Despite the local and global importance of forests, deforestation driven by various socio-economic and biophysical factors continues in many countries.

Increased global demand for land posits the need for well-designed country-level land policies to protect long-held rights, facilitate land access and address any constraints that land policy may pose for broader growth.

After the Doi Moi (‘renovation’) reforms in Vietnam from 1986, land ownership rules were adjusted, effectively terminating former land collectivisation efforts. While land ownership remained fully under the control of the state, a 1993 land law conferred 20-year leaseholds to most farmers.

This paper is about the research methods, stages, challenges and results of the LASCAUX programme, a European research programme that took place over five years, between February 2009 and January 2014.

Declines in global biodiversity due to land conversion and habitat loss are driving a "Sixth Mass Extinction" and many countries currently fall short of meeting even nominal land protection targets to mitigate this crisis.