Peasant Rights on Forest Lands: Contributions to the General Land and Rural Development Bill

Abstract

This proposal addresses the relationship between the proper environmental management of Colombia's forest reserves and the recognition of peasant families' right to be granted title to the land they inhabit within these reserves. It argues that the main allies to seek for protecting the reserves are the very peasant families and ethnic communities that inhabit them. Building this alliance also requires solidarity from the State and society toward this population. Recognizing peasants' right to land — currently prohibited under the Renewable Natural Resources Code, a prohibition that does not apply to ethnic groups — is, in addition to being a key instrument for the financial management required for forest preservation and development, a sign of the solidarity we owe to this population. Given that ethnic groups and peasant communities in the reserves have been repeatedly affected by the armed conflict, removing the prohibition on granting land titles to peasants, within the framework of a pact for forest preservation and development, also contributes to the comprehensive reparation they are entitled to as victims of the armed conflict.