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Assessing the governance of tenure for improving forests and livelihoods

A tool to support the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure












FAO. 2019. Assessing the governance of tenure for improving forests and livelihoods – A tool to support the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure. Forestry Working Paper no. 13. Rome.





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    Land and forest tenure systems greatly influence a country’s ability to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. Clear and legitimate tenure rights over forests can provide an incentive to manage forests sustainably and simultaneously reduce deforestation and forest degradation. In fact, communities and stakeholders with secure tenure rights have a strong interest in investing time and resources to maintain and enhance the natural capital under a long-term vision. Identifying and recognizing legitimate tenure rights, including customary and collective ones, also strengthens accountability, and it is essential for the success of REDD+.
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    Programmes to reduce emissions from deforestation and ecosystem degradation, such as REDD+ and other forestry incentive programmes, including Payment for Environmental Services (PES), could represent an opportunity to strengthen processes of conservation, sustainable usage and poverty reduction in the Mesoamerican region, particularly in indigenous territories and communities. Analysing the context of such initiatives and how they are interlinked is relevant to understanding how these mu ltipurpose programmes can achieve their objectives in the light of recent developments in the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights over land tenure and natural resources in the region. Examining these contexts and their linkages in countries such as Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama, where there are considerable forest areas with significant indigenous populations, is the aim of this study.
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    Misalignments between national laws and local tenure systems can undermine the resource claims of marginalized groups and lead to conflict. To proactively address rights violations that stem from such misalignment, the United Nations Committee on World Food Security endorsed the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT), establishing the most comprehensive global soft-law instrument concerning tenure rights. The VGGT call on States to recognize, respect and protect all “legitimate” tenure rights, including those not currently protected by national laws. They also affirm the responsibility of businesses to respect all legitimate tenure rights, linking tenure issues to businesses’ wider human rights responsibilities. However, the concept of legitimate tenure rights has often proved difficult to operationalize. This legal brief discusses the meaning and implications of recognizing legitimate tenure rights, then outlines possible ways forward for States, civil society, the private sector and development agencies.

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