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Customary land titling has made been possible for the first time in Vietnam under the country's newly revised Land Law. This policy brief highlights the key findings and recommendations arising from Government-donor discussions on the implementation of customary titling - an approach to land tenure and management which finds strong and growing support in many other countries. In Vietnam, as elsewhere, customary titling largely concerns areas of forest land held or claimed by ethnic minority groups, and therefore needs to be approached with sensitivity. Customary titling should first be carried out for those communities already seen to be managing forest or "unused" land in practice, before being attempted more widely. This needs to involve: first, drawing relevant lessons from ongoing pilot activities, based on a careful assessment of their impacts. Second, the necessary legal framework requires more complete elaboration, which may be addressed through the current revision of the Forest Protection and Development Law. And third, the institutional framework for implementation needs to be developed, along with "how to" guidelines and appropriate funding arrangements.
