Land Tenure

In Central Africa, as in the rest of the world, rural land tenure is considered a key issue for the implementation of measures to reduce deforestation and degradation. Land tenure legislation in Central Africa is generally marked by the important weight of the state in economic activity, the importance of “reclamation” for agricultural development and the absence of environmental concerns. The forestry codes have focused on regulating logging in areas that are generally considered to be state-owned, and have paid little attention to the issue of forest tenure.  Registration, which is not designed for small farmers or communities, is slow, costly and little used[1].

In rural areas, populations generally occupy without title the land they have received through inheritance or by allocation from the community. This lack of security of tenure in rural areas (coexistence of customary law and positive law) leads to numerous land conflicts, which does not favor the sustainable management of natural resources nor local development.

Clarifying land tenure and recognizing the land rights of populations, including indigenous populations, is not only a means of protecting them from land grabbing, but also serves as a basis for spatial planning, such as the mapping of village terroirs, which serves in zoning work. It is also an important prerequisite for giving populations responsibility for specific areas through incentive mechanisms such as payments for environmental services. The registration of rights can also facilitate and guide consultations between communities and external investors regarding the conditions of access to the resource (benefit sharing, etc.).

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