Produced jointly by the secretariats of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), with contributions from multiple stakeholders, this technical guide addresses the integration of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) within the implementation of the UNCCD and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), thus opening a new chapter in ongoing efforts to combat desertification, land degradation, and drought

Given the urgent need to prevent a collapse of biodiversity across the Earth, certain governments, organizations, and  conservationists have put forward proposals for
bringing 30 percent and up to 50 percent of the planet’s terrestrial areas under formal “protection and conservation” regimes. However, given that important

Land degradation neutrality (LDN) has been defined by the Parties to the Convention as: A state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within specified temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems. The present report is an overview of the status of land degradation neutrality (LDN) in the region including a national overview for the 17 programme countries.

This report summarizes the science on the biophysical effects of deforestation on climate stability and explores the policy implications of the resulting impacts at three scales: global climate policy, regional cooperation on precipitation management, and national policies related to agriculture and public health. For each of these policy arenas, there are promising entry points to address current gaps through innovations in policies and institutions.

Overview of the State of Forests and Forest Management in Azerbaijan derives from the project on the state of forests in the Caucasus and Central Asia and presents the forest resources and the forest sector of Azerbaijan, including trends in, and pressures on forests. The overview describes policies and institutions of forest sector in Azerbaijan and major challenges the sector faces as well as policy responses in place or planned.

In the Republic of Azerbaijan forested areas cover 1,021 hectares of the land, which is 11.8% of the country’s territory. In the 18th-19th centuries however, this figure stood at 30- 35%. The per capita forest area is 0.12 hectares, which is 4 times less (0.48 hectares) than the average international indicator.

Les lois de la République du Congo et de la République centrafricaine (RCA) accordent une protection limitée aux communautés locales et populations autochtones (CLPA) en matière d’accès aux ressources foncières et forestières. Il arrive souvent que des concessions forestières chevauchent les territoires des CLPA et limitent leur accès aux terres et aux ressources. Cependant, les forêts communautaires gagnent progressivement du terrain dans la région.

Thailand is undergoing an important development in its forestry laws. When the Community Forest Act B.E. 2562 was passed in 2019, Thailand had for the first time an official umbrella law to recognize community forestry. Subordinate laws still need to be developed to further clarify the Act for its implementation. 

This report brings together four studies that evaluate regulatory initiatives with implications for forest-dependent communities from a rights-based perspective. These are: The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 – India; Regulatory initiatives and selected outcomes of judicial processes in Malaysia; The Community Forest Act (2007) – Thailand; and The Indigenous People’s Rights Act (1997) – Philippines. Each study covers law making, content and implementation.