Issues of transformative change in gender relations have been on the development agenda for four decades and no-one could say that there have not been significant policy initiatives taken to achieve this objective. The enthusiasm generated during the 1975 International Year for Women and throughout the UN international Women’s Decade from 1976-1985 is undeniable and the achievements are clear.

This study investigates the political and contentious nature of access to mountain natural resources by poor, disadvantaged and marginalized people, including women and youth, and the policy processes associated with access and development over time. This study has been commissioned by FAO to look at sustainable livelihoods approaches to access to natural resources in mountain areas. We concentrate on access by poorer and marginalized groups to policy processes whereby long-term sustainable access to resources is achieved.

A thematic study on “Urban and peri-urban forestry” focuses on the potentials and constraints for urban forestry development at regional and sub-regional levels considering the current experience and future prospects of urbanization in the region that is expected to take place in the next 15 years. As a complement to this thematic Urban and peri-urban forestry study, a livelihoods analysis of the contribution of forests and trees to urban poor livelihoods has been carried out the Sub-programme on access to natural resources of the Livelihood Support Programme (GCP/INT/803/UK).

Part I of the proceedings consists of two major sections, the Mini-course lectures and the presentations presented during the Core Conference (Mini-course). The lectures presented during the two-day Mini-course were grouped in two sections. The first dealt with the concepts, theory and practice relating to the use of Property Rights in Fisheries Management.

The articles in this volume supplement FAO Land Tenure Studies 10, Compulsory acquisition of land and compensation. The latter publication explains what compulsory acquisition and compensation are and what constitutes good practice in this area. This current volumes introductory article provides an overview of these issues. The issue of compulsory acquisition from a human rights perspective is also addressed here as are the concepts of market value, compensation value and just terms compensation.

The Symposium on Legal Aspects of Large Scale Investments in Land: Implications for Food Security and Rural Development was held at FAO Headquarters in Rome on March 4th 2011. The Symposium was co-hosted by FAO and the World Food Law Institute at Howard University School of Law.

This volume is intended to support land administrators who are involved with the design and implementation of rural property tax systems. It is based on FAO’s Land Tenure Studies Number 5, which focused on rural property tax in Central and Eastern Europe. The response to that guide showed a need for information on rural property tax systems to be more easily available in other regions. In addition, this volume places a rural property tax more explicitly in the context of decentralization.

The present issue of Nature & Faune looks at the theme “Promoting good governance in natural resource management in Africa”. It is made up of some 17 articles, a good number of which dwell on structures and processes. They describe and analyse how projects and programs were designed and how committees etc. were composed; how transparent the governance is, whether adequately decentralized or participatory etc.

Este manual de formación se centra en cómo gestionar y resolver conflictos sobre los derechos de tenencia de la tierra, la seguridad de la tenencia y el acceso a la tierra en el campo del desarrollo rural. Resulta de las actividades complementarias realizadas con el Programa de apoyo a los medios de vida, de la FAO, (LSP) y la Unidad de Gestión y Tenencia de la Tierra y con la Coalición Internacional para el Acceso a la Tierra.

Since the 1970s and 1980s, community-based forestry has grown in popularity, based on the concept that local communities, when granted sufficient property rights over local forest commons, can organize autonomously and develop local institutions to regulate the use of natural resources and manage them sustainably. Over time, various forms of community-based forestry have evolved in different countries, but all have at their heart the notion of some level of participation by smallholders and community groups in planning and implementation.

The Guidelines promote responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests, with respect to all forms of tenure. Their overarching goals are to achieve food security for all and support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security.