land tenure and water rights in thailand and vietnam ...€¦ · major actors royal forest...

Land tenure and water rights in Thailand and Vietnam Andreas Neef et al. 255

Land tenure and water rights in Thailand and Vietnam - challenges forethnie minorities in mountainous forest regions

Andreas Neef, Jörg Hager, Chiang Mai, Thomas Wirth,Rainer Schwarzmeier, Franz Heidhues, Stuttgart

1 Land, forest and water policies in comparativeperspective

For decades, government policies have adopted top-down approaches towards ethnie minorities living inthe erosion-prone and ecologically fragile highlandsof northern Thailand. Minority groups have long been

regarded as a threat to national security and naturalresources due to their uncontrollable mobility acrossborders, their previously extensive opium poppy cul¬

tivation and «unsustainable cultivation practices», likeshifting cultivation (Colchester 1995). Hence, variouspolicy measures aimed at forcing these groups to aban-don migratory livelihood practices and to switch fromslash and burn to permanent cultivation. These poli¬cies went along with the demarcation of national parks,wildlife sanetuaries, watershed conservation zones andother protected areas. As a consequence, many ethnieminority farmers live under insecure property rightswithout legal basis on their land and are threatenedby expulsion from protected areas (Ganjanapan 2003;Johnson & Forsyth 2002; Neef et al. 2003; Vander-GEEST1996).

In contrast to the persistent State paradigm in northernThailand, recent land and forest policies in northernVietnam have aimed at a large-scale devolution of the

use, management and governance of land and forest(Table 1), reversing the collectivization process whichhad started after independence from the French colo-nizers in 1954 and had been expanded to the South afterreunification in 1975. Since the mid-1990s, land use

rights have been allocated to faim households underthe Land Law of 1993, providing long-term tenure se¬

curity for farmers. The concomitantly issued so-calledred book certificates (RBC) guarantee the rights to ex¬

change, transfer, inherit, mortgage, and lease land use

rights. This dramatic reform of land tenure followed a

cautious decollectivization process which started in the

early 1980s. In comparison to tenure reform ofthe agri¬cultural sector, changes in forest tenure were initiatedlater. Both the Law on Protection and Developmentof Forests enacted in 1991 and Decree 327 referringto «Regreening of the barren hüls» issued in 1993 didnot have a major impact on forest conservation, due tolack of participation by local people, diversion of fundsfor other purposes, and poor planning (Sikor 1998). In

1998, the so-called 5 million ha program was initiated,with the ambitious target of establishing 2 million ha ofprotected forest and 3 million ha of production forestbetween 1998-2010 (Wirth et al. 2004). This programidentities rural households as the key actors in the res-toration of barren land and protection of forests, whileneglecting communal forms of forest management,which has had a long-standing tradition since pre-colo-nial times in Vietnam.

Whereas land and forest tenure policies show markeddifferences between Thailand and Vietnam, bothcountries have adopted similar approaches to waterpolicy and water management. Decentralized watermanagement and small-scale irrigation developmentthrough river basin and sub-basin committees is highon both countries' agenda. In Thailand, first pilot siteshave been established in three regions to test theeffectiveness of stakeholder participation in manag-ing the country's water resources. While until the late1990s, the management of water resources was char-acterized by institutional and legal pluralism and lackof coordination between various agencies involved inwater governance (cf. Mingsarn et al. 2001), a morecomprehensive Water Resources Bill - based on con-sultations with grassroots groups and local people inThailand's 25 river basins - was drafted in 2004 and is

currently undergoing a series of public hearings beforeits expected Promulgation in 2006 (Samabuddhi 2004).In Vietnam, a new Law on Water Resources was pro-mulgated in 1999. which acknowledges that organiza¬tions and individuals have the right to exploit and use

water resources for sustaining agricultural productionand people's livelihoods (Le Thac Can et al. 2001).Not surprisingly for a socialist country. however, State

authorities and formal administrative structures con¬tinue to play an important role in the decision-makingprocesses related to water governance.

In this paper, the implications ofthe respective resourcepolicies for resource management in mountain forestregions are discussed. Following this introduction is a

desription of the methods implemented during fieldresearch (section 2). In section 3, case studies from thetwo countries are presented, selected for their illumi-native insight into the particular challenges and con¬flicts that ethnie minority groups are currently facingas regards resource entitlements and how these affecttheir livelihoods and the protection and use of naturalresources. Section 4 puts the cases in a comparativeperspective and presents the main conclusions drawn.

