In this issue of the NR Newsletter, we welcome 2012 as the UN-declared International Year of Energy for All, an opportunity to concentrate global attention on the challenges facing both developed and developing countries when addressing access to and efficient use of sustainable energy sources. We also take a look at an interesting land tenure project that aims to bring advanced technology land registration systems to developing countries, through low-cost open-source software.

Al igual que con ocasin de los anteriores congresos, este nmero de Unasylva, que precede inmediatamente a la inauguracin, est dedicado a algunos de los principales problemas relativos a la materia forestal. En una entrevista, el Director General de la FAO, E. Saouma, comenta la situacin de los bosques en el mundo y pone de relieve las actividades forestales prioritarias de la Organizacin en el presente decenio. Respecto de la asistencia a los pases miembros, M.K. Muthoo, Director del Servicio de Operaciones Forestales, describe la reciente evolucin del programa de campo; M.R.

أعد هذا الدليل لمساعدة المتخصصين في حيازة الأراضي وفي الإدارة العقارية لمن يشتركون في إعادة بناء نظم الحيازة والإدارة العقارية في بلدان خرجت من صراع عنيف. وفي هذه الظروف يكون توفير أمن الحصول على الأراضي أمرا شديد التعقيد. والمعتاد أن تؤدي الصراعات العنيفة إلى نزوح كثير من الناس. وفي نهاية الصراع قد يجد العائدون إلى ديارهم أن أرضهم في أيدي آخرين. وقد تكون هناك عدة مطالبات مشروعة تتنافس على نفس الأرض وذلك بسبب تتابع موجات النزوح - وقد لا يستطيع كثيرون استرداد أراضيهم ويضطرون إلى الاستيطان في مكان آخر.

Compulsory acquisition is the power of government to acquire private rights in land without the willing consent of the owner or occupant in order to benefit society and is often necessary for social and economic development and the protection of the natural environment. The exercise of these powers is frequently contentious and problematic. The guide explains what compulsory acquisition and compensation are, and what constitutes good practice in this area, examining the consequences of poor legislation, procedures and implementation.

This document reports on the regional consultation for Southern America (including Mexico), held in Brasilia on 20 and 21 of May 2010 with the support of the Government of Brazil and preceded by a civil society meeting composed of organizations integrating the International NGO/CSO Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC), whose recommendations have been annexed at this document.

Document de travail sur les régimes fonciers 10. L’unité de gestion des terres et des régimes fonciers de la FAO travaille avec des partenaires pour développer des directives volontaires sur la gouvernance responsable de la tenure des terres et des autres ressources naturelles qui peuvent être adoptées au niveau international et mises en œuvre par les Etats. Le document de discussion a été préparé afin de recueillir des avis et des commentaires sur le contenu et sur l’étendue des directives volontaires.

在所有发展中国家地区，妇女对农村经济做出重大贡献。妇女的这一作用因地区而异，然而，妇女获取提高生产力所需资源和机会的手段总是比男人的少。增加妇女获取土地、牲畜、教育、金融服务、推广、技术和农村就业的手段，将提高妇女的生产力，促进农业增产、粮食安全、经济增长和社会福利。仅在农业投入品方面缩小性别差距这一项，就能使一亿到一点五亿人摆脱贫困。缩小性别差距没有现成蓝图，但有些基本原则普遍适用：政府、国际社会和民间社会应携手努力，按法律规定消除歧视，促进资源获取手段和机会的平等，确保农业政策和计划考虑性别问题，聆听妇女作为可持续发展平等伙伴的声音。农业方面实现男女平等，赋予妇女权能，不仅应该做到，而且对农业发展和粮食安全至关重要。

This guide on Rural property tax systems in Central and Eastern Europe has been prepared to support governments in the design and implementation of systems to raise revenues at local levels. An increasing number of countries are introducing policies to decentralize the provision of rural services but very often local levels of government have insufficient funds to carry out these newly decentralized responsibilities. Raising revenues through property taxes on rural land represents one way to improve the capacity of local levels to deliver services.

This study is a revised version of a working document originally prepared by FAO in April 1995 analysing the policy and legal options available for dealing with the sensitive issue of foreign ownership of land. It provides information on the approaches that are, or have been adopted to regulate foreign ownership of land. As such, it aims at providing a framework for analysis and a representative sample of the legal techniques and strategies that have been devised to deal with the issue; it is not intended to be an authoritative summary of the state of the law in this area.

This guide on Leasing agricultural land is designed to provide information on leasing arrangements in a format that can be used by grassroots organizations that work with small farmers and others in rural communities. Fair and secure leasing arrangements that balance the interests of the tenant and the land owner can lead to improvements in access to land for farming, better agricultural production and improved access to food. At the core of most land-leasing arrangements are three issues shared by tenant and land owner alike: risk, security and trust.

An international journal of forestry and forest industries