For The Love Of Chocolate - Let’s Plant Trees!

Cocoa Farming in Peru - Chocolate & More Delights

We are excited to announce our partnership with One Tree Planted. The organization made an incredible impact for the environment and local communities in 2021. Thanks to donors around the world 23 million trees were planted and another 25 million are committed to be planted in 2022 indicates the One Tree Planted Annual Report.

About One Tree Planted

One Tree Planted is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit on a mission to make it simple for anyone to help the environment by planting trees. Their projects span the globe and are done in partnership with local communities and knowledgeable experts to create an impact for nature, people, and wildlife. Reforestation helps to fight climate change, rebuild forests after fires and floods, provide jobs for social impact, and restore biodiversity. Many projects have overlapping objectives, creating a combination of benefits that contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. To learn more about One Tree Planted reforestation efforts and reforestation efforts, visit onetreeplanted.org.

Why We Selected This Partnership?

Working with One Tree Planted is a great fit since the organization is actively participating in reforestation projects in cocoa growing regions like Ghana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, the Amazon and Peru. Cacao trees are delicate plants that grow 15-20 degrees north and south of the Equator in tropical areas with high rain fall. Over 3000 different plants have been identified as cacao, but only one cacao bean is commercially produced, which is Theobroma Cacao. Cocoa farms are generally small, family owned and operated businesses. There are approximately 4.5 million cocoa farms around the world. The majority of cocoa farms are located in Ivory Coast and Ghana, where pre-dominantly common or bulk cacao is produced. Rare and fine flavor cocoa is native to Latin America and accounts for only 15% of the world’s cocoa production.

Deforestation and climate change pose imminent and growing threats for the future of cocoa production and community livelihoods. One solution to this concern is adapting organic farming systems or agroforestry techniques. A typical agroforestry system in Peru for example, includes a main crop, such as cacao; a shadow component, for example banana or papaya; a recovery crop, such as guava; and quick- and slow-growing timber species. According to One Tree Planted, growing a mix of trees and shrubs mimics the behavior of a forest, and helps the soil retain nutrients and water, protecting the land and increasing carbon absorption. Together these crops create short- and long-term income cycles for the farmers, like Pedro Villa, who has land on the outskirts of the rainforest in Peru.

His newly restored land appears to be forest but is, in fact, a cleverly arranged sustainable agroforestry system that contribute to the conservation of the regional ecosystems. As Villa restores the pasture, trees are returning to what is now a diversified farm where fruits and cacao are grown, and cattle and pigs raised. Villa was originally a papaya farmer, however, the single-crop farming practice, depleted the soil of nutrients after only a few years. Now papaya is still farmed, but it serves as a shade tree, sheltering the cacao that grows underneath. He also grows boliana, a quick-growing timber ready for harvesting within five years. Villa's main income comes from four varieties of cacao. In 2017, he processed 3 tons of cacao, the raw ingredient of chocolate, and now he feels comfortable in processing 20 tons through this sustainable farming technique (One Tree Planted, 2020).

If you wish to help restore cacao trees in the Amazon region or Peru and support farmers like Pedro then you can also donate to One Tree Planted directly. 

How Does The Partnership Work?

The partnership is designed to be simple for our customers to get involved in global reforestation. We invite our customers to plant a tree for USD 1 with every order. At the end of each month, we will give all collected donations to One Tree Planted to plant trees. The trees are planted by local partner organizations and community volunteers in areas where there has been deforestation.

"We appreciate the support of Chocolate & More Delights and all the great work we will be able to do as a result of this partnership. The trees we plant will have a positive impact on nature, biodiversity, and people for years to come" - Ashley Lamontagne, Forest Campaign Manager

Trees are essential to the health of our planet, biodiversity, and reducing the harmful effects of climate change. Reforestation is consistently identified by scientists as one of the top solutions to the climate crisis and the trees planted as part of this initiative will support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. For the love of chocolate, let’s plant trees!

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