Through a strategic partnership with Imaflora and the Vale Institute of Technology (ITV), Fundo Vale supported the development of a Guide to Preventing Slave-Like Labor and Promoting Occupational Health and Safety Best Practices. Within the framework of Vale’s 2030 Forest Goal, the aim is to help farmers and rural workers comply with labor guidelines and laws in force in Brazil.

Launched in November 2023, this guide is the result of a partnership between Fundo Vale, the Vale Institute of Technology (ITV) and the Institute for Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification (Imaflora), to support the habitat restoration component of Vale’s 2030 Forest Goal. The document sets out guidelines for promoting occupational health and safety best practices and was produced with the aim of helping farmers and rural workers.

What subjects are addressed in the Guide to Preventing Slave-Like Labor?

1. Essential training required by Standard NR31
2. Migrant work
3. Employment of prisoners
4. Agrochemicals
5. Employment of indigenous people
6. Standard NR31 – key numbers
7. What is a “living space”?
8. Mobile installations
9. Risks in rural work
10. Slave-like labor

Vale’s 2030 Forest Goal

It’s worth remembering that Vale’s 2030 Forest Goal envisages protecting and restoring 500,000 hectares of forest in Brazil by 2030. Of this total, 400,000 hectares will be protected and the other 100,000 hectares will be recovered. Under the coordination and leadership of Fundo Vale, the strategy for restoring these 100,000 hectares has an unprecedented innovation component in Brazil, which includes investment, acceleration and promotion of agroforestry businesses focused on habitat restoration. The intention is to strengthen local forest restoration chains, develop actions, create employment and income, boost knowledge production and, of course, generate positive social and environmental impacts.

This guide was produced especially for this part of the strategy, to promote businesses that generate positive social and environmental impacts. It aims to help farmers and rural workers working on such efforts comply with the labor guidelines of this initiative and the laws in force in Brazil.

Imaflora is Fundo Vale’s partner in carrying out the due diligence process to ensure social and environmental safeguards, which involves verifying businesses in the field for the specific habitat restoration strategy involving positive impact businesses as part of Vale’s 2030 Forest Goal.