Conservation Esements

No country in Latin America has yet to enact national legislation authorizing the use of easements for conservation purposes, or allowing such easements to be held by independent third parties. However, NGO working with conservation-minded landowners have used the traditional form of appurtenant easement under the Civil Code for conservation purposes in a growing number of Latin American countries.

An easement is a voluntary agreement in which a landowner agrees to limit the use of property, and can be created for a term o years or for perpetuity, depending on the country. They can be used for conservation purpose by limiting the rights to use land in certain ways or the intensity of development, in order to conserve natural features of the land. Since easements are real property rights, they are inscribed in the registry of deeds, and are binding on future landowners, making them a useful tool for long-term conservation purposes.

There are two kinds of easements that can potentially be used for private lands conservation: traditional appurtenant easements that involve easements between two adjacent properties, and easements “in gross”, which can be held by a party other than the owner of the adjacent property such as a government organization or a non-profit conservation organization.