In Ecuador, there are several indigenous ethnicities and traditional groups. The National Constitution of Ecuador (2008) defined the country as a “plurinational state”, meaning that indigenous peoples and local communities are also taken into account in the formation of the country’s nationalities, rather than defining a monolithic sense of nation.

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

First, the indigenous peoples (pueblos y nacionalidades indígenas), which live in indigenous lands across the country. Second, the afro-descendant communities (pueblos afroecuatorianos), which are traditional communities, but not indigenous. Third, the peasant communities (pueblos montubios), which are also traditional communities, but not indigenous. The rights of these three IPLC categories are all protected and safeguarded by the same legislation.

The IPLC territories in Ecuador are mainly regulated by the National Constitution of Ecuador (2008) and the Organic Law on Rural Lands and Ancestral Territories (2016). The specific legislation aims to “regulate the relations of the State with natural and legal persons, national and foreign, in matters of rural lands; and regulate the relations of communes and communities, peoples and nationalities regarding the recognition and free allocation of territories that are in ancestral possession; and the protection and legal security of lands and territories in their property”.

Furthermore, the law establishes several principles that guide the use of such ancestral lands, such as plurinationality, interculturality, sustainability, gender equality, social equality, land redistribution. Regarding agriculture in specific, the law seeks to regulate the advancement of the agrarian frontier, especially over sensitive ecosystems (e.g., moors, mangroves, wetlands, dry and humid tropical forests, and natural, cultural and archaeological heritage areas), as well as an adequate use of the soil through regenerative agriculture to ensure food sovereignty for local communities.

Amongst these IPLC territories, 584 are documented; 20 are not documented, and 150 are held or used under customary tenure. Furthermore, 604 are acknowledged by the government, and 150 are not acknowledged yet. The data available about these areas is retrieved from the Landmark platform (https://landmarkmap.org/map), as well as the research center Ecociencia (www.ecociencia.org) and the social network (https://www.raisg.org/). In these datasets, there are 754 features (polygons or points), being 687 Indigenous Peoples and 67 Local Communities.

When sourcing from the IPLC areas of Ecuador, 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.

Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador (2008)

Article 57. The indigenous communities, towns and nationalities are recognized and guaranteed, in accordance with the Constitution and with the pacts, conventions, declarations and other international human rights instruments (...).

Article 58. In order to strengthen their identity, culture, traditions and rights, the Afro-Ecuadorian people are recognized for the collective rights established in the Constitution, the law and the pacts, conventions, declarations and other international human rights instruments.

Article 59. The collective rights of the Montubio peoples are recognized to guarantee their process of integral, sustainable and sustainable human development, the policies and strategies for their progress and their forms of associative administration, based on the knowledge of their reality and respect for their culture, identity and own vision, in accordance with the law.

Organic Law of Rural Lands and Ancestral Territories (2016)

Article 22. Right to property. The right to property over rural land shall be recognized and guaranteed in its public, private, associative, cooperative, community and mixed forms and modalities.

Article 23. Collective rights. The right to retain community property and to maintain possession of their ancestral and communal lands and territories that are awarded to them in perpetuity free of charge, in accordance with the Constitution, pacts, conventions, declarations and other international instruments on collective rights shall be recognized and guaranteed in favor of communes, communities, indigenous peoples and nationalities, Afro-Ecuadorians and Montubios.

The right to participate in the use, usufruct, administration and conservation of their lands and territories shall also be guaranteed. Communal ownership of land consists of the collective right to use, enjoy and dispose of it, through the collective entity that represents the members of the commune, community, people or nationality and the decisions of the governing body or instance thereof, in accordance with customary norms, laws and constitutional provisions.

In lands and territories owned or possessed ancestrally, based on their own forms of coexistence and social organization and the generation and exercise of authority, the latter will exercise the administration and social control of the territory in accordance with their uses and customs. The ownership of community lands and of lands and territories in ancestral possession is imprescriptible, inalienable, unseizable and indivisible and will be exempt from the payment of fees and taxes.

Article 57. Legally ineffective instruments. Transfers of rights based on "possessions, rights and shares of site", "mountain rights and shares" and those originating from such instruments and others similar, such as shares, purchase and sale of rights and shares, inheritances, donations, acquisitive prescription of ownership over state lands, do not constitute title of property by the fact of having been registered with the Property Registry and cadastralized in the municipality, even if taxes have been paid for the property. Notaries, property registrars and municipal officials are prohibited from notarizing, certifying, incorporating into the cadastre, registering or authorizing partitions, successions, transfers of ownership and other acts and contracts based on titles, instruments or "rights and shares of site", "mountain rights and shares" and others similar. Should this be done, notwithstanding this prohibition, such actions, acts and contracts shall be presumed legally null and void, without prejudice to the legal liability of those responsible and the corresponding sanction.

Article 90. Guarantee of Sustainable Use. All types of agricultural contracts shall guarantee the sustainable use of rural land and water resources. To this end, appropriate technologies and production systems shall be applied so that when the contract ends, residual fertility is not affected, including essential costs to restore the initial levels of fertility and productivity. The National Agrarian Authority shall adopt measures to reestablish the balance of mutual benefits, the guarantee of violated rights for the termination of the rural land lease contract or contract agriculture that entails the degradation of soil fertility or the destruction of its biotic functions, in accordance with the technical report issued by the same Authority. Contract agriculture, whatever its type, whether for production or marketing, must protect the owners or possessors of the land from the risk of loss of production and soil fertility, from excessive indebtedness, from commercial practices that abuse market power and from the risk of loss of ownership or possession of their land. It must be framed within the framework of respect for the suitability of rural land for food production and the application of best practices for the protection of soil fertility. No type of contract in this area may require the displacement or eviction of local inhabitants and producers.

If the farm plot is located within a territory of Indigenous Peoples (Territórios Indígenas, in the original language) or Local Communities (Pueblos Afroecuatorianos and Pueblos Montubios, in the original language), this means that you are sourcing from an IPLC territory in Ecuador. These territories are protected by indigenous jurisdiction and are mainly regulated by the National Constitution of Ecuador (2008) and the Organic Law on Rural Lands and Ancestral Territories (2016).To adequately carry out your due diligence, make sure your company has commercial relations with the Indigenous Peoples or Local Community that lawfully occupy this area. Ensure that your company is trading with the collective entity that represents the members of the commune, community, people or nationality, 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.