This research in Ayeyawaddy and Kachin suggests that trainings on knowledge about new laws and policies pertaining to land issues can be used by regional CSOs in partnership with local farmer and fisher groups to successfully advocate to government (and other relevant parties) for the reclamation of previously grabbed land. Local groups can also use this legal knowledge as part of protection strategies, as reflected in successful applications for communal forests and lands. However, while knowledge of the law itself is necessary, it is not sufficient – it must be used instrumentally as part of a coordinated set of tactics deployed by the CSOs and the local groups. These include letter writing, negotiations, and even protests; these actions are directed at institutions at various ‘levels’ of government and at various spheres of society (including the private sector). Moreover, the new legal environment also creates new vulnerabilities, as those local farmers and fishers without the ability to successfully comprehend and manoeuvre the new laws risk becoming ‘legally’ dispossessed.