices and improving land management to maximize production.
With the establishment of agricultural extension services at the different offices of the department of agriculture in the main cities and towns of the WBGS, the scientific knowledge combined with indigenous knowledge is documented using published materials, books, pamphlets and leaflets to assist land users in improving the management of their lands. More recently, the information is documented using web services.
The establishment of agricultural programs in the universities and agricultural research centers in the WBGS encouraged local research to develop practices for agricultural water and land management suitable to local, environmental and socio-economic conditions. The universities and research centers assisted in transferring of technology and adaptation of improved cultural practices in land use and water use. Local research has an important role in developing relevant practices and cultures of land and water use including treated wastewater reuse, composting, organic agriculture, desertification, drought management and optimization of land use and water management.
Knowledge cannot be separated from data concerning land use and management. The PCBS is the main institution responsible for publishing the data. Thus, data collected by the Ministry of Agriculture is published by the PCBS either through its periodic books and publications or at its website.
The use of geographic information systems is being introduced at the Ministry of Agriculture and other organizations to present land use and land information data. Although data is being collected and analyzed by several groups and organizations, the efforts in verifying the data are still small, resulting in conflicting data as discussed earlier.
Documenting in local knowledge (approaches and technologies) used for land use planning and management enhances effective sharing of experience and lessons learnt from projects and programs implemented in the WBGS. The approaches and tools used by various actors for evaluating, classifying and planning land have to be evaluated for cost effectiveness, environmental and socioeconomic impact. Tools that have recorded wider applicability and adaptability need to be identified for managing knowledge (data and information) using information communication technology.
CHAPTER 4.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
4.1 Land Tenure Conclusions
The land tenure system is currently operating with ambiguous, complex and inconsistent laws, fragmented institutional arrangements, weak institutions and inadequate judiciary systems to deal with land disputes. There is need to improve the governance of land tenure systems in line with the best practices and principles of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT). However, some efforts / initiatives have been made to improve land governance, but it is still premature within the current context of protracted crisis.
Access to land is better regulated than its use. The rules, processes and structures through which decisions are made about the use of land as well as the manners in which decisions are implemented and enforced are less developed than those concerning land regulations.
Land registrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were attempted during the Jordanian and Egyptian administrations respectively between 1948 and 1967. During that period 98 percent of land parcels in Gaza were registered but only 30 percent of the West Bank area was surveyed and registered.
During the Israeli occupation, and up to 2007, the only formal registration process was conducted through sporadic registration. During that time and up-till now another 15 percent (nearly) were registered, thus only 40 percent of the West Bank lands had been registered officially. However, about two thirds of registered lands are located in area C, these lands are about 26 percent of the total area of the West Bank, and this leaves only 14 percent of the West Bank as registered land and located under Palestinian control.
Most land regulations are based on legislations, emphasizing centralized control, the land dispute resolution system is mostly informal. The reconciliation or what is known as “Sulh” process is the most prevalent method of the informal dispute resolution mechanism throughout the WBGS. The process relies on unwritten customary traditional practice known as “Urf” and is not linked with the formal procedures of arbitration.
Consolidation of existing laws has been underway since 1995 when the PA assumed power over its legal system; however, up to now land laws have not been fully consolidated.
Land policies had been formulated during Land Administration Project I (LAPI) – 2008, with an objective to address the fundamental needs of the Palestinian people in securing property ownership rights, livelihoods and socioeconomic development (economic growth, poverty reduction).
Registration procedures are cumbersome, costly and time consuming due to the extensive bureaucratic procedures, limited staff capacity and poorly equipped offices for such an important mandate. Registration procedures are affected by the absence of reliable, secure and partially computerized land information system to store, protect and process land related information. This situation is undermining the good governance principles of the tenure rights of vulnerable people including women and absentees.
Currently, the revenues generated by the Palestinian Land Authority (PLA) highly exceed expenditures. It is therefore proposed that the PLA shall be a self-financing institution in order to have sufficient flexibility to appropriately establish and maintain an efficient land administration system.
Land transactions in the WBGS have not been fully recorded and consequently, the registration records do not reflect current land ownership. The resulting land market with high percentage of land related disputes is leading to opportunistic investment and inappropriate land use.
4.2 Land use Planning and Management Conclusions
Land use planning and administration functions are often institutionally fragmented and isolated from other economic sectors.
While reviewing existing land use plans, policies and strategies in the WBGS, it was observed that the most restricting factors are related to Israeli occupation and its practices of limiting Palestinian access to their land and water. These political constraints remain the biggest obstacles for developing natural resources and land resources in a way which will allow the Palestinians achieve their development goals.
Although the Palestinian Authority was established in 1995, but still it has control over less than 40% of the West Bank limiting its ability to develop and implement national land use and management plans. Land use changes have been regulated by the Upper Planning Council and its regional planning committees in accordance of Cities, Villages and Buildings Law of 1966. The delay in transferring authority over land and the inability of reaching political agreement hindered developing national land use plans. The deterioration of the political and security situation resulted in land use changes without prior planning and approval during the period from 2000 to 2008 (during the Intifada). The reforms and the restructuring of the Palestinian institutions towards building a state encouraged improving the administration of land use planning and management. This could be seen from the periodic updates and development of national development plans for different sectors including water, agriculture, environment, economics and housing. Planning for land use became evident in developing, adopting the National Spatial Plan for the protection of agricultural lands in 2012 and its amendment in 2014. Thus, planning of land use is a new process which has started only recently with a limited authority in implementing such plans due to the existing political constraints.
In addition to the political constraints, many physical, environmental, technical, institutional, legal and administrative constraints were observed requiring the strengthening of the capacity of local institutions in developing and implementing effective and sustainable land development plans and policies.
Land use data is available at different sources but gathered and documented using different methods and different classification methods, resulting in data inconsistency. Agricultural land use data is being collected by the Ministry of Agriculture and published by Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Data collection and documentation was not followed by data verification. Existing information about agricultural land uses showed fluctuations in areas planted by vegetables and field crops depending on rainfall, water availability and seasonality. General trends in land use showed also an increase in urbanization due to the population growth threatening fertile agricultural lands. In agricultural practices, it was observed that there is an increasing trend towards crops and practices that provide higher economic returns such as palm trees and tropical fruits instead of citrus trees; more production of vegetables under protected agricultural conditions and a move towards medical plants and herbs especially for irrigated agriculture; while olive cultivation is still dominating under rain fed agriculture.
