National Lands Policy.

This Lands Policy is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at (i) providing for the administration and management of land resources for the benefit of present and future generations; (ii) giving a comprehensive framework that guides on how land should be administered and managed to achieve harmonious growth and prosperity; (iii) promoting equitable access to land on both State and Customary land, irrespective of status; (iv) strengthening land tenure security and enhancing sustainable and productive management of land resources by upholding transparent and cost-effective systems of administration including settlement of land disputes. The Policy also faces a series of cross-cutting issues, such as the effects of climate change, gender, youth, disability, and HIV/AIDS.
The Lands Policy objectives are to (i) strengthen the land allocation mechanisms to improve security of tenure; (ii) enhance the land registration system to increase the volume of registered properties, accuracy, capacity, and affordability of land registration; (iii) strengthen the land dispute management mechanisms to reduce caseloads and attendant costs for clients; (iv) facilitate ownership of land by Zambian citizens to promote decent livelihoods and socio-economic development; (v) regulate land ownership of non-Zambians to facilitate reasonable access to land; (vi) enhance the functioning of the land market by making the sector more beneficial to the economy; (vii) mainstream Climate Change, Natural Resources, and Environmental Protection in land administration and management; (viii) achieve a gender-sensitive and youth friendly land sector which is inclusive of persons living with disabilities and other socially marginalized groups.
Some of the measures to protect the environment that are mentioned in the document are (i) ensuring that policies, plans, and programs related to land management conform to prescribed principles and guidelines on environmental protection and conservation; (ii) promoting the establishment and implementation of integrated land-use plans at Provincial District and community levels, for the preservation of key environmentally sensitive features, customary sites, historic and cultural heritage; (iii) strengthening legislation for the maintenance and enhancement of public and local community access to land along the lakes and rivers and other natural resources; (iv) collaborating with relevant authorities to ensure that procedural requirement of subdivision of land and development conditions are adhered to; (v) promoting the use of low cost and generation of property boundary information using high accuracy imagery.
As for Governance, this Lands Policy's implementation will be coordinated and monitored by the Ministry responsible for Land in collaboration with other public sector institutions, statutory bodies, and all relevant stakeholders. A mid-term policy evaluation will be carried out to determine the progress achieved and to keep updated with emerging trends in the sector.