The first session of the 3rd Mekong Regional Land Forum looked to clarify an understanding of customary land tenure systems, and bring a focus upon communities living in and around forestland areas of the Mekong region. The session observed some of the policy developments that could lead to greater recognition of customary tenure and land security for community members.
 

Summaries and selected replays from the 3rd Mekong Regional Land Forum are available below. Full replays of the plenary sessions will be posted shortly -- check back soon!

In Dr. Tajamul Haque’s untimely demise on 2nd May, India has lost a scholar policy maker, a champion of the causes of farmers, tribal, an advocate of land rights for women and dalits and a messiah for marginal farmers and tenants. With his departure, farmers lost a tireless, fearless advocate at the echelon of power corridors, while for ministers and secretaries, gone now is a highly knowledgeable yet an unassuming pragmatic advisor.

“Tenure and its governance are crucial factors in the fight against inequality and discrimination, for sustainable use of the environment, social stability and resilience toward the overall achievement of the SDGs.”  FAO, Why Land Rights Matter, 2020

This blog was originally published at: https://www.evalforward.org/blog/participatory-evaluation-myanmar

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This piece was written by Tedi Rabold about the completed U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) LESTARI project.

Written by Jagat Deuja and Rachel Knight for IIED and CSRC. Originally posted at: https://www.iied.org/helping-indigenous-communities-secure-land-rights-nepal

Main photo: Young 'social mobilisers' interviewed more than 2,700 landless or untenanted families and gathered the data that was needed for the government to register their tenure (Photo: copyright Kumar Thapa, CSRC)

We need to understand the consequences of technology, migration, climate shifts, infrastructure and a growing middle class on forest-dependent people

The fifth anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement offers a moment to reflect on progress towards global climate goals. When it comes to protecting the world’s forests, which are essential to global and national efforts to combat climate change and biodiversity loss, there has been little – if any – progress.

How to get tree planting — and growing — right

This article was originally published by Forests News

The  ability of the Embera villages in Panama to shut off the road into their community, and to exclude outsiders, is based in large measure on the government’s official recognition of their indigenous collective land rights.

This is a special Earth Day Op-Ed by Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders and Michael Taylor, the Director of the International Land Coalition Secretariat.