Land degradation forms include soil erosion by water and wind; salinization of soil in the Jordan Valley; soil contamination by agro-chemicals, disposal of untreated or partially treated wastewater and solid waste disposal; loss of biodiversity; overgrazing; decline of soil fertility and loss of fertile land by urbanization. However, information and data available on land degradation is mostly descriptive without a system to measure, assess, evaluate and monitor land degradation.
Land has been classified into three grades: high value, medium value and low value according to its agricultural, aesthetic, biodiversity and archeological values. The Palestinian Authority recently adopted a national spatial plan to protect lands graded as high value according to this classification. The implementation of this national plan has encountered political and economic constraints.
Depletion and degradation of natural resources including land and water are more severe in the Gaza Strip due to the high population density and the serious political and economic constraints imposed on the strip. The war, the siege, the closed areas and the poor infrastructure are severely impacting the very limited and few natural resources available for the population there.
Water is the most limiting factor for agricultural production in the WBGS. However, considerable achievements have been recorded in soil and water conservation, construction of cisterns for water harvesting, rehabilitation of irrigation wells and systems, and construction of terraces. There is a potential for water harvesting at the macro scale through construction of dams and large earth ponds. There is also a high potential to reuse treated wastewater in agriculture. Only few activities have been implemented due to the prevailing political conflicts.
Soils in the WBGS are generally characterized as basic soils with pH 7 to 8, high calcium carbonate contents and low organic matter content. Soils with high clay contents such as Terrarossas and Rendzinas are usually productive provided they have sufficient depth and are free from stones and rocks at the surface. These soils have high fertility and high water retention capacities and are suitable for rain fed cultivation of fruit trees, field crops and vegetables. Grumusols in the plains of the West Bank are heavy and deep with high fertility and water holding capacity. These soils are suitable for rain fed field crops and vegetables. Loessial, arid brown and sandy dunes usually have low fertility and low water retention capacity. These soils can be productive if irrigation water is available.
Land development projects succeeded in rehabilitating and reclaiming about 85 km2 of land during the past 15 years by different governmental, non-governmental and international organizations. The rehabilitation and reclamation activities involved heavy and light reclamation that included: removing rocks, construction of terraces, building retaining walls, construction of cisterns for water harvesting and planting fruit trees. These activities assisted in improving food security and reducing the poverty of vulnerable rural communities. However, the activities were not mainstreamed with the national plan for land development and only remained effective on the micro level. At the same time, the lack of a system to monitor/asses land degradation made it impossible to quantify the impacts of interventions on reducing land degradation.
Many studies were conducted in watershed management. Many of these studies were directed towards optimal management and allocation of water resources, socio-economic development, and infrastructure development for the water and wastewater systems, environmental degradation and sanitation improvement. The watershed management activities have concentrated on studies and research instead of completing actual interventions. Interventions concentrated on improving the sanitation and water supply systems at some watersheds.
Sustainable management of land resources has been addressed through interventions that include integrated pest management, organic farming, utilizing of organic fertilizers and compost, crop rotations system, reforestation, rehabilitation of water infrastructure, water harvesting, improving and encouraging the use of marginal water in agriculture, selecting crops tolerant to drought and salinity, adopting efficient irrigation techniques and practices to optimize the utilization of scarce water resources and developing policies for sustainable land management.
The Palestinian Authority adopted environmental, agricultural and water strategies and policies to encourage sustainable use of natural resources, improving water availability, and conserving water and land resources. A climate adaptation strategy has also been developed which identified measures relevant to land use planning and land management such as increasing local rainfall interception capacity, water harvesting and utilizing marginal water in agriculture. The environmental law and the environmental strategy encouraged the adaptation of policies and strategies to protect natural resources including land and water, conserve biodiversity and protect land from degradation. All activities, projects and programs that will have negative environmental impacts are required to conduct environmental impacts assessment to mitigate their effects on the environment.
Many projects that are either completed or ongoing have helped to tackle land use, land degradation and land management problems in one way or the other, in spite of the fact that, the projects were designed to serve socio-economic and environmental purposes; while proper land management and planning is not the primary purpose of the projects. Universities, research and training centers have conducted research in land use and land management. They also provide training and education contributing to improving the local indigenous knowledge in land use and land management. The Ministry of Agriculture is a key player in providing extension services to the farmers for land use and land management. Local non-governmental organizations are very active in conducting field studies and interventions in land use and land management. However, the documentation of the local knowledge is fragmented and localized in the institutions including governmental and non-governmental institutions that have undertaken the work.
There is a large number of local and international institutions involved in land use, planning and management. Governmental institutions are expected to lead the institutions for carrying out land use and land management activities and interventions. Similarly, they are responsible for regulating the different sectors involved in land use planning and developing policies and strategies. The coordination among these institutions enabled developing the national spatial plan that maps land with high agricultural, archeological, aesthetic and biodiversity values which is protected from urbanization. Changing the use of land requires approval by planning councils in which several ministries and authorities are represented to minimize negative impacts on natural resources and to protect agricultural land. Women play important role in the agricultural labor force, however their role in land use planning and management and decision making is limited. Their role has been restricted by local traditions that denied them many of their legal and tenure rights. Public awareness regarding women’s rights in owning and managing land is essential in encouraging gender equality in decision making and ownership.
4.3 Recommendations
I) Improved Land and Territorial Governance: implementing these recommendations requires inter-sectorial collaboration of several entities and authorities or application to the entire natural resources sector. These recommendations include:
A. Institutional and Policy Support
· Stimulate the operation of the National Land Council to ensure more efficient management of land administration, management and land use planning.
· The National Spatial Plan to be applied for the protection of lands with high agricultural, aesthetic and biodiversity values from urbanization. Need to enhance the national spatial plan in protecting lands with high agricultural value and addressing the concerns of the private sector to abide by the plan
· Periodically prepare and adopt a development strategy for land use planning and management.
· Encourage inter-sectorial planning to reduce degradation and improve land productivity with emphasis on harmonizing and combining agricultural and water strategies and policies.
· Improve the coordination among governmental, non-governmental and international institutions in all activities related to land use and management.
