How we document land control in Colombia

Documenting land control is different for different jurisdictions

Disclaimer: We are not lawyers, so this is not legal advice. We can refer to our partners who are great community and customary land-rights lawyers in any country we are working in.

Below, we are sharing our current company protocols in Colombia. This is our paperwork checklist that our community concierge advocates assemble for partnering Colombian land-rights lawyers to document land control, help grassroots farmers get their rights to the land they live on and farm.

Colombian land ownership requirements.

Under Colombian law, land can be held in ownership or stewardship. Ownership documents:

• Title: The legal title of ownership of the land. Resguardo titles are issued to Indigenous peoples.

• Escritura: A deed which entitles the holder to legal ownership of the land.

The Colombian government requires Escritura or Title as tje vehicle for proof of land ownership, and current international certifying standards for carbon markets do as well.

Colombian land stewardship requirements.

In addition to ownership, Colombian law recognizes land stewardship, occupancy, or possession through the Compreventa document.

• Compreventa: Purchase agreement, which is inadequate to prove legal ownership of the land, but can provide documentation of long-term stewardship for eventual progression to land ownership.

A sample mechanism for legal requirements to progress a compraventa to a title is given below.

Table 8. Additional requirements for documentation of land stewardship under Colombian law

Document	Requirements
Sale document	Authenticated or unauthenticated written document in which the sample applicant who acquired the property by sale must contain at least the date of subscription, the name of the seller and buyer, the sale price, the method of payment , the detailed description of the property.
Affidavit of Sound Posession	Declaration out of court before a notary, and signed by two wittnesses to exercise sound possession.
Community certification	Certificate of being a member of the community action board of the respective jurisdiction where the property is located.
Land survey	Location plan and location of the property. It must have a true description of the property, whether it is the registration page, topographic survey, description of boundaries and/or milestones where the location and area of the property and the surrounding areas are established in detail.
Property tax reciepts (if available)	We must prove the payment of property tax in applicable plot for the last 5 years.