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The purpose of the Mekong Land Research Forum online site is to provide structured access to published and unpublished research on land issues in the Mekong Region. It is based on the premise that debates and decisions around land governance can be enhanced by drawing on the considerable volume of research, documented experience and action-based reflection that is available. The online site seeks to organise the combined work of many researchers, practitioners and policy advocates around key themes relevant to the land security, and hence well-being, of smallholders in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
The research material on this site is mounted at three levels:
First, a selection of journal articles, reports and other materials is provided and organised thematically to assist researchers, practitioners and policy advocates to draw on one another’s work and hence build up a collective body of knowledge. This is the most “passive” presentation of the research material; our contribution is to find and select the most relevant material and to organise it into key themes. In some cases the entire article is available. In others, for copyright reasons, only an abstract or summary is available and users will need to access documents through the relevant journal or organisation.
Second, a sub-set of the articles has been annotated, with overall commentary on the significance of the article and the research on which it is based, plus commentary relevant to each of the key themes addressed by the article.
Third, the findings and key messages of the annotated articles are synthesised into summaries of each of fourteen key themes. For each key theme, there is a one-page overall summary. Extended summaries are being developed progressively for each theme as part of the Forum's ongoing activity.
Overall, we intend that this online site will contribute toward evidence-based progressive policy reform in the key area of land governance. We further hope that it will thereby contribute toward to the well-being of the rural poor, ethnic minorities and women in particular, who face disadvantage in making a living as a result of insecure land tenure.
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Resources
Displaying 66 - 70 of 564Livelihoods and Land Uses in Environmental Policy Approaches: The Case of PES and REDD+ in the Lam Dong Province of Vietnam
This paper explores assumptions about the drivers of forest cover change in a Payments for Environmental Services (PES) and Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) context in the Lam Dong Province in Vietnam. In policy discourses, deforestation is often linked to'poor' and 'ethnic minority' households and their unsustainable practices such as the expansion of coffee production (and other agricultural activities) into forest areas.
Legal pluralism, gendered discourses, and hybridity in land-titling practices in Cambodia
This article describes and analyses the tensions, ambivalence, and hybridity that prevail in the nexus between discourses of gender and the legal pluralism of the new, formalized, and customary ways of handling land titles. Based on empirical research in Cambodia, it reveals a number of mechanisms, challenges, and inconsistencies in the practice of land-titling.
Untangling the proximate causes and underlying drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Myanmar
Political transitions often trigger substantial environmental changes. In particular, deforestation can result from the complex interplay among the components of a system—actors, institutions, and existing policies—adapting to new opportunities. A dynamic conceptual map of system components is particularly useful for systems in which multiple actors, each with different worldviews and motivations, may be simultaneously trying to alter different facets of the system, unaware of the impacts on other components.
Developments in Land Use Planning in Lao PDR since 2009
ABSTRACTED FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This study has been commissioned by the Land Information Working Group (LIWG) in order to determine the extent to which Land Use Planning has alleviated poverty in, and strengthened the rights of, rural communities in Lao PDR, and how the positive impacts can be enhanced. A literature review, online survey, interviews and field visits examined this question according to the four key themes of participation, land tenure security, food and livelihood security and conservation.
“Everything We Do Is Democracy”: Women and Youth in Land Rights Social Mobilization in Cambodia
Cambodian human rights organizations estimate that more than half a million people have been affected by land rights issues. Land conflict in Cambodia is a clear manifestation of structural violence affecting communities which are almost exclusively low income and home to indigenous and ethnic minorities. This article explores the complex interplay of actors, particularly women and youth, in land rights social mobilization (LRSM) in Cambodia, focusing on urban Boeung Kak Lake and rural Areng Valley.