Indigenous Property Titles: The Mapuche Community in Chile and the Protection of Property Records
Luis Maldonado Croquevielle, Claudia Bahamondes Oyarzún
With the return to democracy in Chile, Law 19.253 was enacted in 1993 focusing on the protection, promotion and development of indigenous peoples. That legislation also created the National Foundation for Indigenous Development. Later, in 2009, ILO Convention 169 entered into force.
In this context, two important registration protection measures are worthy of note: the creation of a Public Registry of Indigenous Lands and the Fund for Indigenous Lands and Waters. The former seeks to preserve original properties per se and, toward that end, establishes a land registry that also serves to prove the property’s indigenous status.
Thanks to these initiatives, the process of claiming and preserving property in the hands of the indigenous peoples in Chile has begun. This should lead to greater economic development through farming, animal husbandry, fishing, and even tourism, all of which should help stem the tide of rural-urban migration and serve to reactivate downtrodden rural areas.
Event: Land Governance in an Interconnected World_Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty_2018
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