1. Forest Tenure Security Principles and Governance of Tenure
World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty
Washington DC, March 2017
Forest Tenure Security Principles and Governance of Tenure
Mani Ram Banjade

2. Outline Forest tenure: definitions and domains Forest tenure security
Principles and Indicators
Perception of tenure security
Sources of tenure insecurity
Governance of Tenure: VGGT

3. Understanding tenure: diverse and multiple rights
Environmental services
Leaves, fruits, fuelwood
Timber
Land
Roots, Below Ground Resources

4. What is forest tenure ?
Tenure is defined as the bundle of rights which a person or community holds in land, trees or other resource (Bruce, 1989).
Resource tenure consists of the social relations and institutions governing access to and use of land and natural resources (Maxwell and Weibe, 1998).
Tenure security is the degree to which an individual or group feels its relationship to land or other resources that support them (Poffenberger, 1999).

5. Domains of forest tenure: what, whom and on what basis
Access
Use
Management
Exclusion
Alienation
De jure
Customary
Defacto
State
Collective
Individual
Bundle of rights
Patterns of ownership
Basis of rights

7. What is tenure security?
Mwangi and Meinzen-Dick (2009: 310): ‘the ability of an individual [or group] to appropriate resources on a continuous basis, free from imposition, dispute or approbation from outside sources…’ It is the certainty of scope of rights and duration.
Tenure security involves what rights, for whom, for how long, with what certainty
Analysis of tenure security requires to unpack normative or statutory provisions (legal statements), actual practices (enforcement of formal rights and social norms), how actors perceive them, and consideration beyond lived experience

8. Principles and Indicators
Tenure Security
Principles and Indicators

9. Rights’ Robustness Principle
Legality
Clarity of rights
Bundle of rights
Duration

10. 1. Legality 1.1 Strong and Stable Legal Basis
1.2 Recognized or Granted by lawful Authority
1.3 Clear Division of Authority and Responsibility among Different Levels of Government Regarding Rights Granting and Protection
1.4 Harmonized Legal provisions Within a Law or Among Laws and Regulations

11. 2. Clarity of rights
2.1 Clear Criteria of Right Holders as the subject of Rights
2.2 Clear Type and Boundaries of Rights Objects
2.3 Clear Content of Rights and Obligations
2.4 Clear Procedure to Obtain and Enforce Rights

12. 3. Bundles of Right 3.1 Right to Access 3.2 Right to Withdrawal
3.3 Right of Management
3.4 Right to Exclusion
3.5 Right to Transfer\ Alienate

13. 4. Duration

14. The Rights’ Protection principle
5. Complaint Handling
[Accessible complaint mechanisms]
6. Conflict Resolution
[Accessible, affordable and fair mechanisms of conflict resolution]
7. Compensation
[Appropriate forms of compensation for losing rights or access to land and forest]

15. Rights’ Outcomes/ Assurance Principle
8. Participation
9. Economic Empowerment
10. Forest Sustainability?

16. Tenure security beyond normative indicators
Tenure security in Practice is full of contestations, negotiation and power exercise: so governance matters
Perception of tenure security is important, and determined by many factors

17. Perception of tenure security
Interaction of rules, norms, actors
Enforcement of rights
Perception of certainty of rights
Perception of threats
Threats beyond perception

18. Source of Tenure Insecurity
Have no title
The land is borrowed or rented
No clear boundary
The rights over land can be revoked at any time
Rights (to land and/or forests) are not enforced
Rights are only temporary
Restrictions/limitations on land use by government
Competition among villagers
Competition with other neighboring villages
Competition with private investment (outside company)
Infrastructure/road development
Existing overlapping rights
No legal basis for customary right claim
Lack of national legislation to support local rights claims
Exclusion women/youth
Conflicts not resolved
Conflicts unfairly resolved
Lack of local capacity to exercise/defend right
Lack of capacity of implementation agencies to enforce reforms
Not obeying the rules

19. Other threats to tenure security
Extractive activities
Large-scale investments: land grabs
Demographic pressures: population growth, migration
Elite capture
Resource-based conflicts

20. Governance of Tenure: VGGT Principles of implementation
Human dignity
Non-discrimination
Equity and justice
Gender equality
Holistic and sustainable approach
Consultation and participation
Rule of law
Transparency
Accountability
Continuous improvement

21. Thank you for your time 