New Natura Amazon Program
Since 2011, we have been running the Natura Amazonia Program, which aims to transform social environmental challenges into opportunities for business and sustainable local development. The program combines initiatives focused on mitigating the effects of climate change and halting the loss of biodiversity, using science-based targets.
In 2024, we proposed that the program should evolve to position itself as a catalyst for an ecosystem of regenerative business and solutions, based upon innovation and traditional knowledge, that will allow diversification of the operations, increased impact, and the generation of wealth in the region.
Under this new configuration, the program is based upon three operational drivers for a regenerative transition:
- Science, Technology and Innovation
- Strengthening communities and regions
- Ecoparks and new business
Strategic levers
Supplier communities
GRI 2-6, 2-29, 413-2
25 years ago, we decided that one of our differentiating features should be the use of natural ingredients and bio-ingredients sourced from socio-biodiversity, principally in the Amazon region, having been acquired and developed with respect for both people and nature. As such, we do not have operations which have significant negative impacts on these supplier communities.
In relation to the Commitment to Life, we managed to hit our target of extending our partnership to 45 agro-extractive communities (up from 34 in 2020) six years earlier than planned. We shared R$ 48.51 million in resources with the communities, with R$ 24.52 million relating to the purchase of inputs extracted from the socio-biodiversity. In 2024, our business impacted the lives of 10,548 families.
In the Colombian Amazon region, we invested in the development of the cupuaçu chain, with more than 78 families benefiting from the initiative, and plans under way to also develop the buriti, murumuru, patauá and ucuuba chains. Investment in the region was also boosted by means of the agreement signed with the
German Cooperation Agency (GIZ), ensuring the sum of R$ 700,000.
More than R$ 225,000 was invested in machinery, reforestation and knowledge, thus driving the production chains and supporting the Climate Transition Plan.
In the Peruvian Amazon region, the development of the cupuaçu, buriti and murumuru chains, benefits more than 2,300 people in three different communities (Parinari and Río Blanco-Iquitos, in the Loreto region, as well as the Madre de Dios region). More than 29 tons of cupuaçu butter were exported to Brazil.
We also managed to receive recognition for our work in the Pan-Amazon Region in the form of the Boscares Award for the Peruvian Amazon Award.
We promote training to strengthen management and organizational development, encourage good management practices, and involve the communities in our procurement policies, as well as human rights and safety at work (read about this in more detail in the Latin America Databook).
One of the tools used to monitor our relationship with these stakeholders and identify opportunities for improvement is the loyalty survey that is conducted every two years amongst the supplier communities in the Amazon region. In the most recent survey, conducted in 2023, the index measured was 48%, suggesting a recovery to pre-pandemic levels. The aim for the forthcoming cycle, planned for 2025, is to surpass 50%.
GRI 413-1
Benefit sharing
Natura also works on the longevity of the partnerships with the local agro-extractivist communities through the fair sharing of both monetary and non-monetary benefits. We have remained adherent to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which determines that companieswhich use genetic resources or the associated traditional knowledge for commercial purposes should return part of the benefits generated to the traditional peoples.
Along these lines, we prioritize payment involved in the distribution of the benefit directly to the communities. By doing so, we aim to ensure management autonomy, promotion of environmental conservation, and the sustainable use of biodiversity.
