The following is a conversation between Nonette Royo, Executive Director of The Tenure Facility, and Denver Frederick, the Host of The Business of Giving.
Denver: The Tenure Facility is an NGO based in Stockholm that works in partnership with indigenous peoples and local communities to strengthen their tenure and ability to preserve, protect, and enjoy the benefits of their traditional lands, territories, and resources. These rich biodiverse areas are vital to the people who steward them and the planet we all share.
And here to tell us more about their vital work is Nonette Royo, the executive director of the Tenure Facility.
Welcome to The Business of Giving, Nonette.
Nonette Royo, Executive Director of The Tenure Facility
Nonette: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Denver.
Denver: Can you start off by sharing a little bit about how the Tenure Facility got its start back in 2014 and what your core work involves?
Nonette: Yes, thank you. It was started primarily by indigenous peoples and local communities who feel strongly that their land rights are increasingly becoming more vulnerable, without a collective title to it. And so they organized consultations and talks to several organizations led by the Rights and Resources Initiative.
At that time, I was the chair of the board of the organization, and then it was birthed because some of the donors felt it is a very important position to take.
Denver: Mm-hmm.
Nonette, indigenous communities have a unique way of managing land and resources, and it differs, let’s say, from a more conventional method that many of us might be accustomed to. What’s the difference in your mind?
Nonette: In the Tenure Facility’s relationships with indigenous peoples and local communities, the difference is in understanding among indigenous peoples that they are part of nature, and taking care of nature is inherent in themselves as communities and stewards.
And so their commitment to nature is like commitment to life, and dependence on nature is dependence on life, such that it is very much embedded. So protecting nature and protecting forests and protecting land is part of their life.
Denver: Yeah. Sort of a nature-based solution. So they, I guess if I hear you right, it’s not something that they do to the land, it’s something that they do with the land.
Nonette: With the land.
Denver: It’s all… Yeah. Yeah. That’s a completely different way of looking at it.
Let’s talk a little bit about insecure land tenure. How does this contribute to problems like poverty and environmental degradation and conflict?
Nonette: Land tenure for indigenous peoples is their relationship to land, not just ownership, but commitment to stewardship such that when it is insecure, meaning there is no title that helps communicate what their relationship to land is, then external parties do not know how to relate with them and to connect and respect those rights and priorities that they have.
So insecure tenure always leads to conflict, leads to misunderstanding, leads to displacements, and leads to destruction of nature, a big part of it being managed and stewarded by indigenous peoples.
Denver: Are there any mechanisms that exist today to resolve these disputes among indigenous peoples and others?
Nonette: There are laws and policies, and there are procedures now in place in some countries, in some governments that have realized that the indigenous peoples are also citizens, part of their constituency. So these laws and policies respect land rights, respect time immemorial possession, respect coexistence, co management, co-ownership.
And so these variations of tenure instruments are present in some of the countries that we have really picked to test the model. And it is in the implementation of those that now is the challenge. It’s there, but it’s not implemented, so the Tenure Facility comes in and implements, helps them.
Denver: There you go. I know you’re at a conference right now where you’re talking about technology, and I’ve always been curious as to the role that technology, satellite imagery and blockchain and things like that is making in terms of documenting and registering land rights for indigenous peoples and local communities.
Tell us a little bit about what’s going on and how things are changing because of technology.
Nonette: Yes, a huge, huge leap because of technology in the last 30 years… As I have observed, a big part of tenure is the determination of boundaries, so mapping. So speed in the development and understanding of where the boundaries are has advanced so much with technology.
Trust in the process has advanced so much because technology that allows for the measuring and agreeing of boundaries has become more accessible to indigenous peoples. And then the processing and verification with government has also advanced so much because you’re talking the same technical definition, technical boundaries.
Now the government, as a result, goes to indigenous peoples and/or their supporters because social processes that come with trust in technology and data are stronger with these processes within indigenous and local communities.
