In Brazil, IPLC territories can be categorized in four main groups.

First, the indigenous peoples that live in areas of Territórios Indígenas. These are collective lands owned by indigenous peoples as a group (as opposed to individual properties). These traditional lands cannot be leased, sold, become a tradable asset or any other transaction that could eliminate direct possession by the indigenous community. Most indigenous lands in Brazil have a Territorial and Environmental Management Plan (PGTA, o Plano de Gestão Territorial e Ambiental in Portuguese), autonomously developed by the indigenous groups, specifying which agricultural land-uses are authorized in their particular territory. Indigenous affairs are mainly managed by the National Indigenous Foundation (FUNAI, Fundação Nacional do Índio in Portuguese). Most of the areas of Territórios Indígenas are located in the Amazon biome, but there are indigenous lands all over the country. The indigenous lands are mainly regulated by article 231 and 232 of Brazil's Constitution (1988) and Federal Law 14701 (2023), as detailed below.

Second, the afro-descendant communities that live in areas of Quilombola Territories. They are local traditional communities descendants of formerly enslaved people. They are located across all over Brazil and are protected by specific legislation. Different types of small-scale agriculture can take place in these areas. These territories are mainly regulated by the transitory dispositions of Brazil's Constitution (1988) and Federal Decree 4887/2003, as detailed below.

Third, the peasants that live in areas of Assentamentos de Reforma Agrária. These territories are specifically designated to ensure the livelihoods of family farmers. Different types of small-scale agriculture can take place in these areas. They aim to ensure land redistribution, social equity and sustainable development in rural Brazil, therefore, the law has a specific size requirement to ensure the ownership of smallholders rather than middle- or large-scale farmers. These areas are mainly regulated by Federal Law 8629 (1993) and Federal Law 13.001 (2014), as detailed below.

Fourth, traditional communities that live in areas of Unidades de Conservação de Uso Sustentável. Those are protected areas that are designed to protect and safeguard the livelihoods of traditional communities in Brazil (often referred to as comunidades extrativistas). Different types of small-scale agriculture can take place in these areas, as well as forest-based practices, such as foraging and seed collection. All protected areas in Brazil have a Management Plan (Plano de Manejo, in Portuguese), in which the Management Committee (Comitê Gestor, in Portuguese) of the conservation unit specifies the agricultural land-uses are authorized in their particular territory. These areas are mainly regulated by the article 225 of Brazil's Constitution (1988) and Federal Law 9985(2000), 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 different agencies of the Brazilian government. Data on Territórios Indígenas is managed by FUNAI; data on Territórios Quilombolas is managed by INCRA/Fundação Palmares; data on Assentamentos da Reforma Agrária is managed by INCRA; and data on Unidades de Conservação de Uso Sustentável is managed by MMA/ICMBio.

When sourcing from the IPLC areas of Brazil, 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.

Brazil's Constitution (1988)

Article 231. The social organization, customs, languages, beliefs and traditions of the Indians are recognized, as well as their original rights to the lands they traditionally occupy. It is the responsibility of the Union to demarcate them, protect them and ensure that all their assets are respected.

§ 1º The lands traditionally occupied by the Indians are those inhabited by them permanently, those used for their productive activities, those essential to the preservation of the environmental resources necessary for their well-being and those necessary for their physical and cultural reproduction, according to their uses, customs and traditions.

§ 2º The lands traditionally occupied by the Indians are intended for their permanent possession, and they are entitled to exclusive use of the riches of the soil, rivers and lakes found therein.

§ 3º The use of water resources, including energy potential, and the research and extraction of mineral resources on indigenous lands may only be carried out with the authorization of the National Congress, after consultation with the affected communities, and they shall be assured of participation in the results of the extraction, in accordance with the law.

§ 4º The lands referred to in this article are inalienable and unavailable, and the rights over them are imprescriptible.

§ 5º The removal of indigenous groups from their lands is prohibited, except, "ad referendum" of the National Congress, in the event of a catastrophe or epidemic that puts their population at risk, or in the interest of the sovereignty of the country, after deliberation by the National Congress, ensuring, in any case, the immediate return as soon as the risk ceases.

§ 6º The acts that have as their object the occupation, ownership and possession of the lands referred to in this article, or the exploitation of the natural resources of the soil, rivers and lakes existing therein, are null and void, and do not produce legal effects, except in the case of relevant public interest of the Union, according to the provisions of supplementary law, and the nullity and extinction do not generate the right to compensation or to take legal action against the Union, except, in accordance with the law, with regard to improvements resulting from occupation in good faith.

