Environmental and gender and social inclusion aspects should be integrated specifically into land information technology (IT) systems. MCC’s Environmental and Social Performance (ESP) requirements exist to help partner country governments improve outcomes and avoid or mitigate risks. The project’s ESP screening tools were intended to help identify areas of environmental and social risk, critical to clarifying rights and boundaries as part of the project and equally importantly to improving land administration in Cabo Verde over the long term. The ESP tool’s results were not integrated into the Cabo Verde Land Information Management and Transaction System (LMITS) database, but resided on a separate database that would need to be cross referenced with the title. The ESP tools attempted to integrate some of the property rights and land use related restrictions into LMITS that would have been captured in the previous written title registries, but also expanded that to consider other limitations or conflicts on a parcel of land. For example, the screening tool identified potential land conflicts/disputes. Depending on the actors, conflicts can be between private individuals, individuals and the state, or municipal and national registries, some of this triggering resettlement. Similarly, due to poor adherence to planning documents and protected areas, there are titled land parcels in inappropriately zoned locations (like within the marine restricted areas on the coast), in flood plains/landslide/slip areas or encroaching on public right of ways (inhibiting utility installation or access by emergency vehicles). Since the databases containing this information do not speak to each other and need to be consulted separately, there is a chance the information surfaced by the ESP/gender screening tools will not be used and/or updated to keep up with changes. Future projects should consider how to ensure integrations of these aspects into the land IT system.
Lesson Learned