256 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 61 2006/Heft 4

Mountains of northern Thailand

Land policy Ambiguous land policy, no land titlesissued in protected areas, but toleration ofSettlements and agricultural activities

Forest policy State-paradigm of forest protection andmanagement, no legal basis for Communityforestry, Community forestry bill on holddue to conflicts over the role of Communityforestry in protected areas

Water policy Decentralization efforts, but lack ofcoordination between State agencies and

complexity of legal System, establishmentof river basin committees in a pilot stage

Major actors Royal Forest Department, Royal ProjectFoundation, upstream ethnie minorityvillages (e.g. Hmong, Lahu), downstreamThai villages, external investors, privatecompanies in the agricultural sector

Mountains of northern Vietnam

Comprehensive land law, allocation of landuse certificates in mountainous areas with the

exception of a few protected areas

Emphasis on individual households forreforestation and forest protection, no specificCommunity forestry law, latest legal changesintroduced the possibility to assign forest landwith long-term contracts to groups and othercollective legal entities

Decentralization of water management,general water law, de facto acknowledgementof stakeholder participation in form ofcommunal water user groups

Local authorities at provincial, district andcommune level, officials at the village level(e.g. headman, party secretary), LandAdministration Office, ethnie minorityvillages in upstream (e.g. Hmong, K'mu) anddownstream areas (e.g. Black Thai), migrantKinh

Tab. 1: Comparison of land tenure, forestry and water policies and major actors in resource governance in nort¬hern Thailand and northern VietnamVergleich der Land-, Forst- und Wasserpolitik sowie Haupiakieure der Ressourcenregelung in Nordthailand undNordvietnamComparaison des politiques relatives au foncier, aux forets et ä l 'eau et principaux acteurs actifs dans la gestion des

ressources au nord de la Thailande el du Vietnam

2 Methodology

In this study, open and semi-struetured interviewswith key persons and focus groups were conducted tocollect data at different administrative and hierarchi¬cal levels. Additionally, selected Participatory RuralAppraisal (PRA) tools, such as resource mapping andtransect walks, were used in several interview sessions.

Quantitative data were collected by standardizedquestionnaires in household and village surveys to getinformation about tenure issues at farm householdlevel, demographic and socio-economic factors andland use patterns.

In addition, field observations and partieipant Observa¬

tion of meetings were part of the methodological port¬folio. Key event and historical analysis provided a timedimension which was of importance to understand and

identify dynamics and factors of tenure changes. Sec¬

ondary data were collected at the provincial, districtand communal level for Vietnam and al the sub-dis-trict level for Thailand.

For the analysis of the complexity of tenure Systems,the interplay and strategies of various actors to gaincontrol over resources and the impact on resourcemanagement use was made of a combination of actor-oriented sociology (e.g. Long 2001) and legal pluralism(e.g. Von Benda-Beckmann 1984;Woodman 1998).

3 Pressure on tenure regimes of highland people,resource conflicts and local coping strategies: casestudies from Northwest Vietnam and North Thailand

3.1 Yen Chau district, Son La province, NorthwestVietnam

3.1.1 Description of the study area and main actors inthe land allocation process

Yen Chau district of Son La province is situated alongthe national road no. 6 at the border to Laos, 250 kmfrom the capital Hanoi (Figure 1). Its economy is based

on agriculture with rice production for subsistenceand maize, fruit trees and animal husbandry for cash


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income generation. The altitude of Yen Chau variesfrom 200 m to 1420 m above sea level. The total area ofYen Chau is 84,000 ha of which around 14,000 ha wasdeclared agricultural land in the year 2000. The popula¬

tion in 2005 was 63,191 persons in 13,597 householdsfrom 12 ethnie groups. The population is dominatedby the Black Thai (53.5%), followed by Kinh or ethnieVietnamese (21.1%), Hmong (12.8%), Xinh Mun

258 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 61 2006/Heft4

(11.9%) and Kho-mu (0.4%). According to informa¬tion obtained from the local authorities, the populationof Yen Chau more than doubled in the past 20 years.