Denver: Nonette, let’s put this in a larger context of the world because again, we’re looking at these lands and the rights of indigenous people, and obviously there’s a lot that’s going on there. But when I’m looking at, let’s say, climate change and the importance of these lands to mitigating climate change, give us an idea of how much that means to the planet.
Nonette: Yes. Globally, our estimate has been that lands managed by indigenous peoples in local communities are of the size 22 times that of Germany.
Denver: Wow.
Nonette: Huge. Yeah. And it is stewarded and managed just because of the nature of the community relationship to land and interdependence to land and forests. Now, imagine if that was advanced in terms of protection by recognizing their collective stewardship and ownership of this land.
Now, what’s interesting with the stewardship and ownership, Denver, is that they do not, “they” meaning indigenous peoples, ourselves, I say they, I am also… is that we do not exclude others as you would in ownership where you think it’s yours as object, right? This is being part of nature and being stewards of nature and being co-managers of nature.
So there is a huge difference in the value of this interdependent relationship. And so what happens with collective ownership is no one is allowed to sell. You are only allowed to manage and thrive in a sustainable way in that territory, so you can continue to protect and pass it onto the next generation.
And the force of external owners or external claimants that do not respect this relationship causes conflict because the value of those coming in from the outside is one that possesses property, like we do have in our titles, right?
Denver: Yeah.
Nonette: In the cities, in urban areas. That is not the value that indigenous peoples have with nature. It’s actually protecting it for humanity, and they’re functioning in that manner. Even up to now, we work with the people who do this well. Yeah.
Denver: Yeah. No, that’s well stated. I guess what they’re saying too is that nobody owns nature. You don’t own nature, and you just can’t. And nature cannot survive if somebody thinks it belongs to them…
Nonette: Yes.
Denver: …because it belongs to all of us. I know one of the things that Tenure Facility does and is so important to the work that’s being done here, is having dedicated financial support. Tell us why that is needed and the role that Tenure Facility plays in providing it.
Nonette: Yes. Dedicated financial support is crucial to the process of measuring, understanding what the landscape is, and the kind of protection that’s needed and the kind of agreements communities have with others.
And that entire process requires not small amounts of money, larger amounts of money to bring people together from different parts of a landscape. And using technology at the same time also requires funding… and then having conversations with government, other land users, ways of doing, let’s say, harvesting of products or resources in the territory… all require resources.
And what indigenous peoples have gotten so far are small amounts of money. And what they’re realizing is if we were to be equal players and sitting at the same table looking at this land, then we will have to be partners with larger investment in this process and for longer term.
And Tenure Facility does that. Larger amounts of funding support for longer term to indigenous peoples’ organizations. And that’s really how we have designed the business model…
Denver: Yeah, yeah.
Nonette: …for the Tenure Facility.
“…it drives that whole energy; the nurturing energy just feeds us and helps us thrive. In many ways, strong movements are really made alive by a lot of active women positioned to make those decisions. So not just active to do things, really making decisions.”
Denver: It always blows me away, Nonette, about the cognitive dissonance that exists between the objective of an effort and the resources available. And you see here, we’re trying to protect nature for humankind, and the response is, Here’s $25,000.
Nonette: Exactly.
Denver: It’s really, you know? Really, are you kidding me? I mean, you know…
Nonette: Exactly. Yeah.
Denver: …it’s a drop in the ocean. It really is. I read about this kind of work. It always seems that women are in the forefront of it. Tell me a little bit about the role that women play and why it is so vital, and why it’s so important, and why women are really attracted to this kind of work.
Nonette: It’s our ability to understand what it takes to nurture life and to contribute to life. And it doesn’t exclude the men. They do, too. But it’s almost physical for women, and it’s because we’re birthers, we’re nurturers. We go to the kitchen to produce food regardless. So regardless, you go to these big meetings with indigenous peoples… We know who’s producing and taking care of the food that feeds everyone, right?
Denver: Right.
Nonette: And it drives that whole energy; the nurturing energy just feeds us and helps us thrive. In many ways, strong movements are really made alive by a lot of active women positioned to make those decisions. So not just active to do things, really making decisions.
