A land exchange or land swap is the voluntary exchange of land between two parties, typically a private owner and a government. These parties may include farmers, estate owners, developers, nature organizations, and governments. Land swaps may also take place between two sovereign nations for practical, geographical, or economic reasons.
The exchange of land is undertaken for a variety of reasons, among them the conversion or rehabilitation of a parcel of land to nature or to further the aims of real estate developers. Exchanges frequently present substantial challenges and risks to conservation efforts, particularly in safeguarding historic landscapes, as well as raising public access concerns for land that transitions from public to private ownership.
After the Netherlands designated the Dutch National Ecological Network, provincial governments in the country established programs offering financial and organizational assistance for the acquisition of agricultural land and its restoration to more natural habitats.
Examples
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2021) |
Bangladesh and India
Jordan
- Jordan transfer desert lands to Saudi Arabia in exchange to land south of Aqaba in 1965 so Jordan can extend its only sea access.
Kosovo and Serbia
- Proposed land swap Kosovo–Serbia land swap
United Kingdom
- The township of Boycott (in the parish of Stowe), transferred to Buckinghamshire.
- The parish of Swineshead was an exclave of the county surrounded by Bedfordshire, 1278 acres (517 ha). In 1896, the parish was transferred to Bedfordshire in exchange for the parish of Tilbrook.
United States
Notes
- ^ Bakker et al. 2015.
- https://www.preserverollinspass.org/take-action/land-exchanges/
- https://inthesetimes.com/article/public-land-exchanges-privatization-wealthy-landowners
- https://montanafreepress.org/2025/01/20/forest-service-authorizes-controversial-crazy-mountains-land-swap/
- https://coloradosun.com/2023/02/24/blue-valley-ranch-land-swap-controversy/
- https://www.skyhinews.com/news/blue-valley-ranch-colorado-paul-tudor-jones-land-exchange/
- Ordnance Survey First Edition, sheet 45 1833
- The House of Lords 1873 p. 38
- Parliamentary Papers: 1850-1908 Vol. 4 p. 4
References
- Bakker, Martha M.; Alam, Shah Jamal; van Dijk, Jerry; Rounsevell, Mark D.A. (February 2015). "Land-use change arising from rural land exchange: an agent-based simulation model". Landscape Ecology. 30 (2): 273–286. doi:10.1007/s10980-014-0116-x.
Further reading
- Brown, S.J.M. (2000). "David and Goliath: Reformulating the definition of the public interest and the future of land swaps after the Interstate 90 Land Exchange". Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation. 15: 235–.
- Stengel, Amy (Summer 2001). "Insider's game or valuable land management tool-current issues in the Federal Land Exchange Program". Tulane Environmental Law Journal. 14 (2): 567–596. JSTOR 43292609.
- Yue, C. (June 2010). "Research into Chongqing's Securitized Land Exchange System".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
 | This law-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |