With the goal of reducing and reversing the degradation and loss of biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest, the project “Conservation of the Atlantic Forest through the sustainable management of cocoa agroforestry landscapes” was launched on Wednesday (April 8th) in Ilhéus. This innovative initiative aims to transform the socio-environmental reality in municipalities along the cocoa coast. The project will be executed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa), through the Executive Commission of the Cocoa Farming Plan (CEPLAC), with technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It is financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and has an operational partnership with Sitawi Finanças do Bem.
With a central focus on the conservation of the Atlantic Forest, the initiative adopts the strengthening of the cabruca system to reverse the trends of degradation and loss of biodiversity in the region. As a traditional practice of cultivating cocoa under the canopy of native trees, cabruca functions as an essential tool for the formation of biological corridors, local water regulation, and increased ecological resilience, reducing the pressure of deforestation on the forest.
By combining the preservation of the biome with the need for local development, the project will benefit 3,000 producers who are organized in the CIAPRA, CIMA and CDS-LS consortia, with the commitment that at least 50% will be women and young people.
“The Atlantic Forest is a biome of global importance. The project will be a remarkable example of productive conservation, where sustainable agriculture coexists with the preservation of native and endemic species,” explains Jorge Meza, FAO Representative in Brazil.
Environmental and Economic Impact
The project's goals are ambitious: the restoration of 12,000 hectares of cocoa plantations using the cabruca system, improved management in over 203,000 hectares of protected areas (Pratigi and Baía de Camamu APAs), and the mitigation of 3.72 million tons of greenhouse gases. Economically, the project aims to triple the average productivity of cabruca cocoa and increase the income of beneficiary families by 301% through technical assistance and access to premium cocoa markets.
“What we are launching in Bahia goes beyond an environmental or productive project: it is a concrete model of innovation in the field, based on cabruca (a type of traditional Brazilian crop-livestock-forestry system) and productive conservation, which reconciles food production, biodiversity conservation, and addressing climate change,” says Thiago Guedes, director of CEPLAC. “We are positioning agroforestry cocoa farming as a strategic asset for the future of world agriculture, considering the great asset that is family farming and our youth,” he concludes.
Territorial Governance and Innovation
In addition to field actions, the project will work on reviewing legal frameworks, proposing policies and mechanisms to promote sustainable management, thus allowing rural producers to use the land economically while promoting forest conservation, on a scale of 1.6 million hectares.
Among the planned innovations are the use of blockchain for complete traceability of cocoa, the creation of the Cocoa School for training technicians and producers, and the consolidation of a Territorial Intelligence Center (CIT) for real-time monitoring of the landscape and biodiversity.
For producers, the initiative represents an opportunity to access sustainable rural credit (Sustainable CRA model) and the strengthening of national and international marketing networks.
“The cabruca system is very important for the fauna and flora of this region. Bringing the agroecological transition process to this production space allows us to produce a better quality cocoa bean, adding value to this product so that families can improve their quality of life, have more income and bring even more development to this region,” says Luciano Ferreira, a land reform settler and cocoa producer.
About the project
The project “Conservation of the Atlantic Forest through the sustainable management of cocoa agroforestry landscapes” aims to reduce and reverse the trends of degradation and loss of biodiversity in southern Bahia by strengthening the cabruca system.
