This report is based on 10 research projects carried out in 18 sites in seven countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Viet Nam. The studies formed the basis of ten informational briefs from the research sites published together with the report (available here: https://www.recoftc.org/publications/0000432). Each study documented the legal frameworks and customary practices that affect indigenous women’s rights to access and manage forest resources and create restrictions on those rights.

Across the globe, the legal land rights and tenure of many Indigenous peoples are yet to be recognized. A growing body of research demonstrates that tenure of Indigenous lands improves livelihoods and protects forests in addition to inherently recognizing human rights. However, the effect of tenure on environmental outcomes has scarcely been tested in regions with high development pressure, such as those with persisting forest–agriculture conflicts.

Globally, about 2 billion people claim ownership of their homes and lands through a customary tenure system. Customary tenure has long been insecure and is under growing pressure in many places. But it is also increasingly recognized through a variety of mechanisms, formal and informal. RECOFTC released a new report on the recognition of customary tenure of communities living in forested landscapes in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Viet Nam. It also includes a case study from Thailand.

They has been a growing emphasis on the importance of lease held tenure and the benefits it offer’s to a country’s economic growth and development. The Food and Agriculture Organization define land tenure as  the relationship, whether legally or customarily defined, among people, as individuals or groups, with respect to land.  Researchers and social scientists continue to advocate for lease held tenure while customary tenure has been associated with insecurity due to the lack of formal administration.

The case study explores the intersect between customary tenure systems and gender roles in two villages in Phongsali district in the north of Laos. The country has a diverse population of ethnic communities who depend on forests and other natural resources for their livelihoods. These communities play an important role for conserving complex landscapes. However, their traditional land tenure practices are insufficiently documented and therefore poorly understood, and even more so the gender relations in customary systems.

The case study explores the intersect between customary tenure systems and gender roles in two villages in Phongsali district in the north of Laos. The country has a diverse population of ethnic communities who depend on forests and other natural resources for their livelihoods. These communities play an important role for conserving complex landscapes. However, their traditional land tenure practices are insufficiently documented and therefore poorly understood, and even more so the gender relations in customary systems.

The Customary Land Rights Act, 2022 (Sierra Leone)

This report presents the results of a mixed-methods study on the role of customary land documentation in strengthening Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE). The overarching purpose was to help fill critical knowledge gaps on if and how strengthening women’s land rights via formalized customary land documentation affects their empowerment and economic growth, with a specific focus on women’s access to credit and other financial services, land investments and income opportunities.

The history of land rights in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), hereafter referred to as Laos,  is a history of customary land tenure systems which remain the most prevalent form of land tenure. As social systems, land tenure systems in Laos have been affected by and have adapted to external forces such as neighboring kingdoms, colonialization, geopolitics and war, migration, and global economic trends. Ongoing rapid changes in national socioeconomic conditions and domestic political goals continue to alter the customary tenure landscape.

O presente artigo parte da experiência de delimitação de terras comunitárias, em Cóbuè, província do Niassa, para analisar a interface entre as lideranças tradicionais e os sistemas costumeiros de terras, em Moçambique, enquadrando os debates sobre terra e território, posse e propriedade da terra, bem como os encontros com a história territorial, os impactos das transformações, da legislação e da demanda por terras.

O presente artigo parte da experiência de delimitação de terras comunitárias, em Cóbuè, província do Niassa, para analisar a interface entre as lideranças tradicionais e os sistemas costumeiros de terras, em Moçambique, enquadrando os debates sobre terra e território, posse e propriedade da terra, bem como os encontros com a história territorial, os impactos das transformações, da legislação e da demanda por terras.

Context and background:  The essential emerging reality from the statutory-versus-customary tenure debate is that both customary and statutory tenure systems have faults and good merits.