National Land Agency BPN - Republic of Indonesia (1995):
International Workshop on the Implementation of Rural Land Consolidation

2.3 Land Policy Indicators

Land policy indicators are statistical measures that tell us about the status of the land in the relation to a broad political, social or economic goal.

Land policy indicators indicate how well or poorly societies are doing to achieve a perceived goal.

An ideal indicator meets four criteria:

• It is reliable statistical measure;
• It is measured in a comparable fashion over time and space;
• Its changes can be assessed against a valid norm or standard, and
• It bears upon a clearly identifiable development goal.

In short, indicators should be based on data collection and processing techniques that are of known quality; be composed of time series and interspatial comparisons so that changes and differences can be observed; grow out of or reflect the best knowledge of established models of natural and human-induces phenomena; and generally be agreed upon as showing progress toward or away from accepted development goals.

There is a fifth criterion: that an indicator be based on information that is useable by decision-makers. That means developing indicators at the level of an administrative unit for which policy is made, most often the nation, province or district.

A land policy analysis framework provides a means of organizing indicators in ways useful for and governments. As such a framework helps land policy makers and the public to see land problems as interconnected and to design and implement policies that address problems at the appropriate levels.

The pressure-state-response-framework is a very useful way and easy to understand the organisation and selection of indicators.