Speaker
Description
The paper presents various forms of ownership in Slovakia, their historical context and changes over time. The theoretical part focuses on the forms of land ownership relations in Horehronie, their specifics, uniqueness and use in the past. Results from field research, structured interviews and simple cartographic methods applied to the case study of Horehronie, provides an exploration of these forms of ownership relations and their functioning in the present. Specifically, the research will focus on the Upper Horehronie region. The choice of the Upper Horehronie case study area is based on previous knowledge and also on research that has been carried out in this area. The natural boundaries of Horehronie and the economic isolation of the area have elevated the territory of the Upper Hron into a separate cultural area. With the stabilisation of the settlement structure, the emergence of feudalism and the establishment of land ownership in the 11th century in what was then Hungary (today's Slovakia), a diversified traditional landscape emerged, which was shaped mainly by the influence of ownership relations. The Hungarian law of inheritance, which ensured the inheritance of land among all descendants, formed the basis of a small-scale structured agricultural landscape. These ownership relations have had a significant impact on the way the landscape continues to function, extending into the present day. The basic forms of property law that will be discussed in this article are private ownership and fractional undivided ownership. These forms of private ownership and fractional ownership have had and continue to have significance and relevance to land use today. In addition to private ownership of land farmed individually by individual owners, there were also forms of collective farming in the Horehronie region on land that was indivisibly owned by a collective. The forms of undivided share ownership in Slovakia include land communities: forest communities and pasture communities. Forest and pasture communities were also in existence in the past in the Horehronie region. They laid the historical foundation and the relationship with the landscape. Of these, the forest community form has been preserved. In Slovakia, the current challenge is to make effective use of these forms of ownership relations for the efficient use of land. It is land management that is a key instrument for improving the structure of the landscape in Slovakia. In 2019, the Government of Slovakia approved the Draft Measures for the accelerated implementation of land adjustments, which have no legislative basis. The essence of these measures is to carry out land adjustments, in all cadastral territories in Slovakia, if they have not yet taken place in a given cadastral territory. These land adjustments have the potential, particularly in relation to the efficient use of land, the expansion of a number of landscape features, the increase of biodiversity in the landscape and, last but not least, the promotion of a sustainable cultural landscape. By linking to historic functioning communities, they can also be the basis for large-scale changes in the future in the context of landscapes that can be seen as part of our identity. Theoretical research, field research and structured interviews with interested communities capture a changes over time in the landscape of Horehronie. An assessment of the current state of private and share ownership in Horehronie, contributes significantly to further research and upcoming land reform in Slovakia.
| Keywords | Land policy, climate mitigation and adaptation, Cultural Landscape |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
