The Land Portal is the global gateway for land related information, aggregating and integrating information on land from multiple sources and building a specialized community of land experts. Its innovative approach to engaging stakeholders on the highly complex issue of land governance is the result of a partnership of many leading organizations including ILC, FAO, IFAD, AGTER, IEH, Action Aid, World Bank, IFPRI, FIG, among others. This expanding collaborative ensures that the Portal is coordinated, managed and populated with content by the stakeholders and users who are actively involved with land from civil society, governmental and intergovernmental institutions, and academia. 

The Portal was launched at the World bank Land Conference 2011 on the premise that land governance is a critical factor for enabling developing and emerging economies to establish effective land tenure systems which promote secure and equitable access to and control over land.  

Sharing information and fostering dialog on land related issues

The Portal acts as an online hub for sharing information and fostering dialog on land related issues. This is accomplished through a user driven platform which allows users to share information by uploading content, commenting and rating existing information, and retrieving information using specific filters.

The Portal also provides a forum for dialogue, encouraging people to network with other stakeholders and discuss critical thematic topics related to land. These two functions - data aggregation and stakeholder dialog - provide the framework for new partnerships by empowering land-concerned individuals, communities, organisations, practitioners, and policy makers to share perspectives and best practices, and to  collaborate strategically. 

Thus the Land Portal delivers a steady flow of relevant news, information and debate, delivered through individuals and organisations working at the global, regional and country levels.

Land Portal embraces the open-data movement

The Land Portal believes that information transparency is the key means to achieving sound and sustainable land governance. As such the Portal is an open data tool licensed under creative commons.

In addition, the Portal has expanded its global reach by now offering content in English, French and Spanish, and since the Land Portal is a fast downloading platform, it is also accessible to low-bandwidth users in developing countries.

Renewed Land Portal in 2013

In 2013, the Land Portal will be completing a major redevelopment to further place itself as the global reference point for land-related information, reiterating its commitment to increased transparency, accountability and access to open information for a more transparent land governance future. The renewed Portal will bring with it an improved user interface, enhanced networking capacity for users, new visualisations and further aggregation of on-line databases, all-the-while providing a clearer focus on country-profiles.