Improving rights to forest land in Indonesia, Nepal and India Panel on Leveraging climate change policies to promote local forest rights, World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty, 2015 Kundan Kumar Rights and Resources Initiative

2 INDICATIVE MAP OF CUSTOMARY TERRITORIES IN INDONESIA

3 Agrarian Conflicts in Indonesia (KPA, 2015)

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6 INDIA – Keonjhar District in Orissa State

7 CFR Map of Astakunar Village, Odisha CFR map of Astakunar village in Odisha (Mapping by Vasundhara in collaboration with District Administration) CFR Area claimed inside Reserved forests: 636 ha. CFR area inside village cadastral boundary: 144 Ha. Total CFR area claimed: 780 ha. Status: Approved by Appropriate Authority. Title to be issued

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9 Status of carbon rights (RRI 2014) A meta-analysis of rights regimes in 23 countries to understand status of community carbon rights on forests 60 legal frameworks of community tenure Two countries have passed laws defining tenurial rights over carbon Indigenous people and local communities can be interpreted to have some legal basis to trade carbon based on current laws in 39 out of 60 legal frameworks (half in Latin America) In most countries, the community carbon rights situation remains deeply ambiguous, and need to be defined clearly.

10 Conclusion Rights issues remain embedded in national level/local political economies Negative impacts- land grabs are linked to increased demands for bio-fuels and plantations Human rights and resource rights violations. There is apprehension on ground about the issue of REDD+ and how it will play out in context of land and forest rights Communities and IP have used REDD+ to promote rights agenda However, RRI carbon rights analysis (RRI 2014) shows that very few countries has a clear legal framework for community rights over carbon Rights issues need to be at the center of the Climate Change and forest interventions External facilitators/donors/agencies can swing the balance towards community rights through the climate change agenda