Initial Mapping For Communal Titles Underway in Mondolkiri
Initial mapping of three ethnic minority Banong communities in Mondolkiri province got underway yesterday, a critical step in their plans to gain much coveted communal titles to their ancestral land. Established by the 2001 Land Law, communal land titles were designed specifically to protect the ancestral land of the country’s minorities from outside developers by making the land almost impossible to sell. … “As soon as we get the primary mapping finished, we will be relieved because our lands will be protected from outsiders,” said Khut Chanra, deputy chief of one of three Banong communities. James Heenan, representative for the U.N’s local human rights office, which is paying for the mapping process, said the three communities should be mapped in about a month’s time and it was too soon to say how much land, or how many families, would be covered. …
