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FRAMEWORK AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE POLICY RESPONSE
What complicates matters for the policy maker is that
different rights are often held by different people
or groups in society. A forest might be owned by the
state, local people might have a right to use some of
its products, rights for water coming from this area
might be held by third parties and international companies
might hold concessions for deforestation. This
legal and historic complexity needs to be considered
when adjusting or introducing policies for ecosystem
services and biodiversity (see Box 2.10).
BOX 2.10: Policy challenges related to
uncertain property rights in the Amazon
only 14% of private land in the Amazon is backed by
a secure title deed. Uncertainty over land ownership
leads to violence between different groups, makes it
hard for public authorities to prevent illegal deforestation
and encourages short-term management (i.e.
destruction of the forest through cutting timber and
cattle grazing). In practice, deforestation is often used
as a way of establishing property rights.
In 2009, Brazil announced its intention to transfer
around 670,000 square kilometres (roughly the size
of france) into private ownership “to guarantee that
people have ownership of land, to see if we can end
the violence in this country” (President Luna). Under
the proposal, the smallest areas (