Land Access for Collective Liberation

Access to land shapes our abilities to sustain ourselves and our communities, to build culture rooted in place, to grow collective wealth, and to learn to live responsibly with the ecologies that make our lives possible. Many Mainers, however, are thwarted from secure land tenure by economic, racial, and other inequalities. In Maine, 25% of the land is owned by 7 families and corporations, while Wabanaki Nations hold less than 1.3% and other people of color own less than .1%.

In response to the urgent need for land justice, this project connects land seekers with permanent land tenure.

We collaborate with communities on the frontlines of land injustice to find, acquire, and protect land that offers space for housing, community connection, food cultivation, security and liberation. Secure, equitable land tenure is at the root of community resilience. Viable pathways to land tenure is one key way BIPOC and low-income communities can grow generational wealth, wellbeing, and self determination. 

How does it work? 

We work one on one with land seekers to acquire land that meets their vision and needs. While each collaboration is unique, all follow a similar overall process: 

  1. We consult with land-seekers to identify their community land aspirations. 
  2. We find donors and/or sellers of well-suited land. 
  3. If a land purchase is necessary, we offer a Community Financing program to generate grassroots funding for the purchase of land. 
  4. We pursue necessary steps to transfer this land into our community land trust structure, which makes the land permanently affordable. 
  5. We redistribute the long-term use and care of this land to the new land stewards, and provide ongoing support to ensure long-term success on the land.
  6. The Commons acts as a solidarity network, facilitating collaboration and resource sharing between land parcels, building a thriving community on the land.  

If you are part of a BIPOC-led group seeking land for organizing, housing, food cultivation, or community building, and are interested in finding out more about how Land in Common can partner with you to find affordable land, we’d love to hear from you!

If you own land, and are interested in gifting it in support of land justice, please see our Call for Land!