10 September 2013: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has issued a guide, titled ‘Improving Governance of Forest Tenure,’ which was developed in collaboration with the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED). The guide presents tools and methodologies to assess, establish and ensure tenure rights in forests.

The guide emphasizes that tenure is a critical issue in forest management as it defines who has access to forest resources and, as such, is linked to decisions on forest use, management, access and withdrawal. However, the guide notes that there are many problems with regard to tenure governance in forests related to: unclear roles or insecure roles, responsibilities or rights, injustice and exclusions, poor recognition of customary and indigenous rights, limited capacity to exert rights, and weakness in enforcement and regulation.

To improve the governance of forest tenure, the guide provides information on assessing forest resources, uses, and policies, engaging stakeholders in tenure governance, capacity building for forest tenure holders and other relevant stakeholders, and regulating and enforcing tenure, including grievance mechanisms and conflict resolution.

The guide contains more than 80 different tools and methods ranging from legal literacy camps to crowd-sourcing and provides resources for indigenous peoples and local communities, government decision-makers, forest industries, non-governmental organizations and researchers, among others. [Publication: Improving Governance of Forest Tenure – A practical guide]