Land Use Practices
Green Grabbing: a new appropriation of nature?BackgroundThe authors introduce a set of papers which collectively discuss discourses and processes surrounding the transfer of ownership, user rights, or control over land and resources to meet environmental goals such as the production of biofuels or carbon sequestration, dispossessing some of their land while contributing to increasing the accumulation of property for others. The papers were originally presented at the International Conference on Global Land Grabbing and contribute to existing debates around land grabbing by building on the concept of ‘green grabbing’, wherein the appropriation of land is justified on environmental grounds. Open access copy available |
The tragedy of the commonsBackgroundWritten in the late 1960s, this paper suggests that over population is a major challenge for continued human well-being, and especially for the management of commons. It uses examples of over-grazing in common lands and pollution management to argue that individuals are likely to look out for their own interest and continue to use common resources or pollute them acting as though they were available infinitely. While this tendency does not have negative consequences when the population is low, it can make resource management more challenging as the population increases. Open access copy available |
Showing and Telling: Australian Land Rights and Material MoralitiesBackgroundIn Kowanyama, Queensland, Aboriginal groups have property rights to several thousand square miles which are opposed by groups such as local pastoralists and the National Parks service. This paper explores the processes through which one group, the Kunjen community, asserts its moral and political claims over the disputed area through stories and material artefacts. Available with subscription or purchase |
Green economy, oil palm development, and the exclusion of Indigenous swidden cultivators in the PhilippinesBackgroundGreen economy programs involve agro-industrial development in land frontiers for activities that are considered low-carbon or as seen as supporting greenhouse gas reduction. In the Philippines, as in many parts of South-East Asia, oil palm plantations are promoted as a form of green growth, contributing to food security and biofuels while meeting reforestation goals on lands that are often classified as idle, or waste, but may not be in practice. The paper explores the implications of oil palm development on land tenure security of smallholder swidden cultivators from indigenous communities. Open access copy available |
Beyond tenure: Rights-based approaches to peoples and forests, some lessons from the Forest Peoples ProgrammeBackgroundLand tenure reforms have been implemented in several forested landscapes to support livelihood security among forest-depended communities. However, while these reforms have led to some improvements in tenure and livelihood security, they have also increased social exclusion and marginalization in some contexts. This paper argues that tenure reforms should be implemented within a rights-based framework, but one that integrates a range of human rights and is not solely focused on property rights. Open access copy available |
Context in land matters: The effects of history on land formalizationsBackgroundLand formalization is the process by which governments grant legal rights to land, along with responsibilities and conditions of access through land titles and other official documents. This process typically establishes or re-establishes the authority of the state over the governance of land. This paper draws on examples from Africa and Asia to illustrate how land formalization has differing impacts on a diverse set of claimants, and largely increases inequity. Open access copy available |
Towards food security and improved nutrition: increasing the contribution of forests and treesBACKGROUNDThis Policy brief is a product of a knowledge and information sharing between Biodiversity International, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), and the World Bank. This was designed for policymakers on two vital areas: what they need to know; and what they need to do. It also provides different case studies on various interventions towards ensuring food security and access to improved nutrition. Open access copy available |
Have integrated landscape approaches reconciled societal and environmental issues in the tropics?BackgroundThe author cite that while there has been growing recognition of intergrated landscape approaches, which aims to enhance environmental and social outcomes, there is still a lack of understanding. There has been suggestions that these approaches have been undertherorized and a lack of evidence of its effectiveness. Open access copy available |
Módulo 2: Selección y establecimiento de estrategias y prácticas de restauraciónEspañolAntecedentesOpen access copy available |
La restauración de bosques andinos tropicales: Avances, desafíos y perspectivas del futuroEspañolAntecedentesLa degradación ambiental y la pérdida de biodiversidad ponen en riesgo los medios de vida de habitantes de países andinos tropicales. Respondiendo a esta amenaza, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Bolivia han definido metas cuantitativas de restauración ecológica y consecuentemente formulado programas para alcanzar estas metas. No obstante, esto ha presentado retos de distintas magnitudes variando de país en país. Open access copy available |
