Land tenure

It is commonly claimed that forest tenure reform that provides rural people with rights to access and use of forest resources can contribute to improved forest management and poverty alleviation. But, at least with respect to poverty alleviation, there are few experiences with formal forest tenure reform that have demonstrated this to date. Given how difficult it is to achieve pro-poor tenure reform, an important question is whether modest informal changes can achieve results.

This paper describes Livelihoods and Landscapes Strategy interventions in the Wassa Amenfi West Landscape in the western region of Ghana. The landscape extends over an area of about 120,000 ha. It is a mixed landscape with a variety of agricultural uses; the most important is cocoa farming.

The Loita/Purko Naimina Enkiyio forest is estimated to cover an area of 330 km2 in Kenya and serves several functions within the Loita Maasai community. When a change of the forest tenure to a reserve threatened this community, they challenged the decision and were successful in having the decision rescinded. Security of tenure can be considered the single most important factor in the sustainable management of natural resources.

An increasing number of land reform projects are taking place in conservation areas. Many of these are concerned with the restitution of land rights to people dispossessed of their land, and others are more generally concerned with effecting tenure reform and redistributing land to the disadvantaged and the poor.

The way in which forest land is owned directly influences the status of the forest, its condition and the way in which it is managed. The greater the security of local forest tenure, the stronger the interest and will of the community towards its security.

The project "Enhancing land reform strategies for sustainable livelihoods in southern Africa" has two main components: a land reform review and a questionnaire survey in a selected district. It was implemented in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana and South Africa.