· Gender equality objectives should be clearly integrated/be part on the agenda for all land development activities.
· Adopt and implement good governance approaches for land use planning and management including transparency and decentralization options.
· Evaluate different approaches in institutional coordination for the planning and implementation of activities and interventions.
· Develop strategies for harmonization of efforts, collaboration and alignment of stakeholders that leads to effective implementation of land use plans and SLM.
· Adopt comprehensive and integrated detailed national plans and policies for land development to guide and direct all activities and interventions in this field.
· Enhance planning and implementation of activities and interventions in land development, land protection, land reclamation, protection of biodiversity, reforestation and natural vegetation cover.
· Support and encourage macro and micro scale water harvesting and storage, and enhance the introduction of sustainable land management programs.
· Support intensive and efficient use of limited resources (land and water), recycling and reuse of waste.
· Strengthen interventions to combat desertification, adapting mechanisms to climate change, mitigation of climate change effects, adopting friendly and green agro-techniques to optimize water utilization in a sustainable manner
· Continue international support to governmental organizations in developing and harmonizing strategies, policies and plans related to land use and management.
B. Legal Support
· Establish specialized land courts and improve capacity in solving land related disputes in timely manners.
· Promote public awareness on women’s legal rights in owning, using and managing land, as well as fostering affordable and accessible mechanisms so that women can claim their rights
· Enhance implementation and enforcement of environmental law in aspects related to land use and management.
· Land with common ownership among several individuals or groups must be addressed among the owners to facilitate zoning, planning and other land use and management decisions.
C. Physical Infrastructure
· Urgent reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure destroyed through the recent crisis in Gaza.
· Strengthen the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure including irrigation wells, irrigation systems and water distribution networks. There is a need to complete harvesting projects at a larger level by constructing dams and earth ponds to collect runoff water for agricultural use and groundwater recharge. Also needed is the construction of seasonal storage structures to store treated wastewater in winter combined with rainfall –runoff for reuse in summer
D. Overall Capacity Development (including raising awareness)
· Improve capacities in research, public awareness, governance and private sector involvement.
· Improve human and institutional capacities in developing plans, policies and strategies in areas of land use and planning in a participatory and gender equitable way
· Raise local public awareness, buy-in and capacities towards adopting and implementing the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) approach.
E. Land Tenure / Land Administration: Specific set of proposal for one area including:
· There is a need to conduct a comprehensive review and gap analysis of the regulatory framework related to land tenure and registration.
· Registration, zoning and planning processes need to be consistent.
· Strengthen the registration of unregistered land parcels to facilitate zoning, planning and other land use and management decisions.
· To support the above-mentioned corrective and preventive measures, local and national public awareness and outreach programs should be implemented in parallel with any land related project to inform the people about the process, educate them about their rights and benefits with special focus on women and marginalize people. In addition, special attention should be given to education and informative meetings to the public in the field of land administration.
· Improve human and institutional capacities in legal and land administration.
· The PLA and the MOF should co-ordinate their valuation processes so as to ensure a single valuation process and methodology for all PA institutions.
F. Land and Water Use / Management: This is a specific set of proposals for one area such as land degradation and land cover in addition to the local/sectorial level of land use planning:
· Develop unified systems of land classification and land use
· Assess, quantify and document land degradation
· Continue the support for the current activities in the area of protecting land from degradation including interventions in the areas of land reclamation (constructing of terraces), use of organic fertilizers, zoning (the national spatial plan), protection of biodiversity, combatting desertification programs, improving management of water and fertilizers, afforestation and proper rangeland management
· Activities in the areas of wastewater collection, treatment and reuse, solid waste collection and disposal should be supported and continued to assist in reducing land degradation.
· Considering the importance of groundwater sources and aquifers, there is a need to consider ground water pollution vulnerability in land development. Activities on these sensitive lands should be restricted and monitored to protect groundwater aquifers from contamination.
· Evaluate and document local land management practices for up scaling SLM
· Develop a comprehensive land and soils information system that is responsible for data collection, continuous monitoring, and verification of data and information on land use planning, land degradation, land classification and soil mapping.
· Enhance and coordinate the role of local universities and research institutions
· Stimulate research to address local needs and fill the gaps in soil erosion by wind and water, brackish water use, treated wastewater reuse, drought management and adaptation to climate change.
· Encourage the involvement of the private sector in land use planning and programs that aim to combat land degradation through public-private sector partnerships.
· The dialogue and analysis concerning land degradation and its impacts should be based on more quantitative than qualitative data and information.
· Develop strategy for scaling up sustainable land management practices.
· Strategies and actions for minimizing the risk of land fragmentation and protecting arable lands from urbanization
· Adopt watershed management and eco-system approaches and plans for the different watersheds in the WBGS. In particular:
1) Improving the existing water and wastewater infrastructure through rehabilitation of existing systems and establishing new systems to convey and distribute water.
2) Constructing and implementing wastewater collection, treatment and reuse systems in order to reduce environmental degradation. The reuse of treated wastewater is essential in improving the socio-economic conditions of the localities within the watersheds.
3) Solid waste collection and disposal systems are also of high importance in achieving efficient and sustainable integrated watershed management.
4) Effective activities to enhance water supplies in the watershed include water harvesting and artificial recharge of groundwater. The activities implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Palestinian Water Authority in building retention dams and earth ponds to harvest runoff water and recharge ground water aquifers in Wadis will have a good potential in reducing water shortages.
5) There is a need to emphasize integrated watershed management regardless of the administrative boundaries among localities and governorates.
6) Emphasis should be on conducting studies to plan interventions for improving the existing situation in the watersheds
Specific Capacity Development:
· Improve capacity and enabling environment in collection, unification and verification of data, to improve the quality of information collected and documented in land use and land degradation. The institutional capacity in monitoring and quantifying land degradation should also be improved and enhanced. Field studies to monitor, measure and assess land degradation including soil erosion by water and wind should be supported and encouraged
· providing the Ministry of Agriculture with the tools (suitable computer hardware and software) in addition to periodic information (aerial maps, photos and satellite images) is essential to establish a reliable data base on land use
· Address the issue land development and land use planning in a way it becomes more attractive to funding sources.
