Includes what is the problem and what can be done?; the law and customary land rights; how does Forest Law treat customary land rights?; lessons from other African states; the way forward. Argues that the current de jure reality is that most rural Cameroonians are little more than squatters on their own land with regard to forests and other land assets.

Includes public lands, land monopolies, examples of total and partial state monopolies on land, ideas implicit in the state monopoly on land. Aims to clarify different conceptions of state-owned land so we can better assess their implications for land policies.

Looks at nomadic pastoralists’ rights to resources, rights to land and resources in Winye country in Burkina Faso, and land rights in forested areas and plantation economies. These suggest that we should always think of land as both a private and communal resource, consider the nature of different individual and collective actors, and see them as possible rights holders who may be recognized or ignored.