Divers Paths to Justice - English - Forest Peoples Programme

Divers Paths to Justice: Legal pluralism and the rights of indigenous peoples inSoutheast Asiaobtaining land titles by fraudulent means and making it possible for thosewith land titles to clear and develop forested lands.When poorer local communities raised concerns over this issue, it wasdiscovered that in reality, it is possible to have different types of land titles;not only individual land titles but also community land titles in the form ofcommunity forests. Having different types of land titles may protect localcommunities from land grabbing and other forms of exploitation of landrights legislation. With communal land rights, poor local people will gaingreater life security providing them with the flexibility to work outside theircommunities (as labourers, for example) but also to return to work theirland if and when they need to. This constitutes flexibility in terms oflivelihood strategies.Although it would be beneficial to have other options such as this, as of yet,the Thai government is not pursuing alternative forms of land entitlement.In our research, we found that local people need different forms of landentitlement, not only individual land titles. Communal land titles have scopebeyond individual ownership, allowing groups, clans, organisations andcommunities to share ownership of the land. This would also help stop theincrease of commercial land development in previously undeveloped forestareas.A further consideration would be the granting of rights for communal landuse, which could be considered a form of local control, giving communitiesthe right to control the land not just in terms of ownership, but also in termsof how it is used. Therefore, in the future, the government needs to establisha law for communal land titles and communal land use to increase localcommunities’ control of their lands.Another option, in line with a capitalist system, is for land ownership to becontrolled by a proportional land tax, with those owning larger amounts ofland paying higher taxes than those owning smaller amounts. This couldhelp reduce land prices and increase the likelihood that poorer people canaccess land. Government support for this would lead to more equitable landdistribution.All this means that it is necessary to change the structure of land142