Sangthong Communal Land Titles
Sangthong · Vientiane · Laos
Commons and belonging2011 / 2012
Five villages in Sangthong, within the capital's prefecture, received the country's first collective land use certificates in 2011 and, in 2012, communal titles over 2,189 ha of bamboo forest that cannot be sold, leased, mortgaged or granted as concessions. It opened the national debate, but a 2017 review notes limits: donors and government designed it, the village holds the title but bamboo user groups manage the land, and few residents harvest there. There is no data after 2017.
- Led by
- Sangthong district land authority and the former National Land Management Authority, with an SNV bamboo project, the Lao association GDA and GEF and UNDP funding
- Status
- Unknown
- Participation
- Institution led, participatory
- Visitable
- No, it is a land titling scheme; the forests belong to the villages
- Contact
- No public contact on record
- Last reviewed
- 1 October 2026
Verification
Verified
This place is backed by at least one primary and one secondary source, reviewed within the last twelve months. The sources appear below with their consultation dates.
- Verified two sources including a primary one, or first-hand knowledge of the place
- Partial one source on record
- Unverified starting knowledge, sources pending
Sources
- Presentación de la autoridad de tierras del distrito sobre los títulos comunales (6 oct 2011) ↗ · primary source · consulted on 1 October 2026 · Autoridad de tierras del distrito de Sangthong (en SlideShare)
- Informe sobre la política de registro y titulación comunal de tierras (borrador, feb 2012) ↗ · secondary source · consulted on 1 October 2026 · Land Information Working Group (LIWG)
- Governing Communal Land in the Lao PDR (2017) ↗ · academic source · consulted on 1 October 2026 · Oficina del Alto Comisionado de la ONU para los Derechos Humanos (anexo)