§ 7º The provisions of art. 174, § 3º and § 4º do not apply to indigenous lands.

Article 232. The indigenous people, their communities and organizations are legitimate parties to file a lawsuit in defense of their rights and interests, with the Public Prosecutor's Office intervening in all acts of the process.

Federal Law 14701 (2023)

Article 4. [Indigenous territories are] Lands traditionally occupied by Brazilian indigenous people are those that, on the date of promulgation of the Federal Constitution, were simultaneously:

I - inhabited by them on a permanent basis;

II - used for their productive activities;

III - essential to the preservation of environmental resources necessary for their well-being;

IV - necessary for their physical and cultural reproduction, according to their uses, customs and traditions.

Article 24. Non-indigenous people may enter indigenous areas:

I - by individuals authorized by the indigenous community;

II - by public agents justifiably working for one of the federative entities;

III - by those responsible for providing public services or for carrying out, maintaining or installing public works and equipment;

IV - by researchers authorized by Funai and the indigenous community;

V - by people in transit, in the event of the existence of highways or other public means of passage.

Article 26. The exercise of economic activities on indigenous lands is permitted, as long as it is carried out by the indigenous community itself, being permitted the cooperation or contracting with non-indigenous third parties.

§ 1 Indigenous lands cannot be leased or subject to any legal act or transaction that eliminates direct possession by the indigenous community.

§ 2 It is permitted to conclude contracts aimed at cooperation between indigenous and non-indigenous people to carry out economic activities, including agricultural, on indigenous lands, provided that:

I - the fruits of the activity generate benefits for the entire indigenous community;

II - indigenous ownership of the land is maintained, even if there is joint action by non-indigenous people in carrying out the activity;

III - the indigenous community, through its own decision-making means, approves the contractual conclusion;

IV - the contracts are registered with Funai.

If the farm plot is located within a territory of Indigenous Peoples (Território Indígena, in the original language), this means that you are sourcing from an IPLC territory that is documented and officially acknowledged by Brazil’s national government. These territories are protected by law and are mainly regulated by Brazil's Constitution (1988) and Federal Law 14701 (2023). 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. Your company can do so by: (1) Making sure your commercial contract is registered at FUNAI, the government’s official agency for indigenous matters; or (2) Making sure that the cultivation of the commodity you are trading is specified and authorized in the “Territorial and Environmental Management Plan” for that territory (PGTA, o Plano de Gestão Territorial e Ambiental in Portuguese); or (3) Making sure your trading partners are the indigenous associations and/or cooperatives of the ethnic group(s) of that territory, or authorized individual members and/or external partners. Avoid commercializing with unauthorized intermediaries or third parties that might be violating the land rights of Indigenous peoples.

Brazil’s Constitution (1988)

Article 68. The remaining members of the quilombo communities that are occupying their lands are recognized as having definitive ownership, and the State must issue them the respective titles.

Federal Decree 4887 (2003)

Art. 2 Remnants of quilombo communities are considered, for the purposes of this Decree, to be ethnic-racial groups, according to criteria of self-attribution, with their own historical trajectory, endowed with specific territorial relations, with a presumption of black ancestry related to the resistance to historical oppression suffered.

§ 1 For the purposes of this Decree, the characterization of the remnants of quilombo communities will be attested through self-definition of the community itself.

§ 2 Lands occupied by remnants of quilombo communities are those used to guarantee their physical, social, economic and cultural reproduction.

§ 3 For the measurement and demarcation of lands, territoriality criteria indicated by the remnants of quilombo communities will be taken into account, with the interested community being able to present the technical documents for procedural instruction.

Article 17. The title provided for in this Decree shall be recognized and registered by granting a collective and pro-indiviso title to the communities referred to in art. 2, caput, with the mandatory insertion of an inalienability, imprescriptibility and non-seizability clause.

Sole paragraph. The communities shall be represented by their legally constituted associations.

Art. 20. For the purposes of agricultural and agrarian policy, the remaining quilombo communities will receive preferential treatment, technical assistance and special lines of financing from the competent bodies, intended for carrying out their productive and infrastructure activities.

If the farm plot is located within a territory of Afro-descendant Communities (Territórios Quilombolas, in the original language), this means that you are sourcing from an IPLC territory that is documented and officially acknowledged by Brazil’s national government. These territories are mainly regulated by the transitory dispositions of Brazil's Constitution (1988) and Federal Decree 4887 (2003). To adequately carry out your due diligence, make sure your company has commercial relations with the Afro-descendant Community that lawfully occupy this area. Ensure that your company is trading with the Quilombola association and/or cooperative of that territory, or authorized individual members or external partners. Avoid commercializing with unauthorized intermediaries or third parties that might be violating the land rights of this local community.

