On 14th December 2011, the Tompoun indigenous people in La In village, Teun commune and in Laeoun Kreg village, O’chum commune, Koun Mom district, Ratanakiri province, received a communal land titling certificate which would protect their land and make it usable as well as deem it sustainable for future growth. Development and Partnership in Action (DPA) was a facilitator of this process in La In village.

There were approximately 300 attendees at this ceremony including members of the Senate and National Assembly, senior officers at national, provincial and district levels, provincial authorities, NGOs, DPA staff and indigenous people around Ratanakiri province, under the presidency of H.E Senior Minister Im Chhun Lim, Miniter of Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and Chairman of Council for Land Policy.

“This official recognition is an outstanding achievement by DPA in Ratanakiri province,” said Mr. Mam Sambath, Executive Director of DPA. “The outstanding achievement came from our efforts and was strongly supported by the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, local authorities, Department of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and the provincial cadastral in Ratanakiri province”.

La In village is 1218.48 hectares in size and started applying for a land title in 2006. It has now been five years since DPA-Ratanakiri collaborated with the Provincial Department of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and Provincial Cadastral in Ratanakiri province to implement a collective land registration title for the Tompoun indigenous people.

“Through this recognition, the Tompoun indigenous people in La In village will have legal rights to protect their land and forest resources as well as use sustainable resources to avoid land conflict and prevent land grabbing from illegal entities,” Said Mr. Sambath.

“We are very happy with this recognition,” said Mr. Leung Ba, 47, village chief of La In village, Teun commune, Koun Mom district, Ratanakiri province. “We have now become legal owners of our land and are no longer afraid of losing it.”