Since the turn of the century, 27,000 km2 of land in Cambodia has been deforested. This is 14.8% of total land area in the country. It also represents 26.4% of forest cover as existed in 2000.

An acceleration in deforestaton is seen from the early 2000s to 2010. For the land‐grab aficionado, the trend runs parallel to the ‘global land rush’ and mirrors the evolution of agricultural commodites prices.

The second day of the Forum built upon discussions around customary land tenure in the Mekong region, but with a focus upon private sector investment practices, particularly concerning agriculture and the potential impact on smallholder farmers, the rural poor, and the environment.

In this first edition, Daniel Hayward brings you four articles that talk about customary land tenure and responsible agricultural investment. It’s a prelude to the 3rd Mekong Regional Land Forum with each article unfolding the topic of each session.

Banks must stand with Indigenous and local communities in respecting their land rights

In 2018, every week more than three people were murdered, defending their land and environment from destructive industries like mining, logging and agribusiness. These killings represent the extreme end of a spectrum of violence and threats directed at land rights defenders.

In the past decade, significant international attention focused on “land grabs” in developing countries by companies and others hungry for land to grow food and procure resources for the world’s growing population.

In the fading afternoon light, Kou Berpa leads a small group out to a patch of land a short distance off of the main road in Ganta, Liberia.

The land is strewn with rocks and dried vegetation. The jagged remains of a tree stump consume one corner. It’s easy to miss the green shoots scattered across the grounds – the beginnings of a crop of corn that Kou has planted.

By Noel Taylor, Cadasta Foundation CEO

This blog was written as a contribution to the Mekong Regional Land Forum taking place from June 21-23 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Philip Hirsch is a keynote speaker at this event.

By Philip Hirsch, Professor of Human Geography in the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney

By Diana Suhardiman and Emily Koo

Laos has conceded a significant amount of land to foreign investors, with estimates placing 15% of the country’s land under foreign control. Such land concessions, or the granting of rights to land, are positioned by the government as critical to economic growth and poverty reduction.