SOME eighty professionals in the Caribbean who are involved in governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests are currently participating in a three-day technical workshop aimed at sensitising them on  the importance of establishing mechanisms and processes that ensure that people and communities can acquire secure and equitable access to  these three natural resources.

The workshop has been organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the focus is on the voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests approved by the United Nations Committee on World Food Security in May 2012.
The programme addresses the importance of security of tenure for people and communities in land, fisheries and forests within the context of national food security.
Participants include representatives of local organisations, representatives from several Caribbean countries as well as regional and international organisations and the venue is the Princess International Hotel at Providence, East Bank Demerara.
The workshop aims at promoting awareness of the guidelines and the building of networks of actors to share information, experiences and knowledge on the governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests at regional levels.
The workshop is also expected to   serve as leverage for multi-stakeholder dialogue on the guidelines towards implementation within the working context of the territories represented.
In opening remarks yesterday, FAO Representative in Guyana, Dr. Lystra Fletcher-Paul disclosed that millions of people worldwide depend on farmland and rangeland, fishing waters and forests for their livelihoods and as a basis for social, cultural and religious practices.
She said that since access to natural resources is defined and regulated by tenure systems, the governance of tenure is a crucial element in determining if and how people, communities and others are able to acquire access and rights to use and control land, fisheries and forests.
The voluntary guidelines, she said, represented an unprecedented international agreement on the governance of tenure.
“They promote food security through improved, transparent, equitable, secure access to and control over land, fisheries and forests.”
They promote, she said, responsible governance of tenure with respect to all forms of tenure: public, private, communal, indigenous, customary, and informal and that gender is mainstreamed throughout them.
They also provide a framework that States can use when developing their own strategies, policies, legislation, programmes and activities and they also allow governments, civil society, the private sector and citizens to judge whether their proposed actions and the actions of others with respect to governance of tenure, constitute acceptable practices.

LAND TENURE REGULARIsATION
In brief remarks, Manager of the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GLSC), Mr. Enrique
Moniz said the Government of Guyana has recognised the importance of the provision of security of tenure.
He said that in 2005, the GLSC completed a major land tenure regularisation project that saw the birth of the Commission, development of new policies on land, the provision of security of tenure to over 12,000 persons and the conversion of many leasehold property into freehold tenure.
He said: “Many of our farmers are now supplying produce for local use and export without fear of being evicted and with the knowledge that their titles can be passed on to future generations.”
Elements of the ongoing awareness programme which ends tomorrow, includes the presentation of the contents of the guidelines by FAO resource persons, their discussion and analyses of their use in a range of countries and working conditions, proposed actions for their implementation and establishment of links to create professional networks at regional and national levels.