The farmers of ethnie minority communities (BlackThai, Hmong) and Kinh migrants, resettled from thedensely populated river deltas, were the main targetgroups of the land allocation process which started in1994. However, they were not just passive recipientsof the so-called red book certificates (RBC) but alsomain actors as they had to apply for their land rights.Black Thai communities, in particular, are highlydiverse in terms of power, access to information, andwealth. The Black Thai villages are organized in clans,with one dominant clan occupying the important posi¬tions within the village and its organizations. The vil¬

lage units of the mass organizations, such as Farmers'Union and Women Union, and the Communist Partywere important means to gain information on thepreparation of the land allocation process. At districtlevel, representatives of these organizations were alsoinvolved in the negotiation process. A strong influenceon the implementation of the land allocation processin the village was exerted by the village security Coun¬cil, which is linked to the District police. Among othertasks, these Councils are responsible for the Solutionof land conflicts. Often sons of important families aremembers in this Council and the village headman oran older member of the Council, the leader, takes thedecisions in land disputes.

At the administrative level, the People's Committee(PC) of the District was the most important actor,being responsible for the whole process and, finally, forthe approval of the RBCs. The PC was supported bythe steering committee composed by representativesof the mass organizations. The Land AdministrationDepartment was responsible for the technical side ofthe land allocation process, like measuring and regis-tering the plots (Wirth et al. 2004).

3.1.2 The gap between planning and reality:agricultural and forest land allocation

In Yen Chau, the agricultural land allocation processfollowing procedures set in the 1993 Land Law wasfirst carried out in the communes along the nationalroad no. 6 between May and July 1994. but with unsat¬

isfactory results due to inaecurate estimates of plotsizes (Social Forestry Development Project SongDa (SFDP) 1997) and the institutional pluralismdescribed above. Additionally, paddy land had beenexeluded from the land allocation by a general agree¬ment within the district (SFDP 1997: Sikor & DaoMinh Truong 2000). This practice was in aecordancewith the tradition of the Black Thai, though not com¬

patible with national policy. The result was a dichot-omy of customary land tenure and the official cadas¬

tral System (Wirth et al. 2004). As a consequence,the land allocation process was revised in 1999. Thissecond land allocation strengthened the government'scontrol over the land resources, an important goal ofthe process. The traditional System of regulär realloca-tion of irrigated land officially disappeared and with itan important means of ensuring food security for the

poorer households.

Prior to the land allocation process, land use planswere established at both village and commune levelsin order to enhance governmental control over landuse. The basis for the land use planning were land use

maps from the year 2000 as well as guidelines andlaws concerning land use from national and provincialauthorities. The main purpose of the planning processwas the delimitation of forestland based on criterialike the steepness of slopes or location.

Table 2 shows the changes in agricultural land for dif¬ferent classes of inclination in the Sap Vat Commune.For the year 2000, both agricultural land and «unused»land are considered to be agricultural land, as the localpopulation also uses the latter for crop cultivation. For

Steepness of the slope [degrees] 0-10 10-25 25-35 >35 Total

Land use map 2000

Land use planning 2010

545 ha

483 ha

1040 ha

638 ha

587 ha

292 ha

240 ha

91ha

2412 ha

1504 ha

Changes in % -11 -39 -50 -62 -38

Tab. 2: Planned changes for agricultural land in the Community Sap VatGeplante Änderungen für Ackerland in der Gemeinde Sap Vat

Changements agricoles planifies dans la commune de Sap Veit

Source: Geographical information Systems (GlS)-analysis of the land use planning based on a 10 m digial eleva¬tion model (DEM) of the commune


1970 1980 1990 2000 2004

Villages GL FP GL FP GL FP GL FP GL FP

Ban Tum (Black Thai) 13 5.8 15 6.3 8 7.2 0 10.5 0 10.5

Ban Dong (Black Thai) 23 0.3 23 0.5 15 1.0 0 2.7 0 2.7

Bo Kieng (Hmong) 25 0 25 0 19 0 10 0 10 0

Hang Hoc (Hmong) 0 0 15 0 5 0 5 0.1 2 0.63

Chi Day (Hmong) 14 n.a. 16 n.a. 14 n.a. 8 n.a. 8 n.a.

