Strengthening Forest Land Rights in East Asia and Pacific

Millions of people in the East Asia and Pacific region, including many from ethnic and indigenous groups, lack secure tenure to their land holdings in forestlands. Forestland is a area that has been legally designated as such, and may or may not have forest cover. Tenure insecurity results from various land rights restrictions in such areas, and discourages people from investing in their land and engaging in sustainable land use practices. The challenge is particularly prominent across the East Asia and Pacific region, where many countries have designated significant proportions of their land area as state forestlands.

This report examines the status of land rights in forestlands across ten countries: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, the Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam. It compiles scientific evidence to clarify how land tenure interventions affect forest cover, and details good practices on how to enhance the recognition, protection, and formalization of such rights in a socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable manner. The aim is to guide decision-makers, practitioners, and other stakeholders working in the region on forestland tenure recognition and formalization.

Across the ten countries, full ownership or use rights in forestlands can be acquired in Cambodia, China (for 50 years), Indonesia, parts of Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam (for 50 years). The Lao PDR is currently revising its regulations to allow this for certain lands. However, the formalization of such rights is advancing slowly throughout the region, except in China, where rights have already been formalized for 180 million hectares of forestland. More limited community forestry schemes, which delegate some use and management rights to communities, are in place in all ten countries.

A systematic review of 18 experimental studies evaluating the impact of land tenure interventions on forest cover reveals that the formalization or strengthening of indigenous or local community land rights or governance either reduced deforestation or had a neutral effect on it. The formalization of private land rights yielded more varied results, with some studies suggesting that this increased deforestation, while others showed it decreased deforestation.

The report recommends  that when preparing for the legal recognition of land rights in forestlands, decision-makers should consider several factors: the bundle of rights acknowledged, whether the rights will be perpetual or time-bound, how the holders of these rights are identified, and the mechanisms to ensure these rights are respected. Recognized rights should then be protected, even if they have not yet been formalized through land registration.

Formalization of forestland rights requires institutional partnerships between various government agencies, such as land and forest departments, while collaboration with civil society organizations can enhance community mapping and recognition processes. Systematic land registration approaches are essential in forestlands to ensure that all types of rights — private, communal, state, and public — are equally respected in the process. However, scientific evidence suggests that linking private rights with environmental restrictions, such as requiring parts of the land to remain forested, reduces negative impacts on standing forests.

As forestlands are home to many ethnic and indigenous groups, strong public awareness, sensitization, and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent approaches utilizing local institutions and languages are crucial. The process also needs to acknowledge the legal status and internal zoning of different types of state forestland. The survey of forestland holdings should utilize fit-for-purpose approaches, rather than rigorous accuracy requirements. Similarly, social verification of owners and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms should be used instead of strict administrative and court procedures.

Formalized land rights should be kept in a registry and information system that also includes all other land-related rights and responsibilities, such as concessions, licenses, and use restrictions, to reduce overlaps and disputes. Combining such land information with near real-time deforestation monitoring will enable efficient monitoring of illegitimate forest encroachment.

When planned well and implemented systematically, the recognition and formalization of forestland rights have the potential to lead to strengthened tenure security, improved livelihoods, reduced deforestation, and more sustainable forest management.