As major international conference opens in Laos, a country which borders China, Vietnam and Cambodia, high-level government leaders have committed to implement large-scale land reform.

During a keynote speech given at a international land and forestry conference in Vientiane, the Lao capital, today, Dr. Souvanhpheng Bouphanouvong, President of the National Assembly of Lao's Committee on Economic Planning and Finance, announced the government's intention to undergo a nationwide formal process of large scale land reform, and prioritise the need for increased local land management.

The president’s announcement is based on findings that suggest improving access to land for rural households is fundamental to sustained poverty alleviation. International development groups including the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation have said such changes are essential to combating poverty and improving world food security.

"For over a year, Lao has been undergoing a process of reviewing and revising various policies and legislation pertaining to land and natural resources. What we've learned from countries across the world is that by ensuring local peoples' rights to the land they live and work on, we are opening the door for numerous other benefits for our country." said Dr. Souvanhpheng Bouphanouvong.

She made the announcement at the Workshop on International Knowledge Sharing and Learning hosted by the Lao government, the Rights and Resources Initiative and the Centre for People and Forests in Vientiane on Tuesday (28th August)

This historic commitment follows a recent change in the government organisation responsible for land matters, which is now managed by the new Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE). Dr. Bouphanouvong said the decision to change regulation had been in response to increasing demand from villagers in Lao for a review of existing land laws to ensure development projects no longer encroach on their land as they have in the past.

The Washington DC based Rights and Resources Initiative commented, “Today's commitment from the president of a key committee of the National Assembly signals that the Lao government is dedicated to working closely with civil society and community groups to develop and implement a new national strategy to grant significant land rights to the people who live in and around the nation's land and forest resources.”

Participants from more than eleven countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe shared their experiences, suggesting that granting greater control to local forest communities has been a key element in the turn-around accomplished by many of these countries, including China, South Korea, Mexico, Sweden, Nepal, Vietnam and Norway.

"Lao is the latest in a series of countries around the world that are realizing the fundamental role of local control and improved forest governance in alleviating poverty, expanding legal and sustainable land management, and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation" commented Arvind Khare, Executive Director of the Rights and Resources Group.

In her keynote address, Dr. Souvanhpheng Bouphanouvong said that "a significant shift in rethinking natural resource management and land tenure systems is already catalysing a comprehensive revision of national forest policies and laws," and that the government would move immediately to take action in balancing between economic development, cultural and social progress, natural resources preservation, and environmental protection as well as political stability to achieve growth with equity.

"This represents a tipping point in our policies toward land rights and local management," said Dr. Akhom Tounalom, Vice Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, following the speech, "Our current policies are not sufficient to ensure that we can meet our goals in terms of poverty eradication, economic growth, food security and climate change."

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