Tab. 3: Development of grazing land (GL) and fish ponds (FP) areas in the investigated villages (1970-2004) in haRäumliche Ausdehnung des Weidelandes und der Fischteiche in den untersuchten Dörfern (1970-2004) in Hek¬tarenAugmentation de la surface consacree aux terres päturees (GL) et aux elangs piscicoles (FP) dans les villagesd'etude (1970-2004) en haSource: Agricultural Department Yen Chau district, 2005

the year 2010, the categories agricultural land. graz¬ing land and vegetables were subsumed under theterm agricultural land. Due to the poor mapping qual¬ity, especially of the land use planning map, the exactfigures might be somewhat different in reality. Never¬theless, Table 2 shows clearly that the availability ofagricultural land is expected to decrease to a greaterextent on steeper slopes than on gentle slopes. Still,substantial areas of steep slopes will remain underagricultural use.

The gap between planning and reality is particularlyevident in the reforestation efforts of the district. Offi-cially, the forest cover has increased substantially as a

resultofthe327Programanditssuccessor,the5 Mio. ha

Program (Dao No). In Yen Chau district, some 541 hain 48 villages were reforested according to official fig¬ures. However, large parts of the land allocated forreforestation has actually been put under agriculturaluse, given the much higher short-term benefits of cash

crop production. Moreover, since the Dao No Programentailed the allocation of underutilized communal landto individual households. village officials have oftenused their social position to take the lion's share andto exclude villagers without close connections to localauthorities and State agencies from the allocation proc¬ess (cf. Neef & Schwarzmeier 2001).

3.1.3 Impact of the land allocation process oncommunal pastures

The changes in natural resource tenure and manage¬ment policies. including allocation of individualizedland use rights as the final step in agricultural reforms,diminished the potential of previously community-based grazing land management. In almost all villagesin the study area, common grazing land has existed

for generations. Prior to the collectivization process,common grazing land was one part of the traditionalland use System for both Thai and Hmong commu¬nities. These pastures were composed of fallow andforest land with communal management coordinatingcollective activities. such as yearly fencing and lookingafter the animals on a rotational basis. During the timeofthe agricultural cooperatives in the 1970s and 1980s,

pasture land and ruminants belonged to the coopera¬tives and were managed by the management board ofthe cooperatives. Today, grazing land has been con¬

siderably reduced in some villages and completelyabandoned in others. According to the Department ofAgriculture and Rural Development of Son La prov¬ince, grazing land in the province has decreased fromabout 44,000 ha in the 1970s to only about 2,000 hain 2004. Hence. the tenure niche for communal graz¬ing land management has been undermined by recentland tenure changes. land use rights for communitiesbeing formally non-existent.

In the research area. only Hmong Settlements in high-land areas comprising relatively extensive agriculturaland forest areas have enough land resources to retaincommunally used pastures to a limited extent. Theseare usually not sufficient to provide enough foragefor ruminants throughout the year. In the investi¬gated Black Thai villages, pastures and potential graz¬ing areas disappeared (Table 3) and households nowdepend on individual grazing activities around theresidential area, the village and riparian areas.

Hence. further expansion of ruminanl production inYen Chau district. which has been one of the pillars ofits rural economy for several decades, appears impos-sible.


3.1.4 The impact of the land allocation process onlong-term investments

Farmers in Yen Chau district have intensified theirproduction Systems considerably since the start ofthe decollectivization process (Neef & Schwarz¬meier 2001). As the land allocation process created a

dichotomy between the formal and the customary landtenure regime, tenure security could be obtained fromeither System, a phenomenon which has been describedas «forum Shopping» in the literature on legal plural-ism (Meinzen-Dick & Pradhan 2002; Von Benda-Beckmann 1984). In the Black Thai villages along thenational road no. 6, where all suitable land was alreadycovered with paddy rice terraces when the land allo¬cation process started, farmers have recently begunto diversity their production System by planting fruittrees. Another important long-term investment thathas become more prominent in recent years is aqua-culture in fish ponds in or close to the residential area.Particularly in the Black Thai villages that have a long-standing tradition in small-scale aquaculture, the areaof fish ponds has been expanded (Table 3 above).

