A plenary and panel discussion session set the tone for in-depth deliberations on tenure with the delegation heads/representatives from the Department of Forestry (Lao PDR), Department of Land (Lao PDR), Rights Determination and Land Registration (Indonesia), Ministry of Land Management-Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation (Nepal), MRLG Project (Lao PDR), the World Bank, and the Philippines through the NCIP OIC Executive Director, Atty. Caesar M. Ortega.

The Philippines was named as the model country by the Anthropology Department in a national university in Australia by championing the recognition of Native Title of the Indigenous Cultural Communities.

The Philippine Delegation through the NCIP enlightened the body on the concept of Native Title and shared experiences on the continuing journey on protecting land rights for the Indigenous Peoples.

Strategic planning and approaches on tenure and promotion of land rights were shared by members of the panelist which were identified to be of great importance in forest management with the Indigenous Peoples, also known as ethnic groups and local communities by other governments from participating countries.

“Find out and accept if there are built-in defects in the present system and address them honestly and deliberately”, imparted by NCIP to serve as one of the guiding principles proceeding toward the formulation of action plan for securing tenure on forest lands.

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