· The institutional capacities in the design, construction and operation of water harvesting, especially dams and treated wastewater reuse projects should be enhanced and improved.
· improve water availability for agriculture and thus improve the sustainability and profitability of agriculture
References
1. Alkhouri, S. (2012). Monitoring of Land Condition in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (2000 – 2010), Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza, University of Lleida, Zaragoza, Spain.
2. Almasri, Mohammad, 2006. Regional assessment of Groundwater vulnerability to contamination in Gaza Strip: UNESCO/Flanders FIT project. Water and Environmental Studies Institute, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
3. ARIJ, 1995. Environmental Profile for the West Bank. Bethlehem, Palestine.ARIJ, 2006a. Analysis of Urban trends and land use changes in the Gaza Strip between 2001 – 2005.
4. ARIJ, 2006b. Forests in Palestine.
5. Dudeen B, 2001. The soil s of Palestine (The West Bank and Gaza Strip) current status and future perspectives. In: Zdruli P. (ed.), Steduto P. (ed.), Lacirignola C. (ed.), Montanarella L. (ed.). Soil Resources of Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries. Bari: CIHEAM, 2001. p. 203-225 (Options Méditerranéennes: Série B. Etudes et Recherches; n. 34).
6. Environnemental Quality Authority (EQA), 1999. The Palestinian Environmental Law.
7. Environmental Quality Authority (EQA), 2004. The Fara’a and Jerash Integrated Watershed Management Project: Al-Fara’a Baseline Report.
8. Environmental Quality Authority (EQA), 2012. The National Strategy, Action Programme and Integrated Financing Strategy to Combat Desertification in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
9. FAO, 2012. Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, Rome 2012.
10. Jong, J.; Mizyed, N.; Abu Qaoud, H’; Islah, J.; Hijawi, T. and Issa Samander, 2012. Palestinian Land Development Needs Assessment. Unpublished report compiled by a Purpose Needs Assessment Team commissioned by a Consortium of European Palestinian Land Development Program Donors. Ramallah, September 2012.
11. Italtrend, 2006. Review and cost benefit analysis of ongoing land development approaches and methods in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Final report for EU Contract Number 01-RFS-REG 709/9
12. LRC, 2007. LAND DEGRADATION IN PALESTINE: Main Factors, Present Status and Trends, Recommended Actions.
13. LRC, 2010. Land Suitability for Reclamation and Development in the West Bank.
14. Ministry of Agriculture (MOA, 2003a). Agriculture Law No. 2.
15. Ministry of Agriculture, 2003b. Guidelines for Treated Wastewater Reuse in Agriculture. Palestine Ministry of Agriculture, Ramallah, Palestine (in Arabic).
16. Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), 2011. National Agriculture Sector Strategy, “Shared vision strategy” 2011 – 2013.Ramallah, Palestine
17. Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), 2014a. National Agriculture Sector Strategy, “Resilience and Development” 2014 – 2016. Ramallah, Palestine
18. Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), 2014b. GIS Department of the Ministry of Agriculture. Ramallah, Palestine.
19. Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), 2012. Annual Rainfall Report 2011/2012. Ramallah, Palestine.
20. Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development, 2010. Administrative Development National Strategy.
21. Ministry of Planning and Administrative Development, 2014. National Development Plan 2014-2016: State Building to Sovereignty.
22. MUSAWA (Palestinian Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal profession), 2010. The first Legal Observatory for the Situation of justice in Palestine, MUSAWA, May 2010
23. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2008. Land Use Statistics in the Palestinian Territory, 2007. Ramallah, Palestine.
24. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2009a. Land Use Statistics in the Palestinian Territory, 2008. Ramallah, Palestine.
25. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2009b. Agricultural Statistics, 2007/2008. Ramallah-Palestine
26. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2012. Palestinian Agricultural Atlas-2012. Book 1939. Ramallah Palestine.
27. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2011. Agricultural Census 2010. Ramallah-Palestine.
28. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2014. Official website: http://www.pcbs.gov.ps. Ramallah-Palestine
29. Palestinian Authority (PA), 2010. Homestretch to freedom (the Second Year of the 13th government Programme Palestine: Ending the Occupation: Establishing the State).
30. Palestine Standards Institute (PSI), 2003. Treated Wastewater, Palestine Standard No. 2003-742. Palestine Standards Institute, Ramallah, Palestine.
31. Palestine Standards Institute (PSI), 2012. Technical Obligatory Guidelines for Treated Wastewater Reuse (PSI 34-2012). Palestine Standards Institute, Ramallah, Palestine.
32. Palestinian Water Authority, 2012. Water Supply Report-2010.
33. Palestinian Water Authority, 2013. Status Report on water resources in the occupied state of Palestine-2012.
34. UNDP, 2005. Millennium Development Goals: Occupied Palestinian Territory 2005 Progress Report. Prepared by: Palestinian National MDG Steering Committee
35. UNDP, 2009. Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Annex 1. Terms of Reference
National Consultant “Expert on Land Tenure, Management and Use Planning”
Under the overall guidance and supervision of the FAO Head of office in the WBGS, the direct supervision of FAO Head of Programme, the technical guidance of the Lead Technical Unit (NRL) and TCE in Rome and the Lead Technical Officer (LTO) in RNE, and in consultation with the Deputy Project Manager and collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including designated national focal persons in the Ministry of Agriculture, and the managing team that will be constituted from Land Authority, Water Authority, Environmental Quality Authority, etc., the consultant will undertake assessment on the Status of Land Tenure, Use Planning and Management in WBGS in accordance with the TOR given below and to achieve the objective stated:
Objective:
To undertake assessment on the Status of Land Tenure, Planning and Management in WBGS, develop a project concept note and fully fledged project proposal; that will support national Land policies, action plans, strategies and programs in the governance of land tenure and sustainable land management. The assessment is exclusively technical and is not linked to political context.
Methods, tools and materials:
The consultant will pursue the methods below for conducting the assessment; these shall, among others, include;
1. Meetings with government and other stakeholders’ (NGOs, civil societies, Associations/ cooperatives) technical officers and managers responsible for and working on land and natural resources including environment
2. Prepare questionnaires /check list / and other pertinent assessment tools to be reviewed and approved before the commencement of the assessment
3. Field level observations on key areas and major land uses and management activities and systems
4. Visiting offices to explore the availability of the needed information for the assessment (documentation, records and spatial information) Identification of relevant technical and strategic matters to be considered in the assessment
5. Use the most up-to-date statistical data analysis method wherever this may be needed
6. Identification of technical and strategic areas to be assessed in relation to the subject
7. Conduct consultation meetings to explore the interests of stakeholder and partner institutions seeking their advice for project ideas to be developed based on the recommendations of the assessment.
