Brasilia Declaration on Collective Livelihoods

Adopted at the 2026 Global Summit on Collective Livelihoods and Conservation in Brasília, the Brasília Declaration calls for a fundamental shift in development, conservation, and finance models affecting Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and Local and Traditional Communities. It frames secure collective tenure, self-determination, customary governance, and community-led economies as essential to climate action, biodiversity conservation, food sovereignty, and social justice. The Declaration urges governments, financial institutions, donors, and private-sector actors to formally recognize collective territories; protect land and environmental defenders; uphold Free, Prior and Informed Consent; and direct long-term, accessible, gender-responsive finance to community governance institutions. It further emphasizes women’s and young people’s equal access to land, decision-making, and funding, and calls for communities to be treated as political and economic rightsholders rather than project beneficiaries.