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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
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
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
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
Cocoa Agroforestry

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

John Cannon 27 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

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
Chocolate pastries. Image by Chris Hardy via Unsplash.

As chocolate prices skyrocket from decades of deforestation, adopting agroforestry is key (commentary)

Etelle Higonnet 26 Jun 2024

Sierra Leone cacao project boosts livelihoods and buffers biodiversity

Spoorthy Raman 18 Apr 2024

Elephants invade as habitat loss soars in Nigerian forest reserve

Orji Sunday 21 Aug 2023

Poverty-fueled deforestation of Nigerian reserve slashes hope for rare chimps

Orji Sunday 10 Jul 2023
Triunfo do Xingu, a sustainable development reserve in the Brazilian state of Pará, has in recent years become the epicenter of the forest destruction gripping the Amazon Rainforest. Cattle ranching is responsible for much of the destruction, but wildcat mining and land grabbing are fast advancing too. Across the reserve, toppled trees, open-pit mines and charred jungle are a common sight. Image by Ana Ionova for Mongabay.

Deforestation ‘out of control’ in reserve in Brazil’s cattle capital

Ana Ionova 11 Jan 2023

In Brazil’s Amazon, land grabbers scramble to claim disputed Indigenous reserve

Ana Ionova 29 Dec 2022
Chocolate bar

Consumed: What is the environmental impact of chocolate?

Sandy Watt 22 Aug 2022
A farmer cuts cacao pods from the tree in Colombia.

Delectable but destructive: Tracing chocolate’s environmental life cycle

Sean Mowbray 1 Aug 2022

Deforestation on the rise as poverty soars in Nigeria

Morgan Erickson-Davis 24 Mar 2022

To cooperatively stop deforestation for commodities, navigating ‘legal’ vs ‘zero’ is key (commentary)

Michael Wolosin 9 Mar 2022

DRC’s cacao boom leaves a bitter aftertaste for Congo Basin forest

Malavika Vyawahare 18 Feb 2022
Rotten cacao pod. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler

Why farmers, not industry, must decide the future of cocoa (commentary)

Sam Mawutor 15 Feb 2022

With ‘sustainable’ cocoa, Mars pushes climate, market risks onto farmers

Basten Gokkon 26 Jan 2022

Endangered chimps ‘on the brink’ as Nigerian reserve is razed for agriculture, timber

Orji Sunday 31 Dec 2021
A chainsaw cuts through timber near Afi River Forest Reserve. Image by Orji Sunday.

Deforestation soars in Nigeria’s gorilla habitat: ‘We are running out of time’

Orji Sunday 29 Oct 2021

Amazon, meet Amazon: Tech giant rolls out rainforest carbon offset project

Juliana Ennes 7 Sep 2021

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