This is the title of the policy brief just published by the Land and Development Expertise Center (LADEC) www.ladec.bi.

Si nous voulons comprendre et adresser une restauration des terres et des forêts qui soit durable sur deux plans, social et écologique, il est essentiel de comprendre de manière compréhensive le régime foncier ainsi que forestier. Les forêts sont capitales pour la santé de la planète et la menace grandissante du changement climatique, de la perte de biodiversité et de famine exige une action urgente à tous les niveaux.

It is important to understand and address land and forest tenure – comprehensively – if we are to work towards land and forest restoration that is both socially and ecologically sustainable. Forests are critical to planetary health, and the increasing threats of climate change, biodiversity loss and hunger call for urgent action at all levels.

This paper explores ways in which global actions to tackle climate change can potentially undermine women’s land tenure security. While there is greater cognizance of the role of secure land tenure as a critical enabler of global climate goals, climate actions that fail to account for differential tenure systems and gender dynamics risk eroding women’s customary land rights and associated social support systems. The paper recommends ways to balance climate goals with land rights protection.

This brief consolidates the key findings from a larger Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) regional report Towards gender-equitable land policy and law-making in the Mekong Region. The report used consultation processes over the 2024 Land Law as a case study, and involved interviews, participatory consultation pilots, observations of national consultation workshops, and an extensive literature review.

A version in Khmer is also available HERE.

This brief consolidates the key findings from a larger Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) regional report Towards gender-equitable land policy and law-making in the Mekong Region. The report used consultation processes over the 2024 Land Law as a case study, and involved interviews, participatory consultation pilots, observations of national consultation workshops, and an extensive literature review.

Developing countries are increasingly focusing more on land policy as part of their development plans. Ghana created its National Land Policy in 1999 but hasn't updated it in over 25 years, despite significant changes in land governance. Land policy reforms since colonial times were carried out without a structured plan, leading to problems in land management and many legal disputes due to existing land laws' shortcomings. This situation prompted the development of a thorough Land Policy in 1999.

The policy brief, one of four briefs on the agrarian transition in the Mekong region, explores initiatives and pathways forward to recognise customary tenure arrangements and rights over forest areas in the region. More than 70 million people in the region depend on forest areas but lack formal legal rights to use, manage, and benefit from them. Forest landscapes represent just under half of the region’s total land. Yet, over the past two decades, the region has lost a significant amount of forest due to the expansion of commercial agriculture.

LAND-at-scale remains active in Chad with partners Oxfam, Kadaster International and FAO. The partners work together to develop and test innovative approaches, tools and instruments for land governance in a fit for purpose way. These pilots will be done in two locations, which will contribute to a more transparent and inclusive land management system locally. The results from the pilots are used to inform the legal reform process and strengthen the legal and regulatory framework.

This one pager provides a summary of the project activities. 

This Guide is drawn from experience in the action research project “Bottom-up accountability initiatives and large-scale land acquisitions in Africa”. The project aimed to bring the international soft law instrument, the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of the Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests (the Tenure Guidelines or TGs), to rural communities and, together with them, to use the Guidelines to strengthen their tenure of land, fisheries and forests.