Obvious tradeoffs exist, however, between theseinvestments and the intensification of the croppingSystem. The increased use of agrochemicals in paddyfields that are hydrologically linked with the fish pondsseriously jeopardize the future of aquaculture in thearea. Most investments (terracing of new paddy fields,fruit trees, aquaculture) are also likely to increase theextraction of once abundant water resources whichcould induce future water shortages during the dryseason.

Whether these trends of diversification and intensifica¬tion will be able to sustain a growing population with¬out the creation of non-farm opportunities remainsdoubtful.The construction of a huge hydroelectric damin Son La province, which started in 2005, will furtherincrease the pressure on scarce land resources.

3.2 Mae Sa watershed, Chiang Mai province,northern Thailand

3.2.1 Description of the study areaThe Mae Sa watershed Covers an area of 142.2 km2 andextends from 20 to 45 km2 northwest of Chiang Mai.The watershed is intensively used for market-orientedagriculture, mainly fruit, flower and vegetable produc¬tion. The Mae Sa river feeds into the Ping river, one ofthe main tributaries of the Chao Phraya river, whosedelta constitutes Thailand's «rice bowl». Major parts ofthe watershed are included in the Suthep-Pui NationalPark.The watershed is an upland area with mountainousterrain and altitudes ranging from 300 to 1400 metersabove sea level. The upper part of the watershed chosenas the study area, Covers the sub-district Pong Yang and

is inhabited by 15,426 people with 52 percent belong¬ing to the ethnie minority group of the Hmong and 48

percent being northern Thai (Pong Yang SubdistrictAdministration (PYSA) 2002) (Figure 2).

3.2.2 Impact of government interventions on landand forest tenure and local responses to tenureinsecurity

Mae Sa Mai is one of the largest Hmong Settlementsin northern Thailand, with a total population of 1765

inhabitants. Local government officials did not paymuch attention to them until the year 1969 when theKing paid a visit to Mae Sa Mai. He granted Thaicitizenship to all villagers who made a commitmentto stay permanently in their present location (Leep-reecha 2001). Intervention from the Royal ForestDepartment (RFD) in Mae Sa Mai began in 1977 withthe planting of 480 ha of pine and eucalyptus trees.The establishment of the Suthep-Pui National Parkin 1981, which included all the residential and culti-vated areas in Mae Sa Mai, dramatically changed thelives of its inhabitants. The same year, the King paidanother visit to the village and - at the request of thevillagers - allocated an area of about 400 ha to themfor agriculture. In addition, he established a RoyalProject Station (see below) for the demonstration andintroduction of cash crops (Leepreecha 2001). Whilethe Intervention of the King provided the villagers ofMae Sa Mai with a certain level of tenure security, landClaims by the Royal Forest Department (RFD) forreforestation purposes remained a permanent threat.Peach orchards in the upper part of the catchmentwere destroyed by RFD staff in 1982 and some villag¬ers were arrested for encroaching on the head water¬sheds. In 1986, the area of Mae Sa Mai was classified as

«watershed conservation area class AI», meaning thatagricultural activities were officially declared illegalaccording to two cabinet resolutions dated May 1985and October 1986.

Faced with continuous threats of eviction and landClaims by government agencies, villagers in Mae Sa

Mai, and in some of the neighboring communities,have adopted a ränge of strategies to enhance tenuresecurity. Planting of fruit trees has increased tenuresecurity in sloping areas. The National Park authori¬ties have acknowledged these practices as being atleast more sustainable than growing vegetables andother annual crops. In cases where only annual cropscan be grown, permanent cultivation of the fields is

a viable strategy against land Claims, since extendedfallow periods would ultimately lead to eviction fromthe land (cf. Knüpfer 1999). Buying paddy fields in thelowlands is another strategy adopted by Hmong villag¬ers. In addition to ensuring their food self-sufficiencyin rice, farmers also regard this measure as a «lastretreat» in case of eviction from their land.