8. Interact with other consultant(s) involved in the study, and consolidate and integrate their inputs in the overall report, and in the full-fledged project document.
General Description of task(s) and objectives to be achieved:
The consultant will specifically accomplish the following:
Preparatory work (home-based):
· Review studies conducted before, which could among others include research papers, policy documents, legislations, laws planning and a progress reports from relevant Authorities
· Review of literature; from external sources, which includes scientific research products and documents, published articles from universities and research centers, journals, etc.
- Identification of relevant technical and strategic matters to be considered in the assessment
- Identification of legal and policy aspects to be included in the study
Data collection, field observation and meetings with stakeholders:
Part 1: Land tenure
· Review studies conducted before, which could among others include research papers, policy documents, legislations, laws planning and a progress reports from relevant Authorities
· Review of literature; from external sources, which includes scientific research products and documents, published articles from universities and research centres, journals, etc.
- Identification of relevant technical and strategic matters to be considered in the assessment
- Identification of legal and policy aspects to be included in the study
- Write up a high quality report (around 3 pages in English) capturing the following topics:
§ Review of studies conducted before, which could among others include research papers, policy documents, legislations, laws …… and review of literature;
§ Inventory of pilot activities, projects and programs implemented on land tenure during the last 10 years;
§ The land tenure systems in place (ownership, property and entitlement);
§ Legal framework and institutional arrangements that exist;
§ Overview of land registration and certification systems in the various tenure periods (Ottoman, British, Jordan, Israeli, and PA);
§ Institutional linkages and coordination between stakeholders and actors on land and natural resources management;
§ Policies and strategies related to land tenure use and management (environment, water, land, forests and other natural resources);
§ Gender issues in land tenure governance;
§ Land use in relation to tenure for different livelihoods groups;
§ Land fragmentation and its effects (investment, agricultural production and food production;
§ Land markets: challenges and opportunities;
§ Institutional, governance, technical, management, capacity and related issues in land tenure
§ Mechanisms for mainstreaming the VGGT in land tenure governance and the related policies;
§ Conclusions, policy recommendations and planning implications;
Part 2: Land use planning and management
1) Land use
· Current land uses (cultivated lands under rain fed and irrigation, forests, rangelands, wetlands, lakes and rivers, protected areas, land use by Bedouins, etc.).
· The extent and changes over the last 10 years.
· This should include an overview of the status of the resources in regard to its management.
· The extent of land under each of the main uses and management types
2) Land degradation
· The extent and degree of land degradation over the entire area.
· Land degradation types and the causes and effects.
· Level of conservation /management or ii) undergoing restoration/rehabilitation- through specific interventions).
· This should be supported by maps wherever information is available.
3) Land classification based on the potentials (values)
· By reviewing information from the National Spatial Planning: assess the linkages between the land classification system in view of planning and prioritizing actions for sustainable land use planning and management.
· Assess the degree of prevalence and the policies related to competition of other land uses with lands suitable for agriculture.
· Asses and analyze the dynamics of land cover changes and the current status of land cover /use (forests, rangelands, degraded lands…….) vis a vis the National Spatial Planning.
· Map land potentials based on land valuation system of the National Spatial Planning. Assess the challenges and opportunities of the classification and propose recommendations for tackling the challenges identified.
4) Soil and water conservation / water harvesting
Assess the different soil and water conservation measures, afforestation and rangeland management.
List and briefly provide effectiveness of different water harvesting measures practiced by land users and projects and programs supported by NGOs, government and other actors
Use of the various inputs for agricultural in view of sustainable land management and environmental impact which includes use of treated waste water, pesticides and other agro chemicals vis a vis the extent of use of biological measures (organic fertilizers, agroforestry, nitrogen fixing species, compost, and agronomic measures, etc.).
5) Soil quality and fertility improvement measures
Assess the various biological and physical land productivity measures applied by land users for soil quality improvement and fertility enhancement.
What are the major soil units? Use the soils map that could be available from the pertinent organizations (agricultural authority, research, universities). What are the major challenges and opportunities of the major soil units?
6) Land rehabilitation, restoration and reclamation
Asses the various land restoration / reclamation and rehabilitation activities and approaches undertaken by individual land users and groups /community in (salt affected lands, severely degraded areas, slope stabilization measures, declining soil fertility, soil pollution, deforestation, land use in marginal lands and degraded areas implemented over the past 2 decades with or without support by (authorities, NGOs and development partners) and assess the socioeconomic and environmental sustainability of these measures
7) Watershed management
An overview of previous and recent activities in and processes in watershed management/territorial planning at the different levels (national, governorates and community) and the extent of their implementation and identify constraints and the good lessons learnt in this regard.
8) Sustainable land management practices
Provide list of the major land management practices (traditional/local practices, introduced technologies, innovations and interventions) and identify successful land use and management practices. Special attention should be given to technologies and approaches and institutional dimensions (whether these are supported by policy/legislation/strategy, national plan/program).
Causes and effects of various soil fertility degradation types and assess the various methods and technologies used by projects and the extension service for improving land productivity for various agricultural production (crop, horticulture, fruit trees, livestock production). Map areas affected by soil salinity and assess the strategies for reclaiming salt affected soils and saline water
9) Review of policies and strategies
Existing policies and legislation, strategies, laws / byelaws, action plans for land use planning and management. Based on this indicate issues that need harmonization within these and provide policy recommendations for sustainable management of natural resources
10) Projects, programs, research and extension
Undertake inventory of, projects and programs implemented by NGOs, civil societies /or local/community based efforts and with what level of inputs and Knowledge.
Take inventory of major land management based research activities conducted by various actors.
