A national proposal that would benefit the 4.5 million members of Brazil's traditional peoples and communities will be drafted by a commission of 15 of their representatives and 15 government delegates by the end of August. The proposal will be up for discussion in September in workshops to be held in each of the country's five regions.

The effort includes defining policies that attend to the specific needs of these populations that live from their local natural resources and develop their own cultures and knowledge, Jorg Zimmermann, director of the Environment Ministry's department of sustainable development and agro-extractivism, told Tierramérica.

Encompassed in the proposal are isolated Afro-Brazilian communities, indigenous peoples, rubber tappers and extractors of other forest products, traditional fishing communities, gypsies and others — most of whom do not hold land titles and who provide important services of biodiversity protection, acknowledge Brazil's environmental authorities.