Federal Law 8629 (1993), edited by Federal Law 13.001 (2014)

Art. 18-A. The lots to be distributed by the National Agrarian Reform Program cannot have an area greater than 2 (two) fiscal modules or less than the minimum installment fraction (Included by Law No. 13.001 of 2014)

Art. 21. In the instruments that grant the title of domain, concession of use or CDRU, the beneficiaries of the agrarian reform will obligatorily assume the commitment to cultivate the property directly and personally, or through their family nucleus, even if through of cooperatives, and not to transfer its use to third parties, in any capacity, for a period of 10 (ten) years.

Art. 22. The instruments translating ownership, concession of use or CDRU must contain a termination clause that provides for the termination of the contract and the return of the property to the selling or granting body, in the event of non-compliance with any of the obligations assumed by the purchaser or dealer.

§ 1 After the non-negotiability period of 10 (ten) years has elapsed, the property subject to a translative title can only be sold if the new titled area does not become part of a rural property with an area greater than 2 (two) fiscal modules.

§ 2 Even if carried out by the successors of the title holder, the alienation of rural property in disagreement with § 1 is null and void, and the area must return to Incra's domain, and notary services cannot draw up deeds for these areas, nor be such acts registered in the Property Registries, under penalty of administrative, civil and criminal liability of their holders or agents.

If the farm plot is located within a territory of Peasants Communities (Assentamento de Reforma Agrária, in the original language), this means that you are sourcing from an IPLC territory that is documented and officially acknowledged by Brazil’s national government. These territories are mainly regulated by Federal Law 8629 (1993) and Federal Law 13.001 (2014). To adequately carry out your due diligence, make sure your company has commercial relations with the peasants that lawfully occupy this area, in accordance with Brazilian Land Reform regulations. Ensure that your company is trading with the peasants of that settlement, or authorized associations, cooperatives, individual members or external partners. To do so, make sure your suppliers meet the farm size requirement established in the law to ensure they are family farmers; namely, 2 fiscal modules (a unit that varies according to the municipality). Avoid commercializing with unauthorized intermediaries or third parties that might be violating the land rights of this local community.

Brazil's Constitution (1988)

Article 225. Everyone has the right to an ecologically balanced environment, a common good for the people and essential to a healthy quality of life, and it is the duty of the Public Authorities and the community to defend and preserve it for present and future generations.

Federal Law 9985(2000)

Article 1. This Law institutes the National System of Nature Conservation Units – SNUC, establishes criteria and standards for the creation, implementation and management of conservation units.

Article 7. The conservation units that are part of the SNUC are divided into two groups, with specific characteristics:

I - Integral Protection Units;

II – Sustainable Use Units.

(...)

§ 2 The basic objective of the Sustainable Use Units is to make nature conservation compatible with the sustainable use of part of its natural resources.

Article 14. The Group of Sustainable Use Units constitutes the following categories of conservation unit:

I - Environmental Protection Area;

II - Area of ​​Relevant Ecological Interest;

III – National Forest;

IV - Extractive Reserve;

V – Fauna Reserve;

VI – Sustainable Development Reserve; and

VII – Private Natural Heritage Reserve.

Article 27. Conservation units must have a Management Plan.

§ 1. The Management Plan must cover the area of ​​the conservation unit, its buffer zone and ecological corridors, including measures to promote its integration into the economic and social life of neighboring communities.

§ 2. In the preparation, updating and implementation of the Management Plan for Extractive Reserves, Sustainable Development Reserves, Environmental Protection Areas and, when applicable, National Forests and Areas of Relevant Ecological Interest, the broad participation of the resident population shall be ensured.

If the farm plot is located within a territory of Traditional Communities (Comunidades Tradicionais, in the original language), this means that you are sourcing from an IPLC territory that is documented and officially acknowledged by Brazil’s national government. These territories are mainly regulated by Brazil's Constitution (1988) and Federal Law 9985 (2000). To adequately carry out your due diligence, make sure your company has commercial relations with the traditional communities that lawfully occupy this area. Ensure that your company is trading with the associations and/or cooperatives that represent the traditional group(s) of that territory, or authorized individual members and/or external partners. Also make sure that the agricultural commodity you are trading is specified and authorized in the Management Plan of that Unidade de Conservação de Uso Sustentável. Avoid commercializing with unauthorized intermediaries or third parties that might be violating the land rights of Indigenous peoples.