Assesses the extension services provided by various actors to land users in sustainable land management
The lessons learnt (success or failures) observed /documented of major projects and programs piloted or implemented in land use planning and management
11) Institutional linkages and coordination
Assess the current status of institutional linkages among organizations working on land. Identify strengths, weaknesses, gaps and differences observed in the coordination and linkages. Provide recommendations for improving coordination, linkages and harmonization of efforts for better delivery of services to land users and indicate where synergies among actors will be required
12) Environmental policies, laws and regulations
The existing environmental policies relevant to and supporting land management (soils, forests, biodiversity etc.). To what extent are these laws being implemented and do support development activities. Assess the main gaps and complementarities with the other polices on land. What are issues that need harmonization among these policies?
13) Gender
Assess the extent at which gender is mainstreamed in projects, programs, policies and strategies related to land use planning and management. List the gaps observed and recommend areas where these could be improved or addressed
14) Stakeholders and partners analysis
Identify stakeholders and partner institutions engaged in land restoration / reclamation and rehabilitation activities; the institutional linkages and collaboration in planning and implementation. Take inventory of major activities piloted or scaled up by these: the technical, social and economic sustainability of the interventions.
15) Knowledge management
Identify and examine tools for documenting best practices in land use and management
Give recommendations for systematic documentation needs and the tools that will be best for the situation in WBGS (knowledge management tools
16) Recommendations and conclusions
Recommendations on the ways and means to address the key land management, land use/territorial planning and land policy issues, constraints and opportunities that have been identified in view of sustainable management and planning of land resources (soil, water, rangelands vegetation) and ecosystems
Based on the above, collect information and data that from sources that include various institutions and observations in the field, visit projects and programs in land tenure and land use planning currently under implementation at pilot level as well as at other levels (extension services and programs).
Analyzing data and information collected and draft write up writing up:
· Analyze the data and information collocated from various sources
· Validate data and information collected from various sources and check for quality, consistency and clarity
· Use the most update data and information analysis tools and methods
· Translate analytical findings to draw conclusion and recommendations needed which are explained in the TOR above
· Draft the assessment document in accordance with the contents / outlines proposed
· Submit for the FAO Office WBGS for circulation for comments and additional inputs that may come based on the TOR
· Prepare review workshop in collaboration with FWBGS and the focal Authorities.
· Revise the draft document to incorporate comments from the review meetings and suggestions and inputs to be provided from concerned officers from government institutions and the FAO officers at different levels. and submit a revised acceptable project document
Data / information gap filling and incorporation of comments and additional inputs from the review meeting and the subject officers and identification of projects on the basis of recommendations from sector institutes of land
Incorporate all comments in the documents that come from the stakeholder institutions in their appropriate places and further analyze additional suggestions made by the participants to enrich the quality of the TOR
Edit and re-edit the documents according to the inputs received from officers who provide technical backstopping to the work and the comments that will be received from technical subject specialists of FAO offices (HQ and RNE)
Prepare the final document in accordance to the comments, inputs and additional suggestions received and check for consistency and clarity of the data and information in the document
Identification of projects on the basis of recommendations from sector institutes of land and on the most critical problems that need immediate interventions related to land tenure and use planning and management
Prepare TOR for the proposed project
Submit the reviewed and edited version of the document for approval to FAOWBGS office
Project appraisal on the identified project ideas / areas
Prepare project concept notes preferably on i) improving land tenure governance and mainstreaming the Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Tenure Governance of Land, forests and fisheries (to be drafted by another national consultant specialized in lad tenure) ii) l participatory local land use planning iii) use of WOCAT –LADA tools for documenting land management practices, screening the good and scaling up
Prepare fully fledge project proposal
Details of the TOR of the project proposal shall be prepared following the identification of project ideas
ANNEX 2: Provisions of National Spatial Plan
Palestinian National Authority
التخطيـط الوطنـي المكانـي
National Spatial Plan
Provisions of the National Plan to Protect Natural Resources and Historical Monuments
First: it is depended on the way of land use as it has been set out in the National Protection Plan. Taking into consideration what has been mentioned in the ninth item which is not to change the way of land use but under the decision of the Council of Ministers in this regard.
Secondly: For the purposes of the implementation of these provisions, lands are Classified in terms of their suitability for cultivation as shown in the plan to the following areas:
a- High -valued agricultural lands which are flat lands and characterized by their validity for agriculture, besides they are appropriate for most types of agriculture.
b- Medium- valued agricultural lands which are semi-flat lands and appropriate for all types of agriculture and serve well for the purposes of tree farming.
c- Forests, areas of planted forest trees as mentioned in the National Protection Plan and areas classified as forests, whether planted or not, whether public or private ownership.
d- Areas of landscape: areas of natural aesthetic value.
e- Areas of biodiversity: natural areas that contain extraordinary land for plant or animal life.
Thirdly: High- valued Agricultural areas which are referred to on the plan in green and areas of high landscape value are allowed to be used for all types of agricultural purposes, nurseries of trees, flowers and vegetables, planting trees and field crops and protected cultivation in plastic and glass houses.
Fourthly: Medium-valued agricultural areas which are referred to on the plan in light green are allowed to be used for the following purposes, subjected to the approval of the concerned authorities;
1- Preparing and processing, classifying and packaging of agricultural items and preparing it for human and animal consumption.
2- Various kinds of agriculture.
3- Nurseries of trees and flowers
4- Agricultural Services Centre.
5- Collection and storage centres of agricultural products.
6- Temporary Agricultural Experiment Stations.
7- Protected agricultural plastic and glass houses.
8- Agricultural Associations.
9- Livestock and poultry barns to be far away from the closest residential community-based or organized by a space of not less than (500) meters according to the regulations prescribed for this purpose.
10- Slaughterhouses of poultry and livestock.
11- Olive Presses.
12- Water tanks, treatment stations and drinking water purification.
13- Pumping stations and transferring of drinking water and wastewater.
14- Allowing the establishment of residential buildings in accordance with applicable legislation in this regard.
15- Temporary housing units.
16- Residential Projects.
17- Tourism Projects.
18- Expansion of Urban Areas when necessary.
19- Stations and buildings of telecommunications.
20- Fire Station (Centre for Civil Defence).
21- Public Services Unit.
22- Power stations and electric transmission and distribution.
23- Gas Stations.
24- Excavations of gas, transferring and distributing it in addition to the excavations of oil wells.
25- Mining of natural resources of economic value according to the Environmental Impact Assessment System.