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^-^_yFig. 2: Research area Mae Sa watershed in northern ThailandDas untersuchte Mae Sa-Einzugsgebiet in NordthailandLa zone d'etude du bassin versanl de Mae Sa dans le nord de la ThailandeSource: ESRI-world data, Royal Thai Survey Department; cartography: P. Elstner

262 Geographica Helvetica Jg. 61 2006/Heft4

Pha Nok Kok Muang Kham

Type of customary rights % No. of fields % No. of fields

The farmer is the owner of the field. 80.4 109 83.6 56

The farmer is free to grow perennial crops. 81.5 110 94.0 63

Type of officially recognized rights % No. of fields % No. of fields

The farmer has an official ownership title orland use certificate. 20.0 27 76.1 51

The land can be used as collateral forobtaining a loan. 6.7 9 62.7 42

Tab. 4: Types of traditional and officially recognized rights in Pha Nok Kok and Muang Kham (according torespondents' perceptions, sample of 40 farm households, 2002)Typen von Gewohnheits- und offiziellen Rechten in Pha Nok Kok und Muang Kham (gemäss Wahrnehmung derBefragten in 40 Haushalten, 2002)Types ele droits coutumiers et officiels ä Pha Nok Kok et Muang Kham (selon la perception de 40 menages paysansen 2002)Source: adapted from Neef et al. 2004; data provided by P. Sirisupluxuna and C. Sangkapitux

Apart from these individual strategies, the Communityand its sub-groups have also developed communalstrategies to cope with insecure tenure. An old tradi¬tion of forest and tree Ordination - which had beenabandoned due to the influence of Christian mission-aries - was revived in the mid-1980s upon the initiativeof the then village headman of Mae Sa Mai. Agricul¬tural land had to be given up to establish a protectedforest area, which was done with the collective agree¬ment of all villagers. The protected forest covering anarea of about 800 ha serves as a Community forest anda public demonstration of the community's willingnessto conserve the forests in the head watersheds. Coop¬eration with government agencies is another strategyto secure the land Claims of the Community. In 1991.the villagers of Mae Sa Mai reached an agreementwith the National Park authorities to construct firebarriers and to monitor and extinguish forest fires inorder to protect the conservation forest area. For manyyears, the activities of the Royal Project Station (RP)have indirectly supported the Claims of the villagersof Mae Sa Mai by sustaining their livelihoods in thisparticular subcatchment. The conlinuous Cooperationwith the RP improves the security of their land rightsand makes them less vulnerable to eviction than. forinstance, their neighbors in Pha Nok Kok (see below).

3.2.3 Upstream-downstream conflicts and resolutionstrategies

As the Mae La Ngun subcatchment was not included inthe 1981 boundaries of the National Park, the villagesof Pha Nok Kok (Hmong) and Muang Kham (Thai).

which have an upstream-downstream relationship.were not affected much by the conservation interestsof the RFD until the beginning of the 1990s. In 1992,

however, the area of the Suthep-Pui National Parkwas expanded. covering the whole village territory ofPha Nok Kok and 10 percent of the territory of MuangKham. The expansion triggered marked disparitiesbetween the two villages in terms of tenure securityas shown in the perceptions of a sample of 40 farmersduring a survey in 2002. While the differences betweenthe perceptions of customary rights are not significant,farmers in the two villages have a significantly differ¬ent tenure Status under the official legal System (Table4). From 1994 onwards, further expansion of croppingarea in Pha Nok Kok was strictly forbidden by theRFD which consequently claimed at least 10 percentof the village's agricultural land.

Since the 1980s. the relationship between the two com¬munities has been marked by conflicts over resources.particularly water. Hence. a Joint committee consistingof two representatives per stream and village was set

up to solve these conflicts. with a local non-govern-mental Organization (NGO) serving as an externa!mediator. In the late 1990s. one creek used by farmersof Muang Kham feil dry. leading to an acute conflictbetween the two villages. Joint meetings were heldwhere the issue of water distribution was discussedand regulations were set up that would satisfy bothparties. such as a standardization of the diameter ofpipes. The main Solution of the increasing conflicts,however. was driven by market forces: the introduc-


tion of sweet peppers by a Dutch food Company inMuang Kham brought about the construction of pri¬vate wells for pumping ground water which made thefarmers in this village far less reliant on surface waterfrom upstream creeks formerly shared with farmersfrom Pha Nok Kok.

3.2.4 Conflicts between local communities andexternalinvestors

Since the 1990s, urban-based investors have startedto acquire large tracts of land in the northern part ofThailand. In Mae Sa watershed, the impact of urbaninvestors' interests and speculative activities are alsobeing feit. In the Hmong village Buak Toey, outsideinvestors have steadily increased their influence onthe community's territory. Taking advantage of theinsecure tenure Situation of the villagers, some inves¬

tors have cleared large tracts of forestland in protectedareas - while forest authorities have turned a blind eyeor rather an open hand - to grow cut flowers on a largescale and to construct a private resort. Among theinvestors is the kamnan, the head of the sub-districtadministration, which makes any legal action by thevillagers against the land grabbing virtually impossi-ble.

