Land is critical to the economic, social and cultural development of many countries.

The protection given to the land rights of women, orphans and any other vulnerable groups in Northern and Eastern Uganda is probably as good as can be found anywhere in the world. Customary land law is based on three main principles. First, everyone is entitled to land, and no-one can ever be denied land rights. A second principle is that all inherited land is family land, never individual property.

Local people hold the key to healthy forests, and if forest carbon-financing schemes are to succeed, they must actively engage and benefit these crucial stakeholders.

10,000 Shans uprooted, 500 houses burned in Burmese regime’s latest scorched earth campaign (press release)...

Map of villages forcibly relocated...

Summary of villages forcibly relocated...

Images of the Burmese regime's latest scorched earth campaign

Over the Last three months, acts of unconceivable evil were perpetrated through an eviction operation against indigenous pastoralists in Loliondo. Loliondo is one of the three Divisions of the Ngorongoro District situated in the Arusha Region in Northern Tanzania. The Ngorongoro District Covers an area of about 14037 square Kilometres. Stretching across some 8,300 sq km, is the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, established in 1959 and governed by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, and the rest is the Loliondo Game Control Area consisting of the Sale and Loliondo Divisions.

This urgent alert is based on the forceful evictions of Maasai pastoralists from their homes and grazing lands in Loliondo Division, Ngorongoro District in Northern Tanzania and the gross human rights violations that are being committed. 

The eviction operation started on the 4th July 2009 and was conducted by the notorious riot police, the Field Force Unit, with assistance of private guards from the Otterlo Business Cooperation (OBC). They entered the villages by shooting in the air and using teargas before pouring petrol on the Maasai homes and setting them on fire.

The implementation of the South–South REDD process was made achievable by those who assumed leadership roles (political and technical), facilitated the meetings and the logistics on the ground (especially the consultations and training) and acted as resources people. It would be impossible to name everyone, but in particular we would like to thank the Minister of Environment, Alcinda Abreu, and Vice-Minister, Ana Chichava, who provided the leadership and often challenged the technical experts.

In December 2004, the passing of the Forest Protection and Development Law (FPDL) legally recognized community forest management (CFM) in Vietnam for the first time. Despite this step, skepticism remains about whether CFM can work in practice and to what extent legal recognition contributes to effective forest protection and management.

During 2008, in response to these concerns, the Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG) visited 25 villages to learn from field implementation of CFM in seven provinces.

Este documento contiene información, análisis, doctrina, legislación comparada y propuestas normativas, relativas al diseño de implementación de autonomías indígenas según la tipología de casos. Los objetivos específicos de la investigación fueron tres: 1. Proporcionar herramientas de información y análisis que faciliten el trabajo legislativo de la Comisión de Descentralización y Participación Popular. 2. Recopilar doctrina y legislación comparada para sustentar las propuestas normativas referidas a la implementación de la autonomía indígena según tipología de casos. 3.

O presente estudo que tem como objectivo colher informação sobre o estágio actual do direito da mulher à terra em Moçambique tendo como base quatro áreas principais: sensibilização e conhecimentos sobre o direito da mulher à terra, mobilização do apoio político para o direito da mulher ao uso e controlo da terra, controlo da mulher sobre a terra e apoio para prática de uma agricultura sustentável.

In Mozambique, the debate on agrofuels has steadily advanced over the last five years, fueled by industry speculation and demand, grand promises and foreign interests. Investors have applied for rights to close to 5 million hectares in Mozambique in 2007 alone, nearly one-seventh of the country’s officially defined “arable” land and is rushing to create favorable conditions for investors at the cost of civil rights of Mozambicans.

This study assessed the preference for and efficiency of land tenure contract arrangements in rice farming in West Java, Indonesia. Specifically, it examined the transaction costs associated with land tenure contracts, the land tenure contract preference, the efficiency of land tenure contracts, and the policy agenda to address the problems of land tenure efficiency. Three types of land tenure contracts were considered: sharecropping, fixed rental and mortgage.