26- Establish light and medium industries organized by a space of not less than (500) meters, in addition to organizing its’ uses, solving the problem of waste water in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment.
27- Playgrounds, Parks and Recreational Centres.
28- Construction of roads and streets of all kinds in these areas according to the requirements of public interest.
Fifthly: Prevent deforestation and forest areas or part of them which are referred to on the plan in dark green or those which will be developed later to be allowed in these areas, subjected to the approval of the competent authorities
1- Nurseries for trees and flowers
2- Protected and intensive agriculture (plastic and glass houses)
3- Planting trees and field crops.
4- Cultivation of forest trees and exploitation.
5- Temporary agricultural experiment stations.
6- Allow the establishment of one residential building in the owned forests according to the legislations in this regard.
7- Tourism projects which have been submitted based on detailed studies on lands that are free from trees.
8- Centres for camping and recreational camps.
9- Gardens and parks.
10- Telecommunications Station
11- Fire Station.
12- Water tanks, treatment station and the purification of drinking water. In addition to pumping stations and the transfer of drinking water and wastewater.
13- Pumping stations and the transfer of drinking water and wastewater
14- Emergency Centre and Forest Service.
15- Horses’ stables in the owned lands.
16- Fossil oil and gas wells, if any were found.
17- Construction of roads and streets of all kinds in these areas according to the requirements of the public interest.
Sixthly: historical areas / cultural and natural reserves, areas of biodiversity and scenic view points’ use is only limited to the purposes established for it. In addition to the purposes of public services dedicated to service these areas as offices of tourist guides, escort and fire Stations, subjected to the approval of the competent authorities.
Seventhly: Medium- Valued landscape areas use is only limited to the approved uses in medium valued agricultural lands according to the conditions and criteria that are envisaged by the competent authorities.
Eighthly: 1- Prevent the removal or change, or any modifications to the important and distinctive archaeological sites mentioned in the plan.
2- It is forbidden to make any amendments to the vicinity of the important, distinctive archaeological sites that are mentioned in the plan and is subjected to the approval of the Department of Antiquities.
Ninthly: It is allowed in non-classified areas on the plan which is highlighted in white in the same uses that are allowed in medium and high levelled agricultural lands to held different activities according to the approval of the competent authorities.
Tenthly: These provisions apply to all lands that are located outside the boundaries of the approved master plans.
Eleventh: It is Prohibited to establish any construction in the hazardous areas; as areas of landslides and areas prone to landslides.
Twelfth: it is not allowed to establish any facilities close to the Valleys for a distance of not less than (25) meters. Besides, it is forbidden to use the Valleys as ways to gain access to buildings unless taking the necessary precautions for public safety.
Thirteenth: Preparation of studies of traffic impact for major road projects which are proposed within the areas referred to in the plan. On the condition that the Ministry of Transportation will adopt alternative solutions provided by the traffic impact studies.
Fourteenth: All different parties each in his specification topped by the Higher Planning Council are responsible to follow up the implementation of these provisions to the benefit of the public interest and legislations.
ANNEX 3: Land Administration Policies
Land Administration Policies
Policy 1: Geographical Territory Covered by the National Land Policies
The scope of national land policies shall include all land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including East Jerusalem, which have been occupied since June 1967.
Policy2 : Classification of Public Land
Public land will be classified into one of the following categories:
(a) “Public Reserve”: The land necessary for public use. Relevant governmental departments or municipalities (custodians) will be responsible for the administration of this land in order to meet a public need. This land may never be disposed of but in special cases, however, this category of land can be leased as long as this does not adversely affect its designated public use.
(b) “Public Estate”: The land which is invested as a reserve for future generations. It shall be administered in transparent manner by a body comprised of relevant governmental agencies. This category of land may be disposed in accordance investment programs and legal procedures, to ensure maximization of revenue collection.
Policy3: Reclassification of Public Land
Clear and transparent criteria, rules and procedures shall be adopted for the reclassification of public land from Public Reserve to Public Estate, and vice versa. The entire process will be administered pursuant to a clear legal framework.
Policy4: Administration of Public Land
A committee, comprised of the relevant governmental agencies, will examine and prepare all proposals pertaining to the disposition of State Public Estate. Requests for reclassification of public land will be submitted to the committee. A board of directors, responsible for the oversight, disposition and administration of public land will approve requests. Local authorities or municipalities will manage their own public properties.
Policy5: Registration of Public Land
All public land shall be registered at the offices of the Palestinian Land Authority (PLA). Certificates of registration will be kept at the Ministry of Finance. Registration of public land will be as follows:
(a) Public land owned by local authorities or municipalities will be registered in the name of the concerned local authority or municipality.
(b) Public land owned by the State will be registered in the name of the State.
Policy 6: Restitution of Public Land
The registry of public land at the PLA shall be examined and reviewed periodically. Legal documents on the disposition of public land must also be reviewed. If the review reveals that some public or Waqf land was converted into Mulk land in an inappropriate manner, measures will be taken to recover public ownership in land
Policy7: Inventory of Public Land
The Ministry of Finance shall keep the title deeds of public land. The Ministry of Finance shall develop a unified classification system for Public Reserves and develop and maintain an inventory of public land.
Policy 8: Protection of Cultural Heritage
Procedures for land management must be created so as to protect cultural heritage sites and natural landscape on both private and public land. Appropriate laws that ensure protection of these cultural heritage sites and natural landscape should be drafted and enacted.
Policy9 : Development of Land Use Plans
Concerned public agencies must develop and maintain physical and land use plans that implement clear specified policy objectives, including the management of public land, the regulation of land uses and support for the development process.
Policy 10: Spatial Database
An up-to-date spatial database must be developed to support land administration and management. The database should contain land-related information and be connected to the e-government development plan.
Policy11: Classification of Types of Land Titles
Instead of the current five classifications, three categories will be adopted for the types of land titles, as follows:
(a) Mulk land: Land whose ownership is registered in the name of natural or legal persons and enjoys full title rights.
(b) Public land: Land which is not considered as Mulk or Waqf land. The category includes land classified as Matrouk or Muwat or Miri land that was never converted into Mulk land. Public land is to be registered in the name of the State or municipalities/local authorities.
(c) Waqf land: The public, Mulk or Miri land (outside municipal borders) which is endowed and registered as Waqf Saheeh.
