STOCKHOLM (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Experts met in Stockholm this week to assess progress on securing land rights for indigenous people and local communities and how businesses connect to them.

More than half of land rights conflicts in the developing world are not resolved, pitting companies, governments and businesses against indigenous communities, according to research published at the conference.

Here are the views of 10 experts interviewed by the Thomson Reuters Foundation during the two-day conference on the role of local communities, technology and business in ensuring secure land rights
BOUBACAR DIARRA, PILOT COORDINATOR, HELVETAS

“Tenure rights, in a country like Mali that has just experienced a crisis, are very important for ... development because more than 60 percent of the population is rural and lives from the land and ... more than 50 percent of them are women. So the issue of land rights, especially women’s land rights, is very important.

The issue of land rights is also strongly linked to the question of climate change. The more people have rights over their lands, the better they protect them, the better they manage them to fight against climate change.”

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