The policy brief, one of four briefs on the agrarian transition in the Mekong region, explores initiatives and pathways forward to recognise customary tenure arrangements and rights over forest areas in the region. More than 70 million people in the region depend on forest areas but lack formal legal rights to use, manage, and benefit from them. Forest landscapes represent just under half of the region’s total land. Yet, over the past two decades, the region has lost a significant amount of forest due to the expansion of commercial agriculture.

After two years of organizing the LAND-at-scale Exchange in Utrecht, the third LAND-at-scale exchange took place from June 9th to June 13th in Uganda, hosted by LAS partner UN-Habitat/ Global Land Tool Network. Nearly 60 LAS country and knowledge partners came together in Kampala to exchange lessons learned and explore common challenges. As of 2024, twelve country projects are being implemented under the LAS program, namely Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Egypt, Iraq, Mali, Mozambique, the Palestinian Territories, Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda.