The implementation and sustainability of land administration systems at local level require a favourable social, legal, economic and technical context within which the programmes can operate. When analysing the competences of the municipal governments of Central American countries, it is important to consider both the legal framework and the decentralization policies which determine subnational autonomy, as well as the institutional structure allowing these provisions to be implemented. Access to infrastructures within the territory and the cultural context in which the economic context existing in the area and the forms of management of resources are defined should also be considered.

A favourable setting in this respect means the following:

a) Decentralization policies that provide a clear framework of competences for municipal governments and their possible groupings (association scheme).
b) Legal and regulatory framework which specifies the powers and functions of municipal governments as regards land administration.
c) National land and territory administration institutions which can establish formal links with municipal governments (cadastre, registration, institutions for tenure regularization, territorial planning, etc.) as regards information exchange and capacity building.

During the implementation of LAPs, the theme of municipal autonomy will influence key aspects such as:

• The interest and level of participation of the municipality in processes. The way in which the political and decision-making body of a local government will perceive the risks and benefits of the project versus its own interests.
• The level of long-term implementation of cadastral and territorial information systems.
• The frequency of rotation of specialist municipal staff.
• The type of use of cadastral and territorial information.
• The long-term sustainability of LAP systems and benefits.
• The level of citizen participation.
• The level of legitimacy and confidence in processes.

In Central America LAPs have considered it a priority to define and reconcile links between the cadastral competences of municipal governments and national cadastres to establish systems capable of working in a coordinated manner. This task usually starts from an analysis of the competences and capabilities of both government levels. National cadastre institutions are generally responsible for establishing, maintaining and updating the cadastre, as well as defining policies and establishing agreements with other authorities. At a local level, the main use of cadastral information was to collect property taxes, but efforts have been made to link cadastres to other functions. The work of registering titled land in land registers is generally exclusively the task of centralized institutions which grant their registrars the status of civil servants. However, efforts have been made to give greater powers to municipal governments for land registration, and the Property Law in Honduras (2004) establishes the Associated Centres of the Land Institute for cadastral, titling and registration matters.

The quality of land administration services and the means of implementing them will depend greatly on the following:

a) The values and standards that communities have set up for use and access to land and natural resources.
b) Their organization systems and social participation practices (municipalities with a strong indigenous culture and presence usually have their own organization systems).
c) Preliminary efforts by the population to organize the use of their territory as regards the preservation of natural areas, protection of catchment areas, forestry use, etc.

The cultural setting refers here to the traditional form of administration of land and natural resources. There is a strong tradition in Latin America of common management of communal land, land owned under the ejido system, municipal shipyards and in particular indigenous territories. This cultural setting greatly influences the scope of LAPs as it can limit the competences of the municipal authority as regards titling, management and territorial planning. For example, in the case of land owned under the ejido system, private titling requires the agreement of the other members of the ejido, while in the case of indigenous communities, titling and registration in the land register is not permitted. Generally, territories with common management maintain a more holistic view of the access, use and management of natural resources, which frequently include sacred sites within the territory.

By contrast, there are territories where economic activities have traditionally been linked to the extraction of natural resources, such as forestry use, fishing or mining. Consequently regulatory frameworks may have been set up in these territories, which have guided the form of land management, territorial planning and natural resource use.

The cultural conditions that can influence the results of LAPs at municipal level are the following:

• The form of decision making by members (who participate).
• The organization of the government structure (committee of elders for ICT, presence or absence of a land committee, level of participation of women, etc.).
• The level of awareness of the legal and national institutional framework.
• The strength of customary right and other forms of self-regulation of access to land and natural resources.
• The presence within the territory of areas with special management and ceremonial sites.

Municipalities with more sustained economic growth will tend to do the following:

a) Generate income through raising taxes.
b) Have greater demand for land and therefore a more dynamic market
c) Provide better services to its citizens because there is greater demand for them and resource availability

In municipal districts where there is greater economic dynamism linked to production or extensive urban growth, the land market will be far more dynamic. This situation clearly influences the policies and priorities of municipalities as regards their systems of land administration, raising taxes and developing infrastructure and services. This similarly determines the capability of municipalities as regards raising taxes and generating additional income and, as a consequence, the financial sustainability of local cadastral units and the provision of other services.

Land administration can similarly influence taxation policies and decision-making processes, as an unfair distribution of land and other assets may limit the ability to regulate or increase the tax burden on powerful local elites².

Similarly the lack of local opportunities for generating income can increase migration processes and limit opportunities for the socioeconomic development of municipalities and lead to land reconcentration. Without real opportunities to enter the production market or the labour market, tenure titling can contribute to the sale of land by poorer peasants and accentuate the rural exodus. Studies carried out in Guatemala and Honduras mention the impact of titling and numerous sales of family and cooperative land due to the need for monetary resources³.

In Honduras the LAP II decided to concentrate on municipalities with a more active land market, with the aim of prioritizing the updating of the cadastre and register where the land market was more mobile.

For the provision of land administration services, access is required to the following:

a) Highways connecting municipalities.
b) Highways allowing access between population centres in the same municipality and its capital.
c) Internet.
d) IT networks and connectivity with national or departmental information systems.

Modern land administration systems use data gathered by satellite technology, geographical information systems and information contained in computerized databases. These new systems need existing data infrastructures and connectivity to national information networks. In Asian countries access to the internet has been shown to guarantee better results in LAPs⁴.

Municipalities with high demographic dispersion also need internal communication channels and access to transport systems. This can facilitate access for inhabitants to municipal cadastral units, tax collection offices, tenure titling agencies or dispute resolution authorities. Infrastructures will similarly support operations in markets, capital use and creation, soil use planning, urban and rural infrastructure and to a large extent natural resource management⁵.