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Mongabay producer Juan Maza and freelance videographer Jose Gomez in the proposed Kwa National Park in Grand Gedeh, Liberia. Photo by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay.

‘Chasing Deforestation’ in Liberia: Behind the scenes with Mongabay

Ashoka Mukpo 16 Jul 2026
Packaging cocoa beans in Grand Gedeh, Liberia. Photo by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay.

The vanishing forests on Liberia’s cocoa frontier

Ashoka Mukpo 16 Jul 2026
Cocoa producer Giovanne holds a native Amazon species, which is naturally resistant to pests and extreme weather. Image by Cícero Pedrosa Neto.

Amazon floodplains cocoa offers a climate-resilient and sustainable chocolate

Sam Cowie, Cícero Pedrosa Neto 25 Jun 2026

Unwrapping deforestation: Your chocolate Easter bunny may harm the environment

Elisângela Mendonça 3 Apr 2026
A cocoa farmer and member of a local cooperative inspects the state of bean fermentation in Lembe Yezoum, Cameroon.

Researchers find concerning gaps in global maps used for EUDR compliance

John Cannon 19 Dec 2025
Cacao illegally farmed inside Côte d’Ivoire’s Cavally Forest Reserve. Image courtesy of Mighty Earth.

Cacao rush fuels conflict and deforestation in southeastern Liberia

Mongabay.com 13 Nov 2025
Cacao illegally farmed inside Côte d’Ivoire’s Cavally Forest Reserve. Image courtesy of Mighty Earth.

A cacao rush drives ‘alarming’ deforestation in Liberia

Ashoka Mukpo 10 Oct 2025
A cocoa pod opened by hand. Exclusion of smallholder farmers from markets, a potential consequence of the EUDR, could result in loss of income leading to environmental harms but also exacerbate existing problems including child labor on cocoa farms. “These risks are known,” says Rainforest Alliance’s Fanny Gauttier. “That's something that we have highlighted many times.”

EUDR implementation comes laden with potential unintended consequences

Sean Mowbray 4 Sep 2025

Goliath versus Goliath (cartoon)

Rohan Chakravarty 20 Aug 2025
Deforested land in Nkondjock district with newly planted cacao saplings. Image courtesy of Communauté et Développement Durable (CODED), Cameroon.

Cocoa boom fuels new wave of deforestation in Cameroon

Ryan Truscott 4 Aug 2025
Sifting coffee beans in Porciuncula, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

‘Insignificant risk’ EUDR proposal threatens fight against deforestation, critics say

Maxwell Radwin 24 Jul 2025
Drying cacao beans before crushing them.

Cacao agroforestry in Belize hits the sweet spot for people and nature

Ruth Kamnitzer 26 Jun 2025
Market in Treicheville, Abidjan, 2017.

In Côte d’Ivoire a changing climate hits farmers and markets alike

Gael Zozoro 9 May 2025

Hybrid mapping method key to EUDR cocoa compliance, study finds

Bobby Bascomb 6 May 2025
A Borneo orangutan.

Corporate giants fall short on forest protection commitments, report

Liz Kimbrough 29 Apr 2025
Cacao farmers in the Soubré region, southwestern Cote d’ivoire. Image by Gaël Zozoro for Mongabay.

Côte d’Ivoire cacao farmers struggle as climate havoc devastates crops

Gael Zozoro 28 Apr 2025
Euperfadis Cardenas Vargas in his finca (2 hectarias of Cacao) Photo © Victor Raison

Colombian farmers switch from coffee to cacao as temperature and prices soar

Victor Raison 4 Apr 2025

Pollinator decline & climate change threaten chocolate production

Bobby Bascomb 27 Feb 2025
New study assesses threat to wildlife from cacao expansion in Congo Basin

New study assesses threat to wildlife from cacao expansion in Congo Basin

Malavika Vyawahare 21 Jan 2025

Companies banking on tech and collaboration to comply with EUDR

Sarah Brown 31 Dec 2024
Cocoa Agroforestry

‘Uncertainty’ amid EUDR delay poses challenges for cocoa companies, farmers

John Cannon 27 Dec 2024
Tech helps Ivorian cacao meet EU new regulations

Tech helps Ivorian cacao meet EU new regulations

Ghislain Mendoça, Suzanna Blondin 26 Dec 2024

Agribusiness giant Olam gets head start on EUDR; its suppliers, not so much

Aimee Gabay 24 Dec 2024

Even for ‘progressive’ Danone, complying with EUDR is a challenge

Maxwell Radwin 19 Dec 2024
Oluwa's forest are home to many species threatened with extinction, including this red-capped mangabey (Cercocebus torquatus). Image by Rufus46 via Wikimedia Commons (CC SA 3.0).

A Nigerian reserve, once a stronghold for chimps, is steadily losing its forest to farming

Morgan Erickson-Davis 21 Nov 2024

Parties gutting EUDR received donations from companies tied to illegal deforestation: Report

Aimee Gabay 15 Nov 2024
A farmer extracts cacao beans from the pods in Colombia.

Is the delay of Europe’s deforestation regulation a cause for regret, or an opportunity? (commentary)

Alain Karsenty 5 Nov 2024

225 NGOs call on EU to reject delay to deforestation law

Mongabay.com 22 Oct 2024
Mature cacao fruit. Seeds from the pod are fermented, roasted and ground to make cocoa powder. Image courtesy of TMA.

The world’s chocolate cravings speed up deforestation in the Congo Basin: Study

Marlowe Starling 9 Oct 2024
Cattle raising in recently destroyed forestland in the municipality Aripuanã, in Mato Grosso state.

Biden Administration mistakenly seeks delay of EU’s new deforestation regulation (commentary)

Etelle Higonnet 13 Aug 2024
Cacao pod in Peru. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

New relatives of the cacao tree uncovered in old plant collections

Liz Kimbrough 29 Jul 2024

DNA testing proves that cocoa originated in the Amazon and reveals robust pre-Columbian trade

Sibélia Zanon 29 Jul 2024

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