This second Forest Tenure Funders Group (FTFG) annual report analyzes progress against the five-year, $1.7 billion commitment to the tenure rights and forest guardianship of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPs and LCs) in tropical forest countries announced at COP26.
The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) and the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (F&G) are important international and continental instruments for improving the governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests for improved food security and nutrition. They are useful for dealing with the many tenure challenges confronting developing countries and set the standards and frameworks for improvement.
The laws in the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic provide limited protection to indigenous peoples and local communities regarding access to land and forest resources. Often, logging concessions overlap their territories, restricting access to lands and resources. However, the development of community forests is gaining momentum in the region. These can help secure customary tenure, sustainably manage resources and improve livelihoods for indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs).
Across the globe, the legal land rights and tenure of many Indigenous peoples are yet to be recognized. A growing body of research demonstrates that tenure of Indigenous lands improves livelihoods and protects forests in addition to inherently recognizing human rights. However, the effect of tenure on environmental outcomes has scarcely been tested in regions with high development pressure, such as those with persisting forest–agriculture conflicts.
Two major innovations have inter alia emerged from the land reform in Madagascar: (i)
decentralised land management through the creation of local land offices, and (ii)
certification, which enables individuals to register private property provided the community
agrees on the legitimacy of the claimed rights.
Despite the political crisis and the withdrawal of international aid during this period (2009 -
2013), new local land offices have been created, and now cover a third of the country’s
Land tenure security has come to the forefront of the sustainable development agenda in recent years. In part this is due to its foundational and fundamental nature. Ways to manage and allocate rights over resources, and our relationships to it, are some of the first ‘commons’ issues fledgling societies face. The ripple effects of land tenure security are now widely recognized as having implications for not just the way natural resources are managed, but also for household income and investment, well-being, and health. (excerpt from Forward).
On 5 March 2021 the Namibian Ministry of Land Reform issued 988 land holder titles to nine associations in Freedom Square;an informal settlement in Gobabis municipality;with an additional 122 to be printed in due course. This is a huge milestone to the residents of Freedom Square and to the stakeholders championing the improvement of tenure security of middle and low-income groups residing in different informal settlements of Namibia.
Land use planning is rarely a neutral process. Stakeholders often use it to control access to, ownership
of and use of land. It is therefore essential to have a participatory tool (with constantly counterchecked processes) and flexible monitoring approaches to ensure sustainable land use and secure
land tenure. The Practical Guide presents a unique approach to simultaneously addressing land
use and tenure security challenges at the country level. The information and processes presented
The Open Up Guide on Land Governance is a resource aimed to be used by governments from developing countries to collect and release land-related data to improve data quality, availability, accessibility and use for improved citizen engagement, decision making and innovation. It sets out:
Key datasets for land management accountability, and how they should be collected, stored, shared and published for improving land governance and transparency;
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 recognizing customary tenure in Cambodia.
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