In this chapter, we explore the forces that have shaped the current challenge of securing land tenure for those with little voice, power, and means. Focusing on the Global South, we identify trends in the ebb and flow of land tenure security and insecurity, distinguishing between those tied to agricultural-based societies and forest-dependent populations where relevant. We spotlight the broad arc of history tied to land access: the widespread acquisition of land by the powerful dating several centuries back, the partial restoration of local land access beginning in the mid-twentieth century (e.g., post-colonial governments, agricultural land reform and redistribution movements, and forest management devolution), the land-grabbing phenomenon and violence of recent years, and the current uncertainty over future directions for tenure security.
Tag: land reform
More people, more trees: A reversal of deforestation trends in Southern Ethiopia
Despite global commitments to forest restoration, evidence of the pathways through which restoration creates social and ecological benefits remains limited. The objective of this paper is to provide empirical evidence to generate insights on the relationship between forest cover change and key provisioning ecosystem services and reforestation pathways. In Southern Ethiopia, three zones along a gradient of decreasing land cover complexity and tree cover were examined. The land cover change was assessed using satellite remote sensing and complemented ground‐based tree inventory. Perceptions of land cover and ecosystem services change and farmer responses were evaluated through three Participatory Rural Appraisals and eight Focus Group Discussions. Since the 1970s, a landscape shift from a forest‐grassland to a cropland mosaic was associated with increased food production, improved food security, and higher incomes. However, this shift also coincided with reductions in livestock, construction materials, fuelwood and water availability, prompting reforestation efforts designed to recover some of these lost ecosystem services. In particular, some households established Eucalyptus woodlots and encouraged natural regeneration. Natural trees, Eucalyptus woodlots, Ensete plantations (a type of plantain), and grasslands were positively associated with homestead proximity; thus, homestead establishment resulting from population increase in this predominately agricultural landscape appeared to foster a viable forest restoration pathway—that is, ‘more people, more trees’. This is a reforestation pathway not previously described in the literature. A return to a more diverse agricultural landscape mosaic provided more secure and diversified income sources along with better provisioning of construction materials, fuelwood, and higher livestock numbers.
Coordinating forest tenure reform: Objectives, resources and relations in Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, and Uganda
As forest tenure reform is mainstreamed around the world, outcomes are increasingly determined by the institutions that are responsible for administering its operationalisation and translating policy into implementation. This global study examines state institutional contexts of tenure reform in Kenya, Uganda, Nepal, Indonesia, and Peru. Interviews were administered in 2016–2017 using a fixed questionnaire applied across all countries involving 26–32 respondents from state implementers of forest tenure reform in each country for a total of 145 respondents. Although our study engagement was tailored for specific country contexts, we identified generalisable forest tenure reform trends through comparative analysis. Findings situate the overall bridging role that state institutions play in forest tenure reform, which we describe as falling under three key overarching coordination functions, namely: coordination among implementers, coordination of objectives, and coordination of resources. These three categories provide insights not only for gauging the progress of a country’s forest tenure reform, but also for evaluating how robust reforms have been, and where forest tenure reforms are headed in the future.