Denver: Yeah, yeah. Sounds like it’s kind of baked in, you know what I mean?
Nonette: Yes.
Denver: What have been some of the most notable successes of the Tenure Facility in helping communities secure land tenure? Give us an example.
Nonette: Yes. Yes, thank you. Since we started, we had five… we started with five countries, six countries. And then from 2017, when we were independent in Stockholm, now we have 17 countries. And at the end of this year, we would have 30 countries…
Denver: Wow.
Nonette: …have partnerships. Yeah. And in tropical rainforest countries. So larger investments, longer terms for each of those countries.
Denver: How does this work fit into the SDGs of 2030?
Nonette: Oh, definitely.
Denver: The objective and the Paris Agreement. Yeah.
Nonette: Yes, it has advanced; it will advance especially life on land, water, women’s rights. And it will essentially be key to the climate targets, especially in realizing their… especially in countries where we work, the nationally determined contributions of countries, the role of indigenous peoples to meet or help meet those contributions are strongly recognized even now by governments within the countries where we work and support indigenous peoples.
Now, it’s not always smooth. There are some governments that are more open and some governments that are less open. But within even those less open governments, there are a lot of governmental units either at the local, provincial, or other ministries that take care of, let’s say, disasters, culture. You always have allies. Yeah.
Denver: Mm-hmm. You touched on your business model before, so let me dig a little bit deeper into that. How does Tenure Facility ensure your financial sustainability to continue this vital work?
Nonette: Yes. So what we do right now is collaborate with not just the private philanthropists, but also governments who are very committed to climate biodiversity targets. Now what we have ongoing now is also to tap into the UNFCCC commitments for funding for climate financing that can flow directly to secured or strongly protected territories as part of nature-based solutions.
So we’re tapping into all these different levels of funds. And the most important part of this is we are tapping into strongly organized, secure, and much more advanced understanding of how to do impact investments among those that are holders of the rights…the rights holders.
And they are basically in this process helping to sustain the rights that they have gained along the way into the future. So there is no dependency. We are here for the long term, but we’re ensuring that the long term… five years is the minimum.
Denver: Yep.
Nonette: We create the ability or we help create because they know actually, we support their understanding of where their best strengths are, and it can vary for different territories… their best strengths in conservation or their strengths in restoration, or their strengths in mitigation, and even just their culture, in maintaining that and ensuring the values continue to basically guide decision makers into the future. Yeah.
“I think the key, if there’s a key word here, is living the partnership model.
So we are not coming with solutions; we actually come in when solutions become clearer, and we work with the communities that are our, let’s say, shortlisted because there’s a long list of who we can support.
But those that are shortlisted, we work with them through a process of extensive consultation and understanding among each other … and with them and governments and others out there about the ecosystem of what we can do and support.”
Denver: Let me ask you about your culture, the organizational culture at Tenure Facility, and I’ll just be curious as to how the kind of work you do shapes the culture among your team who works in Stockholm and around the world, and what you do personally to try to shape the culture of your workplace.
Nonette: What is most interesting is our office looks like the UN. We’re very diverse, and we’re very, very aware and have embedded equity and inclusion in this process. But what we really… I think the key, if there’s a key word here, is living the partnership model.
So we are not coming with solutions; we actually come in when solutions become clearer, and we work with the communities that are our, let’s say, shortlisted because there’s a long list of who we can support.
But those that are shortlisted, we work with them through a process of extensive consultation and understanding among each other… and with them and governments and others out there about the ecosystem of what we can do and support. So this partnership is key and it’s also devolved in a hybrid form.
Denver: Yeah, yeah.
Nonette: So we’re not all in Stockholm. We’re actually spread out. And the model will be purely. as we’ve learned in the pandemic, hybrid.
Denver: Yep. You walk alongside, not in front of and not behind, but alongside with the people that you’re working with and the partners. Speaking of the pandemic, how has your leadership changed? I mean, we’ve all had to be adaptive in terms of trying to lead our organizations through a very, very rough patch.
