17 Finally, the country studies here do not focus on land conflicts arising from war and refugees, including the transboundary migrations of people (e.g., Rohingya people), or internal displacement arising from natural and ecological disasters and the longer-term impacts of climate change. COUNTRY CONTEXTS OF CURRENT LAND AND RESOURCE CONFLICTS Land tenure systems today face increasing stress due to growing demands for food and housing, while environmental degradation and climate change reduce the availability of land, fisheries and forests. Inadequate and insecure tenure rights increase vulnerability, hunger and poverty, and can lead to conflict and environmental degradation when competing users fight for control of these resources. Land and resource governance is crucial in determining whether people, communities and others are able to acquire rights, and associated duties, to use, manage and control land, water, forests and natural resources. Many land and resources conflicts arise because of unequal distribution of land and resources, lack of access to land especially for poor people, unclear or insecure tenure rights and weak governance. Weak governance adversely affects social stability, sustainable use of the environment. People can be condemned to a life of hunger and poverty if they lose their tenure rights to their homes, land, fisheries and forests, and their livelihoods because of corrupt tenure practices, or if implementing agencies fail to protect their tenure rights. People may even lose their lives when weak tenure governance leads to violent conflict. Responsible governance of tenure conversely promotes sustainable social and economic development that can help eradicate poverty and food insecurity, and encourages responsible investment. Regional Summary: A Perspective Overview of Land Conflicts in Six Asian Countries Moreover, in some countries, existing conflicts over land and resources are conveniently ignored by official policy or by public officials. The Bangladesh government, for instance, recognizes the indigenous peoples (IPs) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), but often ignores the existence of lowland IPs. In the Philippines, there are four large indigenous peoples’ tribes near Metro Manila who are continually driven away from their ancestral lands by the influx lowland migrants. And yet, this passive form of land conflict is not written about and often goes neglected.