The AFi defines key terms and concepts that are used in the Accountability Framework Core Principles and Operational Guidance. These definitions reflect consensus of the AFi Coalition and align with external norms where relevant.
Black text indicates the term and definition. Small green text indicates explanatory information.
For all terms, the black text indicates the term (bold) and definition (regular). For some terms, the smaller, green text acts an explanatory note, giving further information to help interpret and apply the definition.
For more information on how to apply the definitions of deforestation and conversion, please see the Operational Guidance on Applying the Definitions Related to Deforestation and Conversion.
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Identity preserved
A chain of custody model under which materials with particular characteristics of interest that originate from a single identifiable source are kept physically separate from all other sources throughout the supply chain. Identity preserved is used commonly but not exclusively in the context of certification.
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Implementation plan
Documentation of the actions that a company intends to take to address environmental or social issues or to fulfil commitments, policies, goals, targets, or other obligations. Implementation plans may follow from risk assessments, gap assessments, and other processes that identify actual or potential non-compliances, adverse social or environmental impacts, or other improvement needs.
- Other types of company plans that may be similar to or synonymous with implementation plans include improvement plans, management plans, and corrective action plans.
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Indigenous Peoples
Distinct groups of people who satisfy any of the more commonly accepted definitions* of Indigenous Peoples, which consider (among other factors) whether the collective:
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has pursued its own concept and way of human development in a given socioeconomic, political, and historical context;
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has tried to maintain its distinct group identity, languages, traditional beliefs, customs, laws and institutions, worldviews, and ways of life;
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has at one time exercised control and management of the lands, natural resources, and territories that it has historically used and occupied, with which it has a special connection, and upon which its physical and cultural survival typically depends;
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self-identifies as Indigenous Peoples; and/or
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descends from populations whose existence pre-dates the colonisation of the lands within which it was originally found or of which it was then dispossessed.
When considering the factors above, no single one shall be determinative. Indigenous Peoples are defined as such regardless of the local, national, and regional terms that may be applied to them, such as ‘tribal people,’ ‘first peoples,’ ‘secluded tribes,’ ‘hill people,’ or others.
* Commonly accepted definitions generally include, but are not limited to, those provided for in the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 1989 (ILO Convention No. 169), the UN Commission on Human Rights study on the problem of discrimination against indigenous populations, and the UN Working Paper on the Concept of ‘Indigenous People’ prepared by the Working Group on Indigenous Populations
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