The Clan Ledger
Ninety-seven percent of Papua New Guinea's land belongs to clans — but has never been formally documented. In March 2026, Parliament unanimously passed a law to change that without taking a single hectare away.
Photo: Devpolicy Blog / ANU
Papua New Guinea's 462,840 square kilometers are 97% clan-owned — but undocumented. Without formal records, communities cannot access credit, protect boundaries, or participate in the formal economy. A century of reform attempts failed because they tried to convert communal land into individual freehold titles, threatening the ownership system 10 million Papua New Guineans depend on.
In March 2026, Parliament unanimously passed the Customary Land Tenure Act, creating a national clan registry and customary lands registry built on group title. Clans register collectively, can lease land for economic use, and retain underlying ownership. Registration is voluntary and demand-driven, with Free, Prior and Informed Consent as a core pillar — addressing decades of criticism that reforms would open the door to land grabs.
The law followed 2025 consultations led by MP Keith Iduhu across all provinces, where over 1,000 community participants delivered the same message: land must stay in clan hands, but documentation is urgent. PM James Marape backed the bipartisan report. The model resonates beyond PNG — a 2026 UN Special Rapporteur report is examining collective land registration as countries with communal tenure search for alternatives to individual titling.
Our take
Most land formalization follows Hernando de Soto's playbook: register individual titles and let markets work. PNG just proved a different path — clan-based group titles that document ownership without commodifying it. This reframes the land rights debate from 'individual vs. communal' to 'documented vs. undocumented.' Development organizations pushing individual titling in communal-land countries should study this model before their next program design.
What to do with this
Audit land formalization programs for individual-title bias. PNG's group-title model preserves communal ownership while enabling economic participation — test this approach in your next program design.
Commission feasibility studies for clan or group-based land registries. Countries where 50%+ of land is customarily held need alternatives to individual titling — PNG's voluntary, demand-driven model is now the reference case.
Invest in implementation infrastructure. PNG's law is passed but the registry systems, dispute resolution mechanisms, and community awareness campaigns need long-term funding — this is a 5-10 year build, not a one-year grant.
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