ABSTRACTED FROM THE INTRODUCTION: My focus in this paper is on the kinds of development pursued by state agencies and large international aid organisations, and specifically, the displacement effects of what I am calling the new land tenure reform agenda. I will illustrate my arguments through an account of the Land and Forest Allocation Programme in Laos.

Over 943,069 hectares of land in rural Cambodia have been granted to private companies as economic land concessions, for the development of agro-industrial plantations. Thirty-six of these 59 concessions have been granted in favour of foreign business interests or prominent political and business figures. These statistics exclude smaller economic land concessions granted at the provincial level, for which information on numbers and ownership has not been disclosed.

Land is the repository of memory and keeps traces of the past in the absence of a strong written tradition. It is perceived as an open book from which anyone can read and learn about local history: place names, old roads, legends and stories attached to places. For local people, bulldozing the landscape is seen as erasing their history, and disturbing social organisations and traditions. In Cambodia--as in many other countries--land is an extremely important economic resource and asset. Land is livelihood.

Land is the most important productive asset in agrarian societies such as Cambodia’s. Throughout Cambodian history, land ownership rights have varied with changes in government. In the period before French colonisation (pre-1863), when all land belonged to the sovereign, people were freely allowed to till unoccupied land and could cultivate as much as they liked. With French colonisation, a property-rights system was introduced in 1884.

Since 2009, Oxfam and others have been raising the alarm about a great global land rush. Millions of hectares of land have been acquired by investors to meet rising demand for food and biofuels, or for speculation. This often happens at the expense of those who need the land most and are best placed to protect it: farmers, pastoralists, forest-dependent people, fisherfolk, and indigenous peoples.

 

A new report offers evidence that the modest investments needed to secure land rights for indigenous communities will generate billions in returns—economically, socially and environmentally—for local communities and the world’s changing climate. The report, Climate Benefits, Tenure Costs: The Economic Case for Securing Indigenous Land Rights, quantifies for the first time the economic value of securing land rights for the communities who live in and protect forests, with a focus on Colombia, Brazil, and Bolivia.

Presentation by Robin Rajack, IDB Urban Land Governance and Tenure Security through the eyes of International Development Banks

Proyecto: "Mejorando el acceso a la tierra urbana y los derechos a la propiedad de mujeres y familias excluidas en Bolivia" Para responder la pregunta de investigación que motivó esta consultoría ¿Cuánto cuesta vivir en el Distrito 9?

Presentación de Anna Pont, Shelter Cluster Americas, durante la Reunión de Expertos en Gobernanza Responsable del Suelo y Seguridad de Tenencia en América Latina y Caribe, realizada en San José, Costa Rica, en Julio de 2016. Shelter Cluster y Derecho a la Vivienda, Tierra y Propiedad en la Provisión de Alojamiento Housing, Land and Property (HLP) Rights Within the Provision of Shelter Assistance

Concept Note of the Experts Group Meeting "Concepts, Contexts, and Solutions for Responsible Land Governance, and Secure Tenure in Latin America and the Caribbean", held in San José, Costa Rica, in July 2016. The aim of the study is to generate recommendations for partnerships, collaboration, and action to advancing responsible governance, and land tools for access to and secure land tenure, and contribute to the effective implementation of the New Agenda Urbana in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

Minutes of the Experts Group Meeting about Land Governance and Security of Tenure in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Presentation of the Paper prepared for presentation at the "ANNUAL WORLD BANK CONFERENCE ON LAND AND POVERTY" The World Bank - Washington DC, April 23-26, 2012. A study developed by HFH Brazil and Cendhec implementing partners of the Empowering Women and Vulnerable Groups to Exercise their Rights for Inclusion and Secure Land Tenure and Property, in Brazil; project funded by UKAID.