Rapid land tenure assessment (RaTA): understanding land tenure conflicts

Abstract

Deforestation, forest fire, illegal logging and land conflicts with indigenous people are often major problems in forest management. These problems are associated with land tenure, mostly stemming from a lack of clarity, legitimacy and legality of land tenure policies (Box 37.1), which leads to competing claims of access to, and use rights over, forests. ‘Legality’ refers to alignment with constitutional rights and principles while ‘legitimacy’ refers to the full involvement of stakeholders in discussions and legal reform. Land tenure conflicts often arise from the different understanding that people have about their rights over forestland and resources; these claims of rights often arise from the evolution of land tenure policies. We have identified ten sources of competing claims over land tenure. 1 The historical transformation of governance from local communities to colonial rule, which mixed support for local rulers and external control of the economic and political interests of the state, to integration in a unified state with formal law, which has left a patchwork of claimants to rights over various part of the landscape. 2 The duality of tenure systems between formal state laws (incompletely understood and implemented) versus informal or customary claims, which are largely unresolved. 3 Lack of recognition of customary and informal rights in government development projects. 4 Unclear land registry records leading to multiple possession of titles for the same land. 5 Land border disputes owing to unclear ownership or management status or different understandings of land ownership. 6 Overlapping rights of different parties over the same land owing to differing objectives, interests and jurisdictions of various government departments or under different legal regimes. 7 Increased commercial agricultural and extensive land use leading to competition over land access. 8 Inequality in land access, associated with extreme poverty and vanishing opportunities, causing fierce competition for land