Communal Land Registration and Lessons Learned in Cambodia

Sophorn PochRegional Land ForumHanoi, June 21-23, 2016

Indigenous People in Cambodia

• 455 Indigenous Peoples Communities (IPCs)

• 24 different Indigenous People Groups

• Rights to land formalized in theLand Law (2001) andsub-decree

Regions containing IPC Settlements

Land Rights for Cambodia‘s Indigenous Peoples

• Five land types in the collective land title Residential Land, Reserved Land for shifting

cultivation, Farming Land, Spiritual Forest, Burial Forest

Communal/Collective Land Registration

• The collective land titling process:

Step 1: Self Identification Step 2: Legal Entity Step 2.5: Preliminary (Land Use) Mapping, development

of Internal Rules on Land Management, submission of Application, Interim Protection Measures

Step 3: Issuing the collective land title

Self Identification Process

• Declaration and Verification of Ethnic Identity• Selection of Management Committee and

preparation of list of members of the Community and Right-holders

• Recognition of Identification by Ministry of Rural Development (MRD)

Self Identification

• Stakeholders supporting this process:• Ministry of Rural Development• NGOs• Donors

• It takes between 1 and 1.5 years• The costs amount to US $ 10.000

to 20.000 usually paid by donors or NGOs

Legal Entity of IPCs

• Development of by-laws• Full community meeting• Decision to acknowledge the by-laws and committee• Prepare application for registration of the IPCs as a

legal entity• Ministry of Interior (MoI) issues a recognition as legal

entity

Legal Entity of IPCs

• Stakeholders supporting this process:• Ministry of Interior• NGOs• Donors

• It takes 1 to 1.5 years• The costs usually paid by donors

or NGOs (Step 1 and 2)

Prerequisite Steps for IPC Land Registration

• Preliminary (Land Use) Mapping• Development of Internal Rules on Land Management, • Filing application• Interim Protection Measures

Prerequisite Steps for IPC Land Registration

• Stakeholders supporting this process:• NGOs• Donors

• It takes 1 to 1.5 years to complete• The costs in average US $ 20.000 per community usually

paid by donors or NGOs• No ministry is in charge of this

Preliminary map preparation process:

Internal rule development process

Issuing of Collective Land Title

Procedures of Indigenous Community Land Registration:1. Preparation2. Field Work & Documentation 3. Public Display4. Decision on collected data5. MAFF and MOE give approval on the land parcels data6. Title Issuance

Issuing of Collective Land Title (CLT)

Issuing Collective Land Title (CLT)

• Stakeholders support this process:• Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and

Construction (MLMUPC)• Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

(MAFF)• Ministry of Environment (MOE)

• It takes 1 to 1.5 years (without any disruption)• The costs are approximately US$ 30.000 per IPC

Results of CLT Work

• 11 IPCs received collective land titles until June 2016 while 19 other IPCs are under the process of land registration

• 49 IPCs submitted their land applications to the Provincial Land Department. 43 out of 49 IPCs accepted

• 43 IPCs received IPMs• 52 IPCs have preliminary maps

Results of CLT Work

• Capacity building for 9 NGOs to support 78 IPCs in 7 provinces in data collection, preliminary mapping development, QGIS, internal rules, and applications for land registration

• Publication of IPC manual, which describes preliminary mapping, development of internal rules, QGIS, land conflict resolution, and how to fill in titling applications

Challenges IPC Land RegistrationPre-titling:• The procedures to apply for a collective land title take

long and are complicated• Land identification of legitimate communal land eligible

for CLT remains a problem; only IPCs know their land, no witnesses

• On-going conflicts with ELC, where IPC land is partly or fully inside ELC areas. Conflict resolution is necessary before application, as only conflict-free land will be considered for titling!

Challenges IPC Land RegistrationPre-titling:• IPCs heavily depend on support from NGOs for

submission of applications• Capacity of NGOs remains limited, especially for

technical skills such as data collection on land use and digitizing of maps

• High turn-over of NGO staff due to difficult working conditions; this hampered the efficiency of trainings

• IP land is in very remote areas with difficult access and working environment

Challenges IPC Land Registration Post-titling• Land encroachment (e.g. by settlers and powerful

individuals) negatively affects available land for IPCs, their social cohesiveness and their organizational strength

• Evidence suggests limited effectiveness of the courts to enforce CLTs in favour of IPCs

• IPCs internally: limited effectiveness of internal rules, difficult to protect spiritual forests or burial forests, and reserved land

Challenges IPC Land Registration

Post-titling• IPC support after registration is not sufficient• IPC sub-decree not fully in line with the realities,

demands and capabilities of IPCs

Questions

• What will be the future of IPC land titling after GIZ LRP leaves?

• Who should take over the roles of GIZ LRP?• How to make IPC Land Registration better and

replicable?

Thank you very much for your attention