Barbuda’s community title to land: A furtherance of the Convention on Biological Diversity?

• Published date: 01 April 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12305
• Date: 01 April 2020
• Author: Zachary Allen Roy Phillips

118  

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  RECIEL. 2020;29:118–128.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/reel

1 | INTRODUCTION

The island of Barb uda, located w ithin the Carib bean Sea, has be en

the subject of re cent controversy afte r the passing of Hurric ane Irma

in 2017. The recent tension, however, does n ot directly involve the

ecological re sources of the island, bu t rather the land tenur e system.

Barbuda has a uni que land owners hip regime that has al ways been

considered conte ntious. The entire islan d of Barbuda was purpor ted

by the Barbuda ns to be owned in ‘community t itle’ by all natural bor n

Barbudans.1 There was no syste m of freehold or lea sehold and no

individual abs olute right over prope rty. This system has b een contro‐

versial since it s inception. Barbudans claim it w as established since

pre‐independence, whilst the Antiguan government has attempted

many times to ques tion its legitimacy. Nevert heless, the people liv‐

ing in Barbuda re cognize this tenure system as a w ay of life.2

This debate has be en reignited due to the devas tation caused by

Hurricane Ir ma. It is because of the d evastation that the c urrent gov‐

ernment formulated, drafted and passed legislation3 that removed

the communit y title concept as the land tenure s ystem of Barbuda.

The justific ation was that rem oving the communit y title syste m

helps to inject r esources directly in to the recovery effor t in Barbuda

by ‘stimulating direct investment’.4 In theory, passing a new st atute

is all that would be re quired to satisfy a change in do mestic obliga‐

tions, but what of A ntigua and Barbuda’s intern ational obligations?

Antigua and Barbuda are a party to the Convention on Biological

Diversity (CBD).5 As such, under Ar ticle 8(j) Antigua and B arbuda un‐

dertakes to ‘sub ject to its natio nal legislation , respect, pr eserve and

maintain knowledge innovations and practices of indigenous and local

communities … relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of

biological diversity’.6 The island of Bar buda is filled with biologic al di‐

versity, as it is home to t he Codrington Lagoo n National Park compris‐

ing a Frigate Bird San ctuary, a vast coastline of m angroves and a large

lagoon, which is h ome to a wide array of juvenil e and mature species of

marine and terrestrial animals. Consequently, sustainable management

of the natural res ources is paramount to th e ecosystem on the island .

Against this backdrop, this article examines the intersection

between the l ocal community titl e land tenure system and i nterna‐

tional obligat ions under the CBD. T he crux of the discu ssion is

whether the com munity title te nure system may be c onsidered a

1 Barbuda La nd Act 2007 (An tigua and Barb uda) s 3.

2 The communi ty title land te nure system was c odified in the B arbuda Land A ct, ibid.

3 Barbuda (A mendment) Ac t 2018 (Antigua a nd Barbuda).

4 H Alexande r, ‘Barbudans Cla im of “Land Gra b” as Government At tempts to Refo rm

Laws on Hurr icane‐devas tated Island ’ (The Telegraph , 23 December 2017) .

5 Convention on B iological Di versity (adop ted 22 May 1992, enter ed into force 29

December 1993) 1760 U NTS 79 (CBD).

6 ibid art 8( j).

Received: 2 Sept ember 2018 

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  Revised: 13 March 2019 

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  Accepted: 25 June 20 19

DOI: 10 .1111/reel .12305

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Barbuda’s community title to land: A furtherance of the

Convention on Biological Diversity?

Zachary Allen Roy Phillips

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsi ngton Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Stre et, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

Correspondence

Email: zachary.ar.phillips@gmail.com This article discusses Antigua and Barbuda’s international obligations under the

Convention on Biologic al Diversity (CBD), spe cifically in relatio n to the commu‐

nity title land ten ure system that was in op eration on the island of Ba rbuda until

early 2018. It is impor tant to ascertai n whether the communi ty title system c an be

considered protecte d under Articl e 8(j) of the CBD, since t he community is heavil y

dependent on the su stainable use and m anagement of natural res ources. The com‐

munity cannot b e classified as indigenous and there is a d earth of case law reflecting

the protection of ‘loc al communities’ in international enviro nmental law. Against this

background, t he article examin es whether Barbu da can be considered a ‘loc al com‐

munity’; whether t he community titl e can be considered a tr aditional prac tice; and

whether the pra ctice is relevant for the conservati on and use of biodiversity.