Second issue of the Journal, which is now published in both hardcopy and in electronic formats and provides an open, impartial and practice-oriented global forum for promoting the latest knowledge in land tenure. This issue features five continents and subcontinents exploring common challenges including tenure governance, the legal recognition of customary tenures, land scarcity and redistributive reforms, and the increasing role of information technology in tenure systems.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and several development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private sector, academic and research institutions, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure.

Concentration of land ownership, lack of access, insecurity of tenure and lack of efficiency and transparency in land administration services, are among the obstacles towards responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources in Latin America. These issues have been the subject of discussions and policy recommendations during many international forums, such as the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD) held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in March 2006.

Land administration and cadastral systems are playing a crucial global role in safeguarding the security of access to land and natural resources. Information technology systems have become basic elements of these systems everywhere. Introduction of automation to land administration has improved systems’ efficiency, standardisation and accessibility, which in turn have contributed to responsible land governance. Developing country land administrations are, however, often inefficient and poorly structured.

Land Tenure Working Paper 17. This publication identifies and assesses issues related to land governance and provides examples of good governance in the Caribbean subregion. This working paper was done in light of FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and other Natural Resources.

The course introduces spatial planning, identifying its rationale and benefits, its key principles and the main stages in the spatial planning process. It represents a useful reference for all those who want to promote and implement spatial planning in their countries as an instrument to reconcile and harmonize different, often conflicting, public and private interests on land, fisheries and forests.

Recent years have witnessed a renewed interest in agricultural investment. In many cases, this new momentum has translated into large-scale acquisitions of farmland in lower- and middle-income countries. Partly as a result of sustained media attention, these acquisitions have triggered lively if polarised debates about “land grabbing”. Less attention has been paid, however, to alternative ways of structuring agricultural investments that do not involve large-scale land acquisitions.

Document de travail sur les régimes fonciers 17. Cet article identifie et analyse des questions relatives à la gouvernance des terres et apporte des exemples de bonne gouvernance de la sous-région des Caraïbes. Cette étude a été conduite en vue de l’initiative de la FAO sur les Directives Volontaires sur la gouvernance responsable de la tenure des terres et des autres ressources naturelles. Disponible en anglais

Revue internationale des forts et des industries forestires

Revue internationale des forts et des industries forestires