The Cost of Saying I Love You

Today millions of Americans will say, "I love you," with chocolate. Yet the international cocoa industry has paradoxically led to negative impacts on tropical environments and economies, from deforestation to child labor.

This summer, volunteers will explore how cacao farming in Belize can benefit both farmers and tropical biodiversity.

America is the world's largest chocolate consumer, eating more than 3 billion pounds of chocolate each year and spending $13 billion on it. Cacao farmers receive a mere 5 percent of these profits, and most cacao growing areas do not feel the benefit of this lucrative market. Meanwhile, cacao farming is responsible for an estimated 14 percent of the deforestation that has destroyed rainforests in West Africa and a large percentage in South America as well.

"Shade grown cacao can create forest-like habitat for tropical biodiversity in a rapidly deforested landscape, while simultaneously providing a lucrative crop for agricultural communities," said Jorge Cawich, principal investigator of Earthwatch's Sustainable Cacao Farming project. "The threats to biodiversity in Belize are unquestionably rooted in poverty, rated at a staggering 79 percent in the Toledo District."

Cacao trees, the source of seeds from which they make cocoa, are uniquely suited for organic, shade grown conditions. The low trees do best in the protection of the rainforest canopy, relying on the tall, mature trees to protect them from wind and sun and conserve soil moisture.

Cacao trees also rely entirely on rainforest birds, mammals, and insects to eat their tasty pods and scatter their seeds. Other rainforest animals, from bats to parasitic wasps, help prevent the outbreak of pest insects, with out the use of costly or dangerous pesticides. Shade grown cacao farms not only help protect rainforest diversity, but are also more productive.

"A growing body of evidence suggests that cacao yield and local biodiversity may be interdependent," said Cawich. "Yet efforts to promote cacao currently focus on the amount of land covered by these plantations, rather than their actual productivity. This means that benefits for the people growing cacao are currently very low."

Cawich and his team will document the plants and animals found on cacao farms, and compare it to those found on land devoted to other agricultural uses. Volunteers will also measure cacao yields, and determine the relation between farm practices and productivity.

---LiveScience Staff

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Credit: Jorge Cawich