The Executive Yuan today approved amending Article 37 of the Utilization and Transfer of Reserved Mountainous Land Act, which regulates reserved lands' superficies and acquisition by indigenous peoples. The proposal will be sent to the Legislature for deliberation.
The amendment is meant to harmonize the act with revisions to the Civil Code promulgated on February 3, 2010. Along with delineating agricultural right, it authorizes the Regulations on Development and Management of the Lands Reserved for Indigenous Peoples in order to safeguard the rights of the indigenous peoples.
Premier Jiang said that this revision, which takes into consideration the management of national land, afforestation, conservation and safeguarding the livelihoods of indigenous peoples, has preserved the current provision under which indigenous peoples must use land for five years before they may acquire ownership of it.
Originally, Article 832 of the Civil Code stipulated that indigenous peoples that grew bamboo or trees on indigenous reserved lands had established superficies of the land in which the trees grew. After using that land for five years, they could obtain ownership of it, in accordance with Article 37 of the Utilization and Transfer of Reserved Mountainous Land Act enacted in 1976 and since revised five times.
The revised Civil Code promulgated on February 3, 2010, however, ruled out the establishment of superficies from planting bamboos and trees in Article 832 and required those planting bamboos and trees to establish agricultural right to it based on Article 850-1.
The amendment to the reserved mountainous land act approved today is meant to help indigenous peoples acquire land after holding the agricultural right to it for five years. It reads as follows, with the newly introduced text underlined:
Article 37: Indigenous peoples will be counseled to develop and acquire tillage, superficies, agricultural right or leasehold over reserved mountainous land within slopeland. Such indigenous peoples will acquire title to the land gratis if the duration of their tillage, superficies and agricultural right has continued for five years. Official land transfers can be made only among indigenous peoples, except for those transfers designated for specific purposes by the government. Indigenous reserved lands' acquisitions and transfers, land management, development, utilization, conservation and forest product management as well as other related matters shall be stipulated by the Executive Yuan.
The premier directed the Council of Indigenous Peoples and COA to explain to the public the purpose of the revision and to proactively communicate with both the ruling and opposition legislative caucuses.