Contains introduction; global – a new threat to poor people’s land – biofuels, older threats, decentralisation; regional � ten years ago, regional land policy review, 2006-7, donors, governments and civil society, the policy-implementation gap, decentralisation, your research programme – DLRSA; conclusion. Argues that since policy engagement at the national level in the past decade has not brought too many successes, more might be achieved in future at the decentralised local level.

The MLHUD Sector Strategic Plan for Statistics (SSPS) is a 5 year (2007/8 – 2011/12) plan which provides a framework for further reform and acceleration of statistical development in the sector statistical system. This Plan is intended to guide the development of an integrated, coordinated and coherent statistical system which ensures harmonized data production processes at all levels of administration. Although the Ministry is relatively new, it strives to obtain quality statistics.

Based on field research conducted by two grassroots organizations, CINDI-Kitwe in Zambia and GROOTS Kenya, to map and document cases of property grabbing from children, in particular those who became orphans due to AIDS. Includes problem analysis and study objectives; presenting children’s experiences in Zambia and in Kenya; conclusions and lessons learned.

Includes recent research on children’s property and inheritance rights in Southern and Eastern Africa; inheritance, relevant legislation and policy and the justice system in Zimbabwe; research in Mutoko, Seke, Binga and Manjolo Districts; discussion and recommendations.

Conclusion: "Most relevant reports and surveys I have been able to access state essentially that people from all parts of Burma leave home either in obedience to a direct relocation order from the military or civil authorities or as a result of a process whereby coercive measures imposed by the authorities play a major role in forcing down household incomes to the point where the family cannot survive. At this point, leaving home may seem to be the only option.

[via UNDP, 2008] These 4 Policy Briefs from UNDP show how increasing knowledge about gender relations and empowerment has highlighted the importance of access to and control over land within intra-household gender relations, and what this implies for broader concerns about empowerment of the poor.  Moreover, significant knowledge gaps are also found in discussions on the link between land policies and cultural, territorial and gender empowerment issues.

The Promotional Paper Forest Land Transformation in Latvia by Gunta Bāra has been developed at the Forest Faculty of the Latvian University of Agriculture between 2001 and 2007. Goal of the Promotional Paper: to identify the main problems in transformation of forest land in the Republic of Latvia and gaps in legislative instruments regulating the process of change of land use type, to prepare recommendations for their elimination, to develop a methodology for calculation of compensation for the losses caused to the state as a result of destruction of natural forest environment.

Since 1996, the Centres for Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics of the Universities of Hohenheim and Göttingen and of Berlin's Humboldt University have organised a conference, the ''Tropentag'', once a year to present and discuss recent findings in research on agriculture and rural development. Other universities, like Kassel-Witzenhausen, have joined in, and the number of participants, papers and posters presented has more than doubled.

Forestry education in recent years has largely failed to adequately respond to the dynamics in forestry practice, the demands of the job market and the challenges of new global forestry paradigms.

The paper draws on findings from research in South Sulawesi and Jambi Provinces, Indonesia, looking at the role of collective action in helping two local community groups enhance their bargaining power vis a vis other market players (such as collectors, small- and large-scale industries) and promote an increased demand for non-timber forest products. The first group has traditionally collected rattan (Calamus sp) from surrounding forests and was struggling to sell their products at a better price amid market uncertainties and the lack of supportive government policies.