Building close and transparent relationships with local communities is a top priority for Bracell. Among our core values is supporting the communities where we operate and helping to drive local development. We believe that for any operation to be good for Bracell, it must first be good for the community.

To this end, our operations follow procedures and control mechanisms that are part of our management system, with a focus on mitigating the risks and impacts of our forestry, mill, and logistics operations. We also carry out long-term structured projects through Bracell Social, with clear goals and targets focused on promoting entrepreneurship, education, and well-being in local communities—as part of our Bracell 2030 commitments.

Our approach to stakeholder engagement includes informing communities and neighbors near our forestry and mill operations about the actual and potential impacts of our operations. Initiatives are structured around open communication with stakeholders and the following goals:

• Inform neighboring communities about upcoming forestry operations in their vicinity, including potential risks and both positive and negative impacts from these operations
• Strengthen our relations with communities and neighbors
• Enhance communication with our communities and neighbors
• Contribute to strengthen initiatives and increase responsiveness to requests from local communities
• Identify, prevent and minimize potential impacts caused by operations on these communities and neighbors
• Mitigate the risk of potential community issues that could affect our operations
• Address inquiries and concerns regarding operational aspects and the company as a whole.

Bracell’s Integrated Management System (IMS) includes a standard, available to all employees, on relations with traditional peoples and communities.

The standard outlines criteria and requirements for establishing an integrated management process for engaging with communities neighboring Bracell’s forestry and mill operations. It also contains guidance on relations with traditional peoples and communities, in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

The objectives of the standard is to establish continuous two-way communication, provide up-to-date and transparent information, identify and evaluate social aspects, establish measures to control and mitigate potential negative impacts, and identify positive impacts.

In managing this material topic, identified potential positive impacts include increased job creation and opportunities for partnerships; improved quality of life and/or living conditions in the areas where we operate, due to increased private social investment—through initiatives across education, inclusion, entrepreneurship, and community development; and improved local infrastructure as a result of company-driven investments and collaborations.

In terms of negative impacts, our management approach includes addressing the risk of conflicts with neighboring communities over impacts from operations. This risk is managed through our impact mitigation practices and close engagement with local communities.

Promoting Women’s Entrepreneurship, Education, and Income Generation

As part of the social targets in our Bracell 2030 roadmap, we have committed to promoting women’s entrepreneurship, expanding income opportunities and strengthening public education in the regions where we operate.

In 2025, we surpassed our target to ensure that at least 60% of “impact business” projects were led by women, achieving 73%. This underscores our continued commitment to gender equity and women’s leadership (learn more about Bracell Social, our social investment platform, under GRI 203-1 Infrastructure investments and services supported).

We also aim to raise the income of families involved in income-generation initiatives in priority areas by 20% by 2030.

In education, Bracell is helping to improve learning outcomes in communities with historically low academic performance. We have set a target to increase Portuguese and math proficiency by 30% in the public schools participating in our programs. 

In addition to direct investments in educational projects, Fundação Bracell actively engage in advocacy around public education policy. In April 2025, it publicly advocated for prioritizing Early Childhood Education in the new National Education Plan (PNE) during a meeting in Brasília (DF) with the Joint Parliamentary Front for Education and the Special Commission for the PNE. The Foundation presented evidence demonstrating the higher social return of investments in early childhood and emphasized the need for stronger political and budgetary prioritization of this stage of education, given its impact on both children’s current well-being and their long-term outcomes.

Flagship initiatives

1. São Paulo – Structured social investment: in January 2025, we launched the first edition of the Bracell Social Public Call for Projects. The initiative selected nine projects focused on health and well-being, sports, education, culture, environmental education and women’s entrepreneurship and allocated approximately R$600,000 to strengthen civil society organizations in five municipalities in the state of São Paulo.
2. Bahia – Implementation of public programs under discussion: Following the completion of the impact study for the Continuing Education Program, we refined the project’s strategic approach. We especially highlight our social and political outreach efforts in education, which in 2025 supported municipalities in conducting public meetings to assess the implementation of their Municipal Education Plans (PME), a critical starting point for the development the next ten-year PME. A total of 11 public meetings were held, bringing together education professionals, students, families and representatives of organized civil society.
3. Mato Grosso do Sul – From territorial assessment to program implementation After completing the territorial development assessment in Mato Grosso do Sul, we implemented 11 social programs in the region. Meanwhile, we continued established initiatives in the state, such as the Vision of the Future Program, which conducted eye examinations for 6,544 children in public schools across three municipalities, provided eyeglasses and monitored improvements in academic proficiency.

Monitoring and measurable progress toward 2030 targets: With the progress tracking structure developed in 2024—including baselines, an impact framework and defined indicators—we improved the accuracy of our social performance metrics. In 2025, we reported that families participating in income generation projects have already increased their real income by 10% since 2023, advancing toward the 20% target set for 2030. We also exceeded our target of 60% women-led impact businesses, reaching 73%.