Policy 12: Preservation of Rights
Rights to the disposition, possession or usufruct of land shall be defined individually at the time settlement is commenced and the new land classification enforced. Along with rights arising from usufruct contracts and right of “adverse possession”, all the rights above shall be preserved. All other considerations, which protect the principle of justice, shall also be maintained.
Policy 13: Rights of Palestinians Residing Abroad (Absentees)
Rights of absentees shall be addressed in accordance with the following mechanisms: Land within the scope of the settlement process shall be subject to provisions under the relevant law (the right to challenge is preserved for a period of 3 years).
Policy 14: Rights and Obligations Related to Mulk Land
Owners of Mulk land enjoy full title rights, including the right to partition, division of common ownership, parcelization, registration, sale, transfer, conveyance, succession rights, mortgage, usufruct, lease, bequest and wills. All these transactions are permitted provided that the following obligations are observed to:
- Registration of rights to land at the PLA Land Registration Department.
- Compliance with rules that govern land use and planning and related laws and regulations.
- Compliance with the obligation to pay property tax as due.
Policy 16: Common Ownership Rights
- Prevailing legal rules provisions regarding consensual or judicial division shall apply to the division of common ownership.
Policy 16: Succession Rights
Mechanisms should be developed to encourage land owners to register title rights which devolve to them by inheritance, at PLA offices within 12 months from the date of inheritance. Competent courts shall adjudicate issues and cases related to inheritance.
Policy 17: Use of Irrecoverable Powers of Attorney (IPAs)
The public shall be encouraged to cease using IPAs and all new IPAs shall be restricted to a non-renewable term not exceeding five years.
Policy 18 : Oversight over Land Policies
The Ministerial Committee for the Development and Implementation of the Reform for Land Administration – shall be transformed to a standing committee and will set land policies and have oversight over their implementation.
Policy 19: Development of PLA
The PLA should be developed, restructured and be exemplary in running its operations and in providing land-related services to the public. The PLA shall be a public body that enjoys quasi-financial independence. The PLA shall report to a board of directors, whose members shall be comprised of representatives from governmental bodies and a representative from the financial sector. The Minister of Finance shall chair the board of directors.
Policy 20: Capacity Building
The promotion of educational programs and capacity building in the land sector is essential to support comprehensive reform of the land administration system. Therefore, special attention should be given to education and capacity building in the field of land administration.
Policy 21: Distribution of Institutional Responsibilities
Institutional responsibilities should be distributed as follows:
(a) Drafting land policies – The Ministry of Planning shall coordinate with relevant stakeholders. Not valid as the PLA Law of 2010 Given this responsibility to the PLA)
(b) Land registration – Palestinian Land Authority
(c) Land valuation for purposes of property tax and acquisition of land for the public interest – the Ministry of Finance sets forth respective rules and procedures in cooperation with relevant stakeholders.
(d) Collection of property tax – Municipalities/local authorities. This requires building the capacity of the municipalities/local authorities to ensure that they are capable of performing this task in a timely manner.
Policy 22: Rights Arising from Title Deeds (Incontestable)
Except within the scope prescribed by law, title deeds issued by the Land Registration Department are definitive and not subject to objection before the courts. The PLA shall adopt a mechanism to secure title deeds through a fund established by an appropriation from transaction-related revenues (additional fee levied on registration).
Policy 23: Integrated, Systematic Mechanism for Land Dispute Resolution
An integrated, systematic mechanism should be adopted for resolution of land disputes. Such a mechanism is composed of the following components:
(a) Adopt mechanisms to formalize Sulha decisions and make them party of the judicial system.
(b) Adopt procedures or amend laws which will enable certification of Sulha decisions and support the judicial system for dispute resolution with effective rules and procedures.
(c) Adopt principles and regulations which will enable the PLA to resolve administrative issues without referring every matter to the courts.
(d) Adopt efficient rules and procedures to facilitate and promote the process of land settlement through the judicial system.
(e) Establish a land court, which will have sole and exclusive jurisdiction to review land disputes related to rights, while ensuring that the judicial cadre is well qualified.
Policy 24: Registration of All Land
All land located within the State of Palestine shall be registered at the PLA offices. Land settlement should also be commenced. A comprehensive programme should be developed to conduct surveys for purposes of land settlement in order to permanently upgrade land registers.
Policy 25: Effective Registration Processes
The PLA shall implement efficient procedures for land registration in order to encourage owners to register all land transactions at Land Registration Departments.
Policy 26: Registration and Tax Payment
- The owner shall be responsible for the payment of all due taxes to the competent authorities.
- Due property tax may not be transferred to a third party except upon a mutual consent.
- An understanding shall be entered into between the Ministry of Finance and PLA to create a register for property tax at the PLA to facilitate the payment of property tax in conjunction with land related transactions.
- All land transactions, including registration, conveyance, mortgage, etc., will be conducted without the presentation of a tax release.
- Taxes shall be paid annually.
Policy 27: Table of Registration Fees
Instead of an ad valorem assessment (based on the value of the property) approach, a fixed table for due registration fees of transactions shall be developed at the PLA offices. Fees may be adjusted upon commencement of the comprehensive settlement process or other land transactions.
Policy28: Due Land Tax Revenues
Effective regulations, which ensure a just property valuation for the collection of property taxes, shall be developed. Property tax is recognized as a major source of revenues for municipalities and local authorities.
Policy 29: Fees for Obtaining Information from Land Registers
Information in the land registry will be provided for a fee charged on a cost recovery basis.
Policy 30: Public Access to Land-Related Information
The public will have access to land-related information for title search subject to ensuring that the constitutional principle of privacy is not contravened.
Policy 31: Exchange of Land-Related Information amongst Various Governmental Authorities
All relevant governmental agencies, municipalities and local authorities will exchange information related to land.
Policy 32: Waqf Land
Waqf land and related tenure, such as hikr, shall be researched and analyzed. Relevant recommendations will be adopted as soon as possible.
AZZAM: FAO LOGO
Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations
Mount of Olives St. 25 – Sheik Jarrah
P.O. Box 22246 – Jerusalem
Tel: +972 (0)2 532 1950/2757
Fax: +972 (0)2 540 0027
Email: fao-gz@fao.org
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento