You can remember the meaning of 本地 with this easy mnemonic:
It is sad that the <strong>original</strong> (本) occupiers of so many <strong>lands</strong> (地) lost their lands because the invaders had weapons to threaten them. All politics is <strong>local</strong>.
Using mnemonics to remember the meaning of Chinese characters like can have an enormous impact on how long to learn Mandarin it takes.