FOREST PROTECTION

Forests provide key ecosystem services such as watershed protection, habitats for biodiversity, livelihoods for communities and climate regulation. In the past decades, cocoa has been a driver for land use change in forest landscapes. It is currently mostly grown on land converted from forests; therefore we must protect existing forests and work on increasing yield and efficiency on current farms to avoid further land conversions.

Forest protection is one of the most efficient and impactful ways to reduce deforestation and the cornerstone of our commitment to be forest positive. The Foundation supports the evolving regulatory requirements in the area, particularly the EU Deforestation-Free Regulation (EUDR) for which we are well-prepared.

Besides our robust farm-level traceability, we invest in targeted conservation efforts across high-risk cocoa landscapes in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Indonesia.