Land Titling and Prospects for Land Conservation: Lessons from a Case-Study in Honduras

In recent years, the development debate has increasingly focused on institutions and the legal environment in developing countries (World Bank, 1991). The role of secure property rights as a basis for entrepreneurial activities has received particular emphasis. De Soto (1989) became widely known for his research in Peru, in which he argued that an inefficient bureaucracy complicates the obtaining and the exchange of legal property rights, forcing the poor majority of the population into the informal sector. The resulting insecurity of property rights is thought to reduce incentives for investment because, in the informal sector, economic agents cannot be certain they will reap the fruits of their own efforts. Whereas de Soto concentrated on property rights issues in an urban environment, other authors like Johnson (1972) or Feder et al. (1988) investigated property rights in rural areas and in relation to stagnating agriculture. Recently, the growing environmental crisis has also enhanced interest in property rights.