Tag Archives: Indigenous Land

International Valuation Standards Still Fall Short on Customary Land

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

15 years on, Siwatibau’s wisdom on land tenure in his SPLTC Symposium welcome address remains as valid as ever.

Transforming Land Conflict – FAO/USP/RICS Foundation South Pacific Land Conflict Symposium Welcome Address by the late Savenaca Siwatibau, Vice Chancellor, University of the South Pacific – 10 April 2002.

The video can also be viewed in YouTube at  https://youtu.be/gvjpFG9mCK0

Caveat: this was recorded live in Fiji in 2002 on VHS – the video aspect is 4:3 and there has been some deterioration in the magnetic tape so please be patient with screen flickers.

The full transcript is available Savenaca Siwatibau – Welcome Address – SPLTC Symposium – Full Transcript (opens PDF).

The Symposium ‘Declaration and Resolutions’ is available her SPLTC Symposium – Official Declaration and Resolutions (opens PDF).