The land occupancy by investors goes along with anindividual appropriation of water resources, as onemajor creek flows through the investors' land. Whilefarmers in Buak Toey cannot afford to buy pumps andhave to resort to gravity irrigation, the investors haveinstalled a System of pumps, wells, weirs and reservoirsto secure their access to irrigation water. Thus, a oncecommunally managed resource has been transformedinto a private commodity used by wealthy landlords,with dramatic consequences for the local Community.Resident farmers tap the leftovers ofthe water directlyfrom the remaining creeks through pipes that are con¬nected to storage Systems in their fields.

4 Discussion and conclusions

Research from both case studies suggests that theimplementation of national policies in land and foresthave created a dichotomy between customary tenureSystems and the official legal System. In the Vietnam¬ese case, this Situation of legal pluralism is reflected ina gap between the land register and the current tenureSituation in the villages. This gap indicates the stronginfluence of customary land tenure institutions. At thesame time, an individualization process has evolved,mainly caused by the allocation of both agriculturaland forest land to individual households. This processhas undermined communal forms of resource man¬

agement, particularly evident in the case of grazingland. Results from the Vietnam case also suggest that

outcomes of the land allocation process have affectedsocial groups in the villages differently as regards theirtenure security Status. This is especially evident in thecase of forestland allocation, where village headmenand other officials in the villages - who were supposedto be catalysts - used their central position in the proc¬ess to follow their own agenda. Notwithstanding theseadverse effects of the land allocation, overall tenuresecurity has improved in the more favorable locations,reflected in enhanced long-term investments, such as

terractng new paddy fields, planting of fruit trees anddigging of fish ponds.

The fact that large tracts of land destined for refor¬estation purposes are instead put under agriculturaluse by the individual recipients is an expression of theneed of farmers for sustaining their short-term foodsecurity. It is also expected that water in this tradition-ally water-rich country can become a limiting factorunder a more intensified System. In these situations,communal forms of management will come underincreasing strain, particularly since a legal frameworkfor common property regimes is lacking.

Results of the case study in Thailand suggest that thedichotomy between state-governed forest land and

customary property regimes in forest reserve areasevokes a variety of strategies on the part of local com¬munities to secure their land use rights, ranging fromthe revival and invention of traditions to Cooperationwith NGOs and development projects. Most of thecommunal efforts focus on creating a new image ofethnie minorities as caretakers of the forest and con-servers of natural resources. Hence, in a local arenacharacterized by political and economic pressure andwidespread ignorance of local people's customarytenure arrangements, ethnie minority people havedeveloped new forms of human agency (cf. Meinzen-Dick & Pradhan 2002). The «room for manceuvre» inclaiming land and forest rights in the Thai highlandsdepends on a complex interplay of government inter¬ests, Intervention by development projects, NGOs andother actors, and the ability of local communities toinfluence the local administrative System in their favor.As the upstream-downstream relationship describedin section 3.2.3 shows, communities are also capableof finding their own creative means to deal with inter-village resource conflicts. Where Community rights arenot established and protected against external inter¬ventions, however, villagers are extremely vulnerableto urban investors and speculators. This is particularlyevident in well accessible locations where investmentsin high-value agricultural products and/or tourist facil¬ities promise high rates of return (section 3.2.4).

The cases presented from Vietnam and Thailand pro¬vide evidence that communal forms of resource man-


agement have come under increasing pressure. Whileprivate investments on individual agricultural land arecommonplace, irrespective of whether farmers havedocumented land rights and a high degree of tenuresecurity or not, common property regimes lack sup¬

port from a comprehensive legal framework that pro-tects common-pool resources, such as forests, pasturesand water, from overexploitation and local communi¬ties from encroachment by Outsiders and the misuse ofpower by village elites.

AcknowledgementsThe financial support of the Deutsche Forschungsge¬meinschaft (German Research Foundation) in car¬

rying out this long-term study is gratefully acknowl-edged.

