Rare victory for rainforests as nations vow to stop 'death by chocolate'

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From https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/08/rare-victory-for-rainforests-as-nations-vow-to-stop-death-by-chocolate :



A lonely tree surrounded by cocoa in Marahoué national park, where most of the forest, formerly home to chimpanzees and other wildlife, has been cut down. Photograph: Ruth Maclean for the Guardian

Rare victory for rainforests as nations vow to stop 'death by chocolate'
Plans by the governments of Ghana and Ivory Coast drawn up after Guardian investigation revealed links between the cocoa industry and rainforest loss

Ruth Maclean in Dakar
Wednesday 8 November 2017

The governments of Ghana and the Ivory Coast are formulating plans to immediately put a stop to all new deforestation after a Guardian investigation found that the cocoa industry was destroying their rainforests.

The west African neighbours have been drafting new measures to rescue their remaining forests and replant degraded ones.

In an investigation published in September, the Guardian found that deforestation-linked cocoa had entered the supply chains of some of the biggest players in the chocolate industry. At the same time, the environmental group Mighty Earth published Chocolate’s Dark Secret, a report that found that “a large amount of the cocoa used in chocolate produced by Mars, Nestle, Hershey’s, Godiva, and other major chocolate companies was grown illegally.”
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More at link.

[Wounded Bear]

1. Destruction of natural habitat in favor of platation monocultures has become a disaster...

Nice to see some countries fight back.

[malaise]

2. Important post

Get thee to the greatest page for visibility

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3. September Guardian article referenced in the OP:

This is the September article referenced in today's Guardian article, regarding their investigation.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/13/chocolate-industry-drives-rainforest-disaster-in-ivory-coast

Chocolate industry drives rainforest disaster in Ivory Coast

Ruth Maclean in Marahoué national park, Ivory Coast
Wednesday 13 September 2017 08.30 EDT Last modified on Friday 15 September 2017 09.06 EDT


The world’s chocolate industry is driving deforestation on a devastating scale in West Africa, the Guardian can reveal.

Cocoa traders who sell to Mars, Nestlé, Mondelez and other big brands buy beans grown illegally inside protected areas in the Ivory Coast, where rainforest cover has been reduced by more than 80% since 1960.

Illegal product is mixed in with “clean” beans in the supply chain, meaning that Mars bars, Ferrero Rocher chocolates and Milka bars could all be tainted with “dirty” cocoa. As much as 40% of the world’s cocoa comes from Ivory Coast.

The Guardian travelled across Ivory Coast and documented rainforests cleared for cocoa plantation; villages and farmers occupying supposedly protected national parks; enforcement officials taking kickbacks for turning a blind eye to infractions and trading middlemen who supply the big brands indifferent to the provenance of beans.

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More at link.