The International Land Coalition, together with several international research institutes and development partners, has launched a ground-breaking new database to track global land deals. The database, entitled the Land Matrix Project, tracks deals made since 2003 in ‘developing’ nations transferring rights to use, control or own land for agricultural production, timber extraction, carbon trading, mineral extraction, conservation, and tourism. According to the press release, the Land Matrix Project “encourages citizens, researchers, governments and companies to provide data and improve the quality of and access to data regarding global land deals. The database allows users to access summaries, or conduct in-depth exploration of individual land deals, and it includes a visualization tool. The current version of the visualization tool is in a beta form, and feedback is encouraged. It presents visuals on the dynamics of transnational land deals, allows users to visualize relationships between investors and countries, and provides detail on deals across sectors.”
