At present there is no State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA)/State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) existing in Delhi, stated the report filed by the Department of Environment, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD), April 30, 2025. All cases related to environmental clearance are being dealt with by …
Arguably sound land governance is the key to achieving sustainable development and to supporting the global agenda of the MDGs. Even in terms of standard indicators such as corruption, land has long been known to be one of the sectors most affected by bad governance, something that is not difficult …
Although informal settlements are proliferating in cities across low- and middle-income nations, there is 40 years of experience to draw on in upgrading these
Pastoralism provides a living for between 100 and 200 million households, from the Asian steppes to the Andes. But misguided policies are undermining its sustainability. Farming Matters looked at how governments can best strengthen the governance of pastoral systems and find more equitable ways to include pastoralists in policy making. …
This paper explores the policy need and legal case for including social safeguards in a post-2012 agreement on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). One serious charge laid against so called 'market-based' approaches to REDD is the potential for forest dwelling communities to be dispossessed from their land …
This is an analysis of the effects of growing forest carbon markets on tenure and indigenous rights by Rights and Resources Initiative. It takes stock of the current status of forest rights, assesses key issues of 2009 and identifies key questions and challenges that we will face in 2010. See …
This paper returns to the particular issue of regulatory frameworks: the rules and systems put in place to encourage best practice and compliance with the official rules. It argues that in many countries the regulatory framework needs to be rethought, and rethought on the basis of today
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) initiatives are more likely to be effective in reducing emissions if they build on, rather than conflict with, the interests of local communities and indigenous groups (referred to henceforth as
This paper attempts to contribute to the discussion of scaling-up the recognition of tenure rights within the efforts to reduce forest carbon emissions and to put the costs of recognizing tenure rights in a broader perspective. It is organized into threee sections: first, an examination of the role of tenure …
Development in Asia faces a crucial issue: the right of indigenous peoples to build a better life while protecting their ancestral lands and cultural identity. An intimate relationship with land expressed in communal ownership has shaped and sustained these cultures over time. But now, public and private enterprises encroach upon …
In Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, the tsunami disaster of 2004 forced new ways of working on both organizations of the urban poor and local authorities. Building on this experience, an emerging federation of the urban poor (built on community savings groups) has been collaborating with local authorities to secure land and …
This paper describes the nationwide “slum” upgrading (Baan Mankong) programme in Thailand, which supports community organizations to find their own solutions to getting land for housing. Between 2003 and 2008, the programme supported 512 upgrading initiatives involving 1,010 communities. Community organizations form their own savings groups and draw on soft …
This paper describes and discusses community-driven land tenure initiatives to address the issue of access to land in urban areas in the Philippines. This includes countering actual and threatened displacements from market-driven land, housing and urban development policies, mega-infrastructure development and disasters. The paper begins with a review of the …
This paper describes two large-scale upgrading programmes in Argentina that sought to transfer land tenure to the inhabitants of informal settlements as part of a larger process that provided good quality infrastructure and services and other measures to strengthen their social inclusion in the wider city. In doing this, they …
This paper reviews whether land titling programmes have achieved the benefits claimed by their proponents. It finds that they have generally failed to do so. Investment in land and housing, access to formal credit, and municipal revenues have not increased noticeably more than under other tenure regimes, including those that …
The Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) was planned in 1962 as a goods service linking five important work areas of the city. Subsequently, it was upgraded for commuter use as well. Pakistan Railways now wish to upgrade and expand the circular railway and double-track those parts of it that are single …
This paper analyses historical origins of forest rights deprivation and contemporary processes through which local people are seeking to restore their forest rights, taking the case of the Indian Forest Rights Act 2006 as an example to illustrate wider issues in historical institutional theory. The paper explores how the colonial …
Invests US $4 billion to lease land in Ethiopia INDIA is leasing land in Ethiopia to grow food to meet its domestic demand and boost exports. The government invested US $4 billion (Rs 19,000 crore) on agriculture, horticulture and sugar estates in the African country where land is cheap. This …
This document details the IFFDC Wasteland Forestation Project plantations in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The project has assisted farmers, especially women, to promote forestation on wastelands and marginally productive lands by organising Primary Farm Forestry Co-operatives (PFFCs) and thus making it a people's participative programme. …
This Project Design Document is prepared for the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge Restoration Initiative to meet the standards of the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Alliance. The Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge Restoration Initiative is a unique opportunity to restore native hardwood forests that will benefit fish and …
