Tag Archives: Fiji

International Valuation Standards Still Fall Short on Customary Land

April 7, 2026Uncategorizedcustomary land, customary land podcast, Customary Land Solutions, Fiji, Fiji Land, FPIC, Governance Legitimacy, Highest and Best Use, Indigenous Land, International Valuation Standards, IVS, land governance, Market Value, pacific, Pacific Land, Property rights, Spike Boydell, SUITU, tribal land, UN DRIP, UNDRIP, ValuationCustomary Land Solutions

The International Valuation Standards 2028 Exposure Draft makes an important advance by recognising informal, communal, collective and tribal land interests more explicitly than many earlier standards have done. But when viewed through the realities of customary land, it still raises a deeper concern: what happens when a global technical valuation framework tries to make sense of customary land without first understanding what customary land is?

In this episode of The Customary Land Podcast, Spike Boydell reflects on why that matters, why customary land cannot simply be treated as an awkward variation within an inherited valuation system, and why legitimacy, stewardship, authority and intergenerational responsibility must be held before valuation is allowed to arrive.

The episode explores the deeper structural problem of valuation-first thinking in customary, tribal and Indigenous land contexts. It also explains why concepts such as market value, highest and best use, and valuation-date closure may be too narrow when dealing with living relational systems shaped by layered rights, obligation, continuity and customary authority.

Watch or listen.

Or simply search for The Customary Land Podcast in your preferred podcast player.

If you would like a copy of our full submission to the International Valuation Standards Council, or more information about SUITU and the SUITU Governance Integrity Platform, please email:

contact@customarylandsolutions.com

Rethinking mining law on customary land

April 3, 2026UncategorizedAustralia, benefit sharing, customary governance, customary land, customary land Fiji, customary land podcast, Customary Land Solutions, customary landowners, extractive industries, Fair Share of Mineral Royalties Act 2018, Fiji, Fiji Land, Fiji land law, Fiji Law Reform Commission, Fiji mining law, FPIC, free prior informed consent, Gold, Indigenous Rights, iTaukei, iTaukei Land Trust Board, iTLTB, mineral royalties, Mining Act 1965, mining and customary land, mining law, mining review Fiji, Namosi, pacific, Pacific Land, Pacific land governance, Partnership Valuation, podcast, Property rights, Quarries Act 1939, quarries law, quarry law, Resource Compensation, Rights of Indigenous Peoples Bill 2025, royalty sharing, Spike Boydell, SUITU, tribal land, Ulai Baya, UN DRIP, VanuaCustomary Land Solutions

Fiji is currently reviewing the Mining Act 1965 and the Quarries Act 1939. In this episode of The Customary Land Podcast, I reflect on why that matters for customary landowners, and why compensation, royalties, and consultation are not enough unless legitimacy, stewardship, and long-horizon responsibility come first.

The episode explores the deeper structural mismatch between inherited extractive law and living customary systems, and asks what must be in place before development on customary land can be treated as legitimate at all. It also introduces SUITU and the importance of a governance integrity spine.

The YouTube vodcast version is available here:
https://youtu.be/z2t0FBvdst4

The podcast version is available here:
https://www.thecustomarylandpodcast.com/2122490/episodes/18921346-rethinking-mining-law-on-customary-land

Or simply search for The Customary Land Podcast in your preferred podcast player.

Fiji parties urged to outline land policy ahead of poll – ABC News 24

June 25, 2014Customary Land, Fiji, Fiji Elections, iTLTB, Leases, Property RightsAiyaz Sayad-Khaiyum, customary land, Fiji, Fiji Election, iTaukei, Leases, Property rightsCustomary Land Solutions

Following on from his 7th June editorial in the Fiji Times, Professor Spike Boydell has been interviewed by ABC correspondent Sean Dorney for this item on ABC News 24 ‘The World’, which first aired on 24 June 2014. It also includes comments from the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayad-Khaiyum and Prof Satish Chand. The link to the piece on the ABC website is available here.

“What people want is stability and land is central to that stability.” (Spike Boydell)

Why land is central to Fiji’s future stability

June 7, 2014Customary Land, Fiji, Fiji Elections, iTLTB, NLTBFiji, Fiji Election, Fiji Land, iTaukei, iTaukei Land Trust Board, iTLTB, Leases, political parties, Property rights, VanuaCustomary Land Solutions

With 100 days to go to the Fiji elections in September, none of the political parties have yet explained in their manifesto’s how they will deal with land (indeed, where are the manifesto’s?). In his feature editorial in the Fiji Times on Saturday 7th June, Spike Boydell highlights that being clear on land issues, having equitable leases that are fit for purpose at market rents, and respecting the paramountcy of iTaukei land – the vanua – is central to long term economic and political stability in Fiji.

Read the full article here.

How to make the iTLTB better – a users guide

March 25, 2014UncategorizedFiji, iTaukei Land Trust Board, World Bank LandCustomary Land Solutions

Never a prophet at home, today we took our review of the iTaukei Land Trust Board (iTLTB) to the world stage, presenting to a packed conference venue at the World Bank Land and Poverty Conference 2014 in Washington DC.
Sometimes, Fiji just doesn’t realise how good they have things.

Our analysis of the iTLTB highlights that the recording of landowner groups in Fiji over the last 120 years, whilst not without some problems, has made it easier to set up a land trust administration to make surplus customary land available for economic development by using lease structures. The iTLTB has now been running (in its earlier guise as the NLTB) for almost 70 years. In this paper we have provided a comprehensive analysis of the iTLTB and made a number of recommendations as to how it may further enhance the professional services that it offers to the customary landowners that it serves.

So come on iTLTB, it is time to stop being lethargic (according to PM Bainimarama) and take leadership of land in Fiji. And to all of you aspiring to run for the elections in Fiji this year… you can’t afford to overlook the land issue. You can read our roadmap for making the iTLTB fit for purpose in the 21st Century here.