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Other sources of land conflict. A major source of land conflict are contradictory
development policies that impact on land tenure and land use. Moreover,
multiple government agencies issue land titles, licenses and permits – which
lead to overlapping claims and land conflicts. With growing populations
and urbanization, there has been conversion of prime agricultural lands and
destruction of forests. And while land and social reforms have been instituted,
an estimated 17-22 million people continue to live on public forestlands with
no legal tenure rights.
Summary
The roots of many land conflicts in Asian countries may be traced to enduring
historical injustices, inequitable access to land and resources, faulty and weak
implementation of past land and resource reforms, emergent clashes between
statutory and customary tenure systems, misappropriation of State domains,
and the lack of regard for human rights of the disadvantaged and vulnerable
sectors.
ANALYSIS OF LAND AND RESOURCE CONFLICTS
Prevalence and Impacts
There is no comprehensive data or estimation of land conflicts that occur
annually in each country. Only a portion of the incidents are reported in media,
litigated in court or filed with authorities. Nevertheless, the country studies
here show the prevalence and immediate impacts of land conflicts.
In Indonesia, KPA recorded 937 cases of agrarian conflicts during a 20-month
period (January 2017 to August 2018). These occurred in every province in
Indonesia. The conflicts affected some 711,243 families, and a total land area
of 1.14 million hectares. In the Philippines, ANGOC collected 352 documented
cases of land conflict over an 18-month period (January 2017 to June 2018).
The land area under dispute was 1.28 million hectares, equivalent to four
percent of the total territory of the Philippines.
Regional Summary: A Perspective Overview of Land Conflicts in Six Asian Countries
integrity. In the past 20 years, 221 Certificates of Ancestral Domain Titles
(CADTs) have been issued over 5.4 million hectares. However, the integrity
of native titles is continually challenged by conflicting claims, with the entry
of mining and investments, the continued influx of migrants and commercial
interests, and the entry of State-sponsored projects, such as dams and
power projects, infrastructure, and special economic zones into IP domains.
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