Working together on a safe, healthy and sustainable living environment?
- Visiting addressKelvinbaan 40 (2nd floor), 3439 MT Nieuwegein
- Mailing addressPO Box 1475, 3430 BL Nieuwegein
- Phone+31 302 311 377
- Emailinfo@lbpsight.nl
Sustainable land allocation
Sustainable land allocation through emphyteusis lease
Sustainable land allocation – which in practice usually involves sustainable lease issuance – revolves around the question: how do landowners improve the sustainability of their own soil with their third-party land use? Our land agents advise governments and estate owners on making their land and lease policies more sustainable.
WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE LAND ALLOCATION?
Many governments and estate owners still lease their land to farmers at the highest price. With current developments in rural areas, a new factor is increasingly coming into play: sustainability. More and more landowners want to combine the leasing of land with sustainable agriculture. This can be done by rewarding the environmental and sustainability efforts of lessees.
ADVICE ON SUSTAINABILITY IN AGRICULTURE
Are you looking for sustainable lease issuance as a form of sustainable land allocation? Then we sit down together to determine what sustainability means for governments and individuals and what they want to achieve in this area. We then put together a package of measures. Think of the creation of herb-rich field margins or the avoidance of chemical pesticides. Ideally, we present this list to the involved lessees. Our land agents know better than anyone how important participation is. Therefore, involving farmers and other stakeholders is key. In addition to advice, we also support the practical implementation of sustainable land allocation. We translate sustainability ambitions into concrete measures and roll out the process.
THE DIDAM JUDGMENT
Many governments are accustomed to leasing lands on a one-to-one basis. The Didam judgment has already put a stop to this practice. This development offers opportunities for sustainability. Currently, leasing procedures are being renewed, and the conditions of the liberalised lease contracts with lessees are being revised. This is an opportune moment for municipalities to use lease lands in an open and transparent manner to promote nature-inclusive agriculture by setting sustainable conditions.
LEASE AGREEMENT AND THE LAND CHAMBER
Lease agreements must be approved by the land chamber, the authority that oversees leasing in the interest of agriculture. Previously, the land chamber has rejected contracts with what they considered to be too far-reaching (sustainable) obligations. However, since then, we have seen that the land chamber’s line is increasingly allowing for sustainable conditions in lease agreements. The Dutch government is also embracing sustainable leasing more and more. Our land agents, therefore, see increasing opportunities for sustainability within lease relationships. Two good examples of this are Gemeente Cranendonck (Dutch version) and Brabant Water (Dutch version).
SUSTAINABLE LEASING ON ESTATES
We are also working on the sustainability of agricultural lands on the estates we manage and advise. We are in discussion with clients and lessees to see what fits the estate, the environment, and the surrounding nature. This often involves an integrated vision of the estate, where nature and agriculture come together. This also benefits soil fertility and structure. We will still need this soil in the coming decades.