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Land tenure and water rights in Thailand and Vietnam Andreas Neef et al 265

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Abstract: Land tenure and water rights in Thailandand Vietnam - challenges for ethnie minorities inmountainous forest regionsEthnie minorities in the mountainous forest regionsof northern Thailand and northern Vietnam live in a

particularly restrictive political, social and economicenvironment. Widespread degradation of land, waterand forest resources has adverse effects on the liveli¬hoods of these groups. Given the dramatically increas¬

ing scarcity of natural resources, regulation of resourceaccess and allocation are becoming fundamental forthe development of sustainable resource management,in which an active participation of the local popula¬tion in planning and implementation is a crucial pre-requisite. In this article, the political and institutionalframework of current resource policies and resultingconflicts are discussed for the two countries. Drawingon various case studies, typical land and water tenureconflicts are presented and their impact on the pro¬tection and use of natural resources and on the liveli¬hoods of ethnie minorities is analyzed.

Zusammenfassung; Land- und Wasserrechtsproblemeethnischer Minderheiten in Bergwaldregionen inThailand und VietnamEthnische Minderheiten in den BergwaldregionenNordthailands und Nordvietnams sind von besondersrestriktiven politischen, sozialen und ökonomischenRahmenbedingungen betroffen. Die weitreichendeDegradierung der Land-, Wasser- und Waldressour¬cen gefährdet zunehmend die Lebensgrundlage dieserBevölkerungsgruppen. Mit der dramatisch gestiegenenVerknappung der natürlichen Ressourcen bekommenZugangsregelungen und Verteilungsfragen grundsätz¬liche Bedeutung für die Entwicklung nachhaltigerRessourcennutzungskonzepte, in denen eine aktiveBeteiligung der lokalen Bevölkerungsgruppen an derPlanung und Umsetzung unabdingbare Voraussetzungist. In diesem Beitrag werden politische und institutio¬nelle Rahmenbedingungen der aktuellen Ressourcen¬

politik in den beiden Ländern sowie daraus abgelei¬tete Konflikte dargestellt. An Fallbeispielen werdentypische Land- und Wasserrechtskonflikle vorgestelltund deren Auswirkungen sowohl auf den Schutz unddie Nutzung natürlicher Ressourcen als auch auf dieLebensbedingungen der ethnischen Minderheitenanalysiert.

Resume: Les droits d'utilisation du sol et de l'eaudes minorites ethniques des montagnes boisees deThailande et du VietnamLes minorites ethniques des regions montagneusesboisees du nord de la Thailande et du Vietnam se trou-vent dans une Situation extremement restrictive quantä l'environnement politique, social et economique.La degradation continue et vaste des ressources du

paysage en general, de l'eau et de la foret a des con¬

sequences defavorables pour les conditions de vie deces groupes. Face ä la reduction dramatique des res¬

sources naturelles, des regulations concernant l'acceset la repartition de la terre sont d'une importancefondamentale. Pour atteindre un developpement sou¬

tenable, la participation de la population locale dansle cours de la planification et de la realisation est unenecessite absolue. Le present article traite des condi¬tions generales de la politique actuelle dans les deux

pays en ce qui concerne les ressources ainsi que des

conflits provenants de cette Situation.

Dr. Andreas Neef, Jörg Hager, M.A. Social Anthro-pology, The Uplands Program, Hohenheim Office,Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, ChiangMai 50200,Thailand,e-mail:[email protected]@gmx.netDipl.-Forstwirt Thomas Wirth, SFB 564 - The UplandsProgram, Schloss, Osthof-Süd, University of Hohen¬heim (796), D-70593 Stuttgart, Germany.e-mail: [email protected]. agr. Rainer Schwarzmeier, Prof. Dr. FranzHeidhues, Institute of Agricultural Economics andSocial Sciences in the Tropics and Subtropics (490),Rural Development Economics and Policy, Schloss,Osthof-Süd, University of Hohenheim, D-70593 Stutt¬

gart, Germany.e-mail:[email protected]@uni-hohenheim.de

Manuskripteingange/received/manuscrit entre le

14.3.2006Annahme zum Druck/accepted for publication/acceptepour Timpression: 13.12.2006

land tenure and water rights in thailand and vietnam ...€¦ · major actors royal forest...

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