And there’ve been some, I think, some silver linings that have come from that because some of us have done some things that we would’ve never done otherwise… or would’ve done maybe about 10 years from now. How has your leadership evolved over this period of time?
Nonette: It has developed a really strong sense of or ability of resilience. So basically what it has done is… location is key, and it is also technology, as much as we would have reached places where we couldn’t go, strongly because technology was available, right? So we made that available.
So I guess leadership and our… essentially, our model is now much more resilient. I have much more confidence that we could do this even with my leadership shifting, where if I decide I’d be a regional coordinator instead of a leader. I would basically be able to understand right now what ways and who could move and lead the organization.
So in that sense, it’s the bold, decentralized, and the leadership strengths have surfaced in addition. Yeah.
“It’s ensuring that we do not forget the next generation is as strong as we are. For right now, our tendency is to get really eager to solve problems, lead, lead, and forge ahead. But the next generation, we’re only as strong as they are strong for right now. So what keeps me awake at night is, okay, have we thought about making sure that that collective leadership we have and our partners are taking really proactive steps, not just to involve the youth, but to really give them a chance to make mistakes now?”
Denver: Yeah. No, I think that’s happened a lot; a lot of people had to step up, and you begin to say that this organization is more self-reliant. It isn’t as dependent on any particular individual, but it kind of has a life of its own that would continue on, one way or the other.
Nonette, you have such a huge mandate in front of you with the work that you’re doing. What would you say is your biggest challenge? I mean, maybe you sleep well, maybe you don’t, but what would be the thing that keeps you up at night right now?
Nonette: Oh, you know what it is? It’s ensuring that we do not forget the next generation is as strong as we are. For right now, our tendency is to get really eager to solve problems, lead, lead, and forge ahead. But the next generation, we’re only as strong as they are strong for right now.
So what keeps me awake at night is, okay, have we thought about making sure that that collective leadership we have and our partners are taking really proactive steps, not just to involve the youth, but to really give them a chance to make mistakes now?
As much as we want to have perfect solutions now, we’ve got to be able to take the leap of faith and trust some of these decisions to be made by the next generation. And we have to help while we can, and we’re strong still to support them in that and help them there. Yeah.
Denver: Yeah. Sort of like nature. It’s a long game, and I do think it’s a very difficult tension to have in terms of: What do we need to do today? And do what we need the best we can today. But every once in a while, sacrifice a little bit for today, and have a foot into the future because keeping that balance and keeping that blend is so important.
Nonette: Yeah. And it’s the hardest for me. So my tendencies, okay, we can do this path. We just go ahead and do it. Hold yourself.
Denver: Hold yourself.
Nonette: Allow someone else.
Denver: Well, that’s really developmental leadership, and that’s what a leader has to do. You know what I mean? As you say, you just have to have… because it’s going to go on forever. And if you’re not really bringing people along the way they have to be brought along, you’re not going to go very far.
Hey, this has been great. For listeners who want to learn more about Tenure Facility, tell us a little bit about your website and how they can financially support this great work you’re doing.
Nonette: Yes, thank you. The best feature of our website is you will see what’s going on in the countries in the website. And so there’s stories, and there are updates. And what we are now doing is if anyone wants to donate, we would like to put a QR code in the website. We haven’t done it yet, but soon; in a couple of months, we will.
Yeah. And we would accept any… any donation is valuable. We also work with current nurturing of donors that we have now.
Denver: Fantastic. Well, if I can give you one piece of advice, with the QR code, that’s one of the things that should be done today and not for the next generation. Get it up there.
Hey, I want to thank you so much for being here today, Nonette. It was such a pleasure to have you on the show.
Nonette: Thank you so much, Denver. Likewise. I’m very, very grateful.
Denver Frederick, Host of The Business of Giving serves as a Trusted Advisor and Executive Coach to Nonprofit Leaders. His Book, The Business of Giving: New Best Practices for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Leaders in an Uncertain World, is available now on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.