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The purpose of the Mekong Land Research Forum online site is to provide structured access to published and unpublished research on land issues in the Mekong Region.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 321 - 325 of 564Property Tax Reform in Vietnam : A Work in Progress
In 2012, Vietnam will celebrate 25 years of economic reform and structural re-adjustment from a largely centralized, subsidized economy to one based on market principles. A major component of these reforms has involved establishing land and property rights, thereby giving individuals and organizations secure title to the property they occupy and use. The passing of various Land Laws has given legislative support to the concept of private property rights. This represents a significant ideological change, given that land in Vietnam has always been considered to belong to the State.
Multiple Migrations, Displacements and Land Transfers at Ta Kream in Northwest Cambodia
The Cambodian case examines migration, land tenure and land management, in a context of conflict and the use of force in land transfers since the time of the Khmer Rouge regime to the present, by studying five agro-ecological zones close to the Kamping Pouy irrigation system in Battambang Province. The study combines analysis of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of household use of land and labor with a historical and ethnographic review of conflict and institutional factors in successive land administrations.
Territorialising Sustainable Development: The Politics of Land-Use Planning in Laos
Since the emergence of the sustainable development paradigm in the late 1980s, land-use planning has become a key arena for political debates over society-environment interactions and, in practice, an important means for territorialisation projects. The paper reviews the main planning approaches that have been employed over the past three decades in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, a country that has long been viewed as a valuable policy testing ground for the proponents of sustainable development.
Land Tenure and PES in Northern Thailand: A case study of Maesa-Kogma Man and Biosphere Reserve
ABSTRACTED FROM SUMMARY: Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) is a direct approach for environmental conservation whereby service providers receive payments that are conditional on acceptable conservation performance. An enabling legal framework is an essential prerequisite for successful PES implementation. Before drafting new legal instruments, the current legal framework should be assessed for potential opportunities and bottlenecks. This policy review therefore aims to analyze the existing policies and legislations that are relevant to PES implementation in Northern Thailand.
The Relevance of Tenure and Forest Governance for Incentive Based Mechanisms: Implementing Payments for Ecosystem Services in Doi Mae Salong
WEBSITE ABSTRACT: The report aims to contribute to the establishment of a PES scheme that promotes sound environmental management, contributes to poverty reduction and tenure security, and taps into payments for carbon sequestration. IUCN’s work on PES at Doi Mae Salong builds on the achievements of the Livelihoods and Landscapes Strategy (LLS) between 2007 and 2010, and its successor, the Poverty Reduction in Doi Mae Salong initiative (PRDMS), launched in April 2010.