Natura’s formula for cultivating Indigenous relationships in the Amazon rainforest

Brazilian cosmetics company Natura &Co employs 20 people who closely manage its relationships with 44 Indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest. There, Natura sources 45 natural ingredients such as Brazil nuts, andiroba and ucuuba seeds essential for its Ekos brand of vegan body creams, shower oils, soaps and other personal care products.

The team is one component of Natura’s two-decade-long commitment to protecting nature and biodiversity, said Natura Chief Sustainability Officer Angela Pinhati, during the Bloom event Oct. 24 at the COP16 conference in Cali, Colombia. 

Natura strengthened its commitment in 2023 after the United Nations convention on biodiversity finalized an international agreement to protect at least 30 percent of land and water in Montreal. Its goal is to grow the number of bio-ingredients in its products to 55 by the end of the decade, and it has pledged $100 million to find “regenerative” ways of cultivating those trees, nuts, berries and plants.

“For Natura, it was always quite clear that this was in the main strategy of the company,” said Pinhati. “It could be of economic value.”

Natura’s climate and nature strategies are closely interwoven, she said. It is deeply involved with the Union of Ethical Biotrade (UEBT), a nonprofit founded in 2007 that advocates the “sourcing with respect” with an eye to ensuring human rights and improving biodiversity across supply chains. By 2025, Natura has pledged to assess and report on all of its biodiversity dependencies as part of an updated strategy. That assessment will help it develop science-based targets for nature and biodiversity.

The company, which owns the Avon beauty brand, has helped protect or regenerate more than 5.4 million acres of Amazon forest since 2020 toward a goal of 3 million by 2030, according to Natura’s annual report that integrates data about its performance and sustainability performance. 

Sourcing with ‘respect’ and ‘reciprocity’

The Amazon, known as the “lungs of the world” for its ability to absorb carbon dioxide, spreads across nine Latin American countries and is home to 30 percent of the world’s biodiversity. Almost 9 percent of the region’s forests, or 134 million acres, were lost to deforestation between 2001 and 2020. Commercial pressures are manifold, including legal activities such as conversion for industrial-scale agriculture or sanctioned mining to illegal ventures such as the production of coca for cocaine.

Companies sourcing commodities or products from the region have a responsibility to ensure their raw materials do not come from destruction of natural resources or exploitation of the Native communities who own these territories, said Fany Kuiru, head of COICA (Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin), which represents 511 Indigenous communities who occupy the Amazon basin.

“We need to have best practices,” Kuiru said through an interpreter during the Bloom discussion. “We need to make sure that Indigenous peoples are properly compensated and that there is respect and reciprocity in the resources that are extracted.”

An economy in ‘service to life’

Indigenous enterprises embrace a different view of economic success and growth than is typically held by many businesses, Kuiru said. “We are really working forward to an Indigenous economy that is in service to life, that’s not accumulative, that’s not about wealth accumulation but it’s about solidarity, it’s about conservation, it’s about reciprocity with life,” she said.

Natura’s biodiversity policy embeds principles for engaging with Indigenous people, starting with the principle of “free, prior and informed consent,” which gives them the right to approve or decline projects that could affect their lands, territories and cultural rights, said Natura’s Pinhati. 

Since 2020, Natura has spent about $6.2 million on raw ingredients from the Amazon, and created an estimated $7.5 million in shared value, according to its annual report. Other practices that drive Natura’s work on biodiversity:

• Frequent face-to-face interactions with Indigenous communities, so questions and concerns can be addressed quickly and trust is fostered.
• Flexibility in business practices. Natura used to buy ingredient seeds, offering more money to communities than they could receive from selling wood from the trees. It is building small factories so communities can extract butter and oils, and drive more revenue. 
• Independent certification from the Union for Ethical Biotrade. So far, Natura has conducted assessments related to six ingredients, five native species, two production systems and 14,000 farmers and wild collectors.
• An understanding of both cultural practices and local legislation.
• Respect for established forms of organization, such as existing community cooperatives.
• Patience. Natura has 25 years of experience interacting with Amazon communities. “You cannot start a relationship and stop after one year,” Pinhati said.