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Producing cocoa takes a major toll on the environment. Farmers will often clear tropical forests to plant new trees, causing significant environmental damage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A new investigation<\/strong><\/a> from The Initiatives for Community Development and Forest (IDEF) Conservation Association, an Ivorian nonprofit organisation, demonstrates the wide scale of such deforestation in Liberia.\u00a0<