We work to achieve fair and representative participation for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in decision making that impacts them, to ensure their perspectives are heard and their rights are respected.

The significance of farmers

At the source of every international supply chain are Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, or IPLCs, who are the most impacted by company practices.

These impacts may be both negative and positive. At Earthworm, we aim to establish these impacts are positive by ensuring that Indigenous peoples' and local communities' rights are respected, including their rights to decide what development that impacts them looks like.

The significance of Indigenous communities

IPLCs customarily own more than half the world’s land, but have legal ownership rights to only 10%. Closing this gap would be a significant step forward for protecting the resources humanity depends on.*

While the world’s 370 million Indigenous people make up <5% of the total human population, they manage or hold tenure over 25% of the world’s land surface and support about 80% of the global biodiversity.**

		
		While the world’s 370 million Indigenous people make up <5% of the total human population, they manage or hold tenure over 25% of the world’s land surface and support about 80% of the global biodiversity.**				
			

Our work

At Earthworm, we believe that the key to sustainable success is supporting local communities to thrive. That's why we work to develop participatory land use plans, secure tenure rights, and improve relationships between companies and local people. We do this through our landscape and supply chain work.

Our Centre of Social Excellence (CSE) brings together social experts with real-world experience to work with and train companies on how to operate with the support of local communities, and secure their social license to operate. We guide companies through processes such as Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC), High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), Social Impact Assessments (SIAs), and community engagement plans, ensuring they have a social license to operate with minimal impact.

To stay informed and ensure transparency, we provide our clients with a monitoring platform, Kumacaya monitoring platform, that flags environmental and social concerns or successes in their supply chain, as they occur.

Why we're unique

At Earthworm Rurality we believe that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, we built community-specific mechanisms that help to empower farmers to create, tap into and own the mechanisms that will strengthen their resilience and improve their livelihoods. What makes us unique is that our local team lives together with communities and works with farmers in the field to understand needs and develop suitable solutions. Our participatory approach allows farmers and the community to come together to create pathways to change together with other local actors involved including government, private businesses, and NGOs.

By leveraging their role in international supply chains, the companies operating in forested regions around the world hear directly from their customers about the importance of respecting IPLC rights.

Additionally, Earthworm Foundation has staff and partners who live and work in the regions where the communities we serve are located. We work hand in hand with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) to understand their priorities, their struggles, and their customary ways of working. We support them to secure recognition of their rights with the companies and government agencies who impact them and collaborate on monitoring these impacts.