Community land formalization and company land acquisition procedures: A review of 33 procedures in 15 countries

Indigenous and community lands, crucial for rural livelihoods, are typically held under informal customary tenure arrangements. This can leave the land vulnerable to outside commercial interests, so communities may seek to formalize their land rights in a government registry and obtain an official land document. But this process can be time-consuming and complex, and in contrast, companies can acquire land relatively quickly and find shortcuts around regulatory burdens. This article reviews and maps 19 community land formalization and 14 company land acquisition procedures is 15 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Comparing community and company procedures identifies multiple sources of inequity

Cofcca (Congo Basin Forests and Climate Change Adaptation) newsletter, no. 7, December 2009 : forests and adaptation become a priority after Copenhagen

French version available in IDRC Digital Library: Cofcca (Congo Basin Forests and Climate Change Adaptation) newsletter, no. 7, décembre 2009 : le lien "forêt et adaptation" devient une priorité après CopenhagueForest resources not only store carbon, but also play a valuable role in adapting to climate change through many other services they provide (food, water cycle regulation, local microclimate control, etc.) In this issue, CoFCCA provides newsletter readers with two reviews that offer a conceptual framework for research on species vulnerability, and some background and connecting elements to improve understanding of climate change adaptation. A third review deals with Northern Canada’s adaptation strategy in the infrastructure sector. The newsletter provides an overview of project events and activities

Cofcca (Congo Basin Forests and Climate Change Adaptation) newsletter, no. 8, March 2010 : synergy is required to preserve biodiversity and to adapt to climate change in Central Africa

French version available in IDRC Digital Library: Cofcca (Congo Basin Forests and Climate Change Adaptation) newsletter, no. 8, mars 2010 : conservation de la biodiversité et adaptation au changement climatique en Afrique Centrale; la nécessaire synergieFactors that contribute to species decline are slash-and-burn agriculture; timber removal, especially at the industrial scale; poaching and mining. Climate change is the single factor not regularly mentioned as a threat to the Congo Basin. Climate variability and change generally manifest themselves as extremes of either drought or deluge. Increased temperature translates into greater incidence of infectious disease. The CoFCCA project creates the groundwork for regional and national work in the forests of the Congo Basin and serves an urgent need to identify geographic areas and conditions most sensitive to climate change