This policy brief was developed in order to enable a meaningful engagement and policy dialogue with government institutions and other relevant stakeholders about challenges and opportunities related to the recognition of customary tenure in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Customary tenure is understood to be the local rules, institutions and practices governing land, fisheries and forests that have, over time and use, gained social legitimacy and become embedded in the fabric of a society.

Land, Law and Chiefs in Rural South Africa analyses contestations of power and control over land through the lens of local case studies in the densely settled former African ‘homelands’ or Bantustans. These were areas reserved for African occupation by the apartheid government and when the ANC came to power in 1994, they were the poorest and least developed parts of the country. Over the last few decades, mineral deposits have been exploited and some are located close to the boundaries of rapidly expanding cities, such as Durban, where peri-urban land is at a premium.

Un an après l’annonce de l’Engagement, ce premier rapport du Groupe des bailleurs de fonds pour les droits de tenure forestière présente un bilan des progrès réalisés par les donateurs en 2021. Le rapport décrit la façon dont les donateurs œuvrent ensemble, en concertation avec les associations dirigées par les peuples autochtones et les communautés locales.

Le foncier coutumier du Tchad est appréhendé par les chercheurs comme une réalité statique et n’est pas défini de manière cohérente par le législateur. Ses fondements à savoir la sacralité, le caractère collectif et inaliénable qui ressortent dans les différents travaux, sont restés les mêmes à travers le temps. Partant de ce constat, cet article a pour objet d’analyser les mutations du foncier traditionnel de la période coloniale à nos jours.

Land rights are ascendant across the development sector. Movements addressing women’s empowerment, poverty, social justice, food security and climate change are all increasingly turning to land rights to strengthen their cause. In 2022, renowned philanthropist MacKenzie Scott joined these efforts by making an unprecedented $20 million investment in our work. Ms. Scott’s generous gift represents a profound endorsement of the power of land rights to improve the lives of women, men, and communities around the world.

Land tenure is a particularly important issue in Asia, a region most prone to natural disasters and the impacts of climate change and home to the world’s poorest who depend on land for their lives and livelihoods. However, public understanding of the links between climate change, disasters, and land tenure is still very limited, even among civil society organizations.

Comment s’assurer que le processus de réforme foncière en cours en République centrafricaine (RCA) garantisse une protection effective des droits des communautés forestières sur les terres ? Cette question centrale est envisagée notamment au travers de l’impératif de protection de l’environnement et des écosystèmes dont dépendent ces communautés pour leur subsistance et la préservation de leur mode de vie traditionnel.

L’étude y répond atour de deux pôles. L’analyse critique de la législation foncière centrafricaine (I) et des recommandations (II)

Les lois de la République du Congo et de la République centrafricaine (RCA) accordent une protection limitée aux communautés locales et populations autochtones (CLPA) en matière d’accès aux ressources foncières et forestières. Il arrive souvent que des concessions forestières chevauchent les territoires des CLPA et limitent leur accès aux terres et aux ressources. Cependant, les forêts communautaires gagnent progressivement du terrain dans la région.

Thailand is undergoing an important development in its forestry laws. When the Community Forest Act B.E. 2562 was passed in 2019, Thailand had for the first time an official umbrella law to recognize community forestry. Subordinate laws still need to be developed to further clarify the Act for its implementation. 

Indigenous peoples and other local communities (IPLCs) are essential for forests, climate, biodiversity, public health and a host of other local and global ecosystem services. Securing IPLC land rights, helping protect their lands from external threats and supporting their forest management efforts would allow IPLCs to contribute even more to these public goods. Evidence on IPLC forest management has been accumulating steadily over the last decade since this matter gained attention in the climate change policy circles.

Eight facts about community land and biodiversity conservation. This short report synthesizes the scientific evidence affirming the importance of Indigenous Peoples and local communities - and the security of their rights and tenure - in protecting ecosystems and biodiversity. 

Under certain circumstances, land titling, property regime changes, and land‐use conversions yield substantial profits. Yet few people possess the wealth, knowledge, and networks to benefit from these procedures. In the Yucatán Peninsula, a region recently targeted as a prominent investment location by the Mexican national government (mainly with the “Tren Maya” megaproject) and the private capital, forestlands collectively owned as ejidos by Mayan peasants are on the trend to complete privatization.