Summary

In Colombia, IPLC territories can be categorized in three main groups.

First, the indigenous peoples that live in areas of Resguardo Indígena. These are collective lands owned by indigenous peoples as a group (as opposed to individual properties); they are based on the idea that these lands cannot be leased, sold or become a tradable asset (see Comisión de la Verdad, n/d). The largest areas of Resguardos Indígenas are located in the Amazon biome, and a large amount of the coffee currently produced and exported by Colombia come from these areas. So it can be expected that origination polygons from companies overlap with areas of Resguardo Indígena. These areas are mainly regulated by articles 63 and 329 of Colombia’s Constitution (1991), as well as the Decree 2164 (1995), as detailed below.

Second, the black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquera communities that live in areas of Consejos Comunitarios. They are local traditional communities, although not indigenous. They are mainly located in the Pacific Coast of Colombia, between the borders with Ecuador and Panamá. These areas are mainly regulated by the transitory article 55 of Colombia’s Constitution (1991), as well as the Law 70 (1993) and the National Decree 1745 (1995), as detailed below.

Third, the peasants that live in areas of Zonas de Reserva Campesina. These territories are specifically designated to ensure the livelihoods of family farmers, and are analogous to Land Reform settlements in other countries. They aim to ensure land redistribution, social equity and sustainable development in rural Colombia. In comparison to the other two categories, this one represents a smaller area in size, containing just a few polygons. These areas are mainly regulated by the Law 160 (1994) and the Decree 1777 (1996), as detailed below.

All these IPLC territories are formally documented, acknowledged by the government and regulated by specific legislation. The data available about these areas is officially issued by Colombia’s National Land Agency (Agencia Nacional de Tierras) and can be found at https://data-agenciadetierras.opendata.arcgis.com/. In this dataset, there are 1085 features (polygons or points), being 833 Indigenous Peoples and 252 Local Communities.

When sourcing from the IPLC areas of Colombia, companies should conduct their due diligence to ensure they are commercializing with the communities that are lawfully entitled to live in these territories; otherwise, companies incur the risk of dealing with unauthorized actors that might be violating land rights in these IPLC areas.

Colombia’s Constitution (1991)

Article 63. Public property, natural parks, communal lands of ethnic groups, protected lands, the archaeological heritage of the Nation and other property determined by law are inalienable, imprescriptible and unseizable.

Article 329. The formation of indigenous territorial entities will be subject to the provisions of the Organic Law on Territorial Planning, and their delimitation will be made by the National Government, with the participation of representatives of indigenous communities, following the opinion of the Territorial Planning Commission. The reserves are collective property and cannot be transferred. The law will define the relationships and coordination of these entities with those of which they form part.

PARAGRAPH. In the case of an indigenous territory that includes the territory of two or more departments, its administration will be carried out by indigenous councils in coordination with the governors of the respective departments. In the event that this territory decides to constitute itself as a territorial entity, it will be done in compliance with the requirements established in the first paragraph of this article.

Decree 2164 (1995)

Article 21. Legal Nature. Indigenous reserves (Resguardo Indígena) are the collective property of the indigenous communities for which they were established and, in accordance with Articles 63 and 329 of the Political Constitution, they are inalienable, imprescriptible and unseizable.

These reserves are a special legal and sociopolitical institution, constituted by one or more indigenous communities who, with a collective title to property that enjoys the guarantees of private property, possess their territory; also, they are governed for the management of their territory and their internal life by an autonomous organization protected by indigenous jurisdiction and its own regulatory system.

Paragraph. The members of the indigenous community of the reserve may not alienate, lease on their own account, or mortgage the lands that constitute the reserve.

Article 22. Management and Administration. The areas that are established as indigenous reserves will be managed and administered by the respective councils or traditional authorities of the communities, in accordance with their uses and customs, the special legislation referring to the subject matter and the regulations adopted on this matter by those communities.

Paragraph. When the communities are accustomed to producing on family plots and have allotments of land for this purpose, the council or traditional authority will prepare a table of the allotments that have been made or will be made among the families of the subdivision, which may be subject to review and regulation by INCODER, with the aim of achieving their equitable redistribution among all the families that comprise it and fulfilling the social function of the reserve property established by the Political Constitution and Law 160 of 1994.

If the farm plot is located within a territory of Indigenous Peoples (Resguardo Indígena, in the original language), this means that you are sourcing from an IPLC territory that is documented and officially acknowledged by Colombia’s national government. These territories are protected by indigenous jurisdiction and are mainly regulated by Colombia’s Constitution (1991) and the Decree 2164 (1995). To adequately carry out your due diligence, make sure your company has commercial relations with the Indigenous Peoples that lawfully occupy this area. Ensure that your company is trading with the autonomous organizations of that territory, such as indigenous councils and traditional authorities, or authorized associations, cooperatives, individual members or external partners. Avoid commercializing with unauthorized intermediaries or third parties that might be violating the land rights of Indigenous peoples.

Colombia’s Constitution (1991)

Article 55. Within two years after the entry into force of this Constitution, Congress shall issue, after study by a special commission that the Government shall create for this purpose, a law that recognizes the right of black communities that have been occupying uncultivated lands in rural areas along the rivers of the Pacific Basin, in accordance with their traditional production practices, to collective ownership of the areas that shall be demarcated by the same law. In each case, representatives elected by the communities involved shall participate in the special commission referred to in the preceding paragraph. The property thus recognized shall only be transferable under the terms specified by law. The same law shall establish mechanisms for the protection of the cultural identity and rights of these communities, and for the promotion of their economic and social development.

PARAGRAPH 1. The provisions of this article may be applied to other areas of the country that present similar conditions, by the same procedure and after study and favorable opinion of the special commission provided for herein.

PARAGRAPH 2. If upon expiration of the term specified in this article, Congress has not issued the law to which it refers, the Government shall proceed to do so within the following six months, by means of a regulation with the force of law.

Law 70 (1993)

Article 1. The purpose of this law is to recognize the right to collective ownership of the lands of black communities that have been occupying uncultivated lands in rural areas along the rivers of the Pacific Basin, in accordance with their traditional production practices, in accordance with the provisions of the following articles. It also aims to establish mechanisms for the protection of the cultural identity and rights of black communities in Colombia as an ethnic group, and to promote their economic and social development, in order to guarantee that these communities obtain real conditions of equal opportunity with the rest of Colombian society.

In accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Transitional Article 55 of the Political Constitution, this law shall also apply to uncultivated, rural and riverside areas that have been occupied by black communities that have traditional production practices in other areas of the country and meet the requirements established in this law.

Article 4. The State shall grant to the black communities referred to in this law the collective ownership of the areas which, in accordance with the definitions contained in the second article, include the vacant lands in the rural areas bordering the rivers of the Pacific Basin and those located in the areas referred to in the second paragraph of article 1 of this law which they have been occupying in accordance with their traditional production practices.

The lands for which the right to collective ownership is determined shall be called for all legal purposes "Lands of the Black Communities" (Tierras de las Comunidades Negras).

Article 5. In order to receive the allottable lands as collective ownership, each community shall form a Community Council as a form of internal administration, the requirements for which shall be determined by the regulations issued by the National Government. In addition to those provided for in the regulations, the Community Councils have the following functions: to delimit and assign areas within the allocated lands; to ensure the conservation and protection of collective property rights, the preservation of cultural identity, the use and conservation of natural resources; to select the legal representative of the respective community as a legal entity, and to act as friendly mediators in internal conflicts that can be reconciled.

National Decree 1745 (1995)

CHAPTER II: On Community Councils

Article 3. Definition. A black community may constitute itself as a Community Council, which as a legal entity exercises the highest authority of internal administration within the Lands of the Black Communities, in accordance with the constitutional and legal mandates that govern it and the others assigned to it by the system of law of each community.

In the terms of numeral 5, article 2 of Law 70 of 1993, a Black Community is the group of families of Afro-Colombian descent who possess their own culture, share a history and have their own traditions and customs within the relationship between the countryside and the town, which reveal and preserve the consciousness and identity that distinguish them from other ethnic groups.

The Community Council is made up of the General Assembly and the Board.

If the farm plot is located within a territory of Afro-descendant Communities (Consejos Comunitarios de Comunidades Negras, Afrocolombianas, Raizales y Palenqueras, in the original language), this means that you are sourcing from an IPLC territory that is documented and officially acknowledged by Colombia’s national government. These territories are mainly regulated by the National Constitution of 1991, the Law 70 of 1993 and the National Decree 1745 of 1995. To adequately carry out your due diligence, make sure your company has commercial relations with the Afro-descendant Communities that lawfully occupy this area. Ensure that your company is trading with the Community Council (Consejo Comunitario) assigned for that territory, or authorized associations, cooperatives, individual members or external partners. Avoid commercializing with unauthorized intermediaries or third parties that might be violating the land rights of this local community.

Law 160 (1994)

Article 1. Inspired by the constitutional precept according to which it is the duty of the State to promote progressive access to land ownership by agricultural workers and to other rural public services, in order to improve the income and quality of life of the rural population, this Law has the following objectives:

(...) Ninth. Regulate the occupation and use of uncultivated lands of the Nation, giving preference in their allocation to low-income farmers, and establish Zonas de Reserva Campesina for the promotion of small rural property, subject to policies for the conservation of the environment and renewable natural resources and to the criteria for territorial planning and rural property that are indicated.

Article 4. The National System for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development for Peasants is made up of eight subsystems, with their own powers and objectives, duly coordinated with each other. Their planning must take into account the specific needs and interests of peasant, Afro-Colombian and indigenous women, as well as the guarantees of the territorial rights of indigenous peoples and black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquera communities. Each subsystem will be led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in conjunction with an additional entity.

These subsystems are:

1. Acquisition, allocation of land and agrarian processes for agrarian reform, and guarantee of territorial rights of peasants, indigenous peoples and black, Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquera communities, coordinated by the National Land Agency (ANT). Territorial entities may also participate in co-financing with the ANT in the purchase of land in favor of those who are subject to agrarian reform and comprehensive rural reform.

2. Of delimitation, constitution and consolidation of Zonas de Reserva Campesina, delimitation, use and management of communal sandbanks and savannas and peasant organization and training coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

(...)

Article 80. CONDITIONALLY enforceable article. Zonas de Reserva Campesina are the geographic areas selected by the INCORA Board of Directors, taking into account the regional agroecological and socioeconomic characteristics. The respective regulations will indicate the minimum and maximum extensions that may be awarded, determined in Family Agricultural Units, the number of these that may be given or held in property, the requirements, conditions and obligations that the occupants of the land must prove and fulfill.

In the Zonas de Reserva Campesina, the action of the State will take into account, in addition to the previous guiding principles, the rules and criteria on environmental territorial planning, the effectiveness of the social, economic and cultural rights of peasants, their participation in regional planning and decision-making bodies and the characteristics of the production modalities.

In order to regulate the maximum areas of private property that may be held by any natural or legal person, or in common and undivided ownership, in the Zonas de Reserva Campesina that are established, the Institute will proceed to acquire, through the procedure indicated in Chapter VI of this Law or by expropriation, the surfaces that exceed the permitted limits.

Article 81. CONDITIONALLY enforceable article1. Except as provided in article 83 of this Law, the Colonization Zones and those where the existence of vacant lands predominates are Zonas de Reserva Campesina.

Article 84. CONDITIONALLY enforceable article1. In the formulation and execution of development plans for colonization processes in Zonas de Reserva Campesina, the participation of the Mayors of the municipalities included in the respective studies, as well as of the organizations representing the interests of the settlers, shall be obligatory.

In all regulations issued by the Colombian Institute of Agrarian Reform related to colonization processes, the basic norms that regulate the conservation, protection and use of natural resources under the criterion of sustainable development in the respective region shall be included, and the areas that due to their special characteristics cannot be subject to occupation and exploitation shall be precisely determined.

Decree 1777 (1996)

Article 1. Scope of application. This Decree shall apply to the Zonas de Reserva Campesina referred to in Chapter XIII of Law 160 of 1994, which shall be established and delimited by the Board of Directors of lNCORA, in colonization zones, in regions where vacant lands predominate, and in geographic areas whose agroecological and socioeconomic characteristics require the regulation, limitation, and organization of the ownership or tenure of rural lands.

The Zonas de Reserva Campesina have the purpose of promoting and stabilizing the peasant economy, overcoming the causes of social conflicts that affect them, and, in general, creating the conditions for achieving peace and social justice in the respective areas.

Paragraph 1. The Peasant Reserve Zones may also include the buffer zones of the National Natural Park System area, for the purpose of developing model activities and productive systems formulated in the environmental plans established for the respective zones. In the overlap zones, these plans must respect the regulations established for the buffer zones.

Paragraph 2. In exceptional cases, and in order to establish or expand a Peasant Reserve Zone, the competent environmental authority, upon request of the Board of Directors of Incora, may remove an area of ​​Forest Reserve that at the time of issuance of this decree is intervened by man, in accordance with the provisions on this matter in the National Code of Renewable Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and other complementary provisions. In any case, the National Government will favor activities aimed at recovering the forestry suitability of the soil.

Article 2. Objectives. The constitution and delimitation of Zonas de Reserva Campesina has the following objectives:

1. To control the inappropriate expansion of the country's agricultural frontier.

2. To avoid correcting the phenomena of inequitable concentration or uneconomic fragmentation of rural property.

3. To create the conditions for the adequate consolidation and sustainable development of the peasant economy and of the settlers in the respective zones.

4. To regulate the occupation and use of vacant lands, giving preference in their allocation to peasants or settlers with limited resources.

5. To create and constitute a comprehensive proposal for sustainable human development, territorial planning and political management.

7. To facilitate the comprehensive execution of rural development policies.

8. To strengthen the spaces for social, political, environmental and cultural agreement between the State and rural communities, guaranteeing their adequate participation in the local and regional planning and decision-making bodies.

If the farm plot is located within a territory of Peasants Communities (Zonas de Reserva Campesina, in the original language), this means that you are sourcing from an IPLC territory that is documented and officially acknowledged by Colombia’s national government. These territories are mainly regulated by the Law 160 (1994) and the Decree 1777 (1996). To adequately carry out your due diligence, make sure your company has commercial relations with the Peasant Community that lawfully occupy this area in accordance with the INCORA development plan.Ensure that your company is trading with the organizations representing the peasants in that territory, or authorized associations, cooperatives, individual members or external partners. Avoid commercializing with unauthorized intermediaries or third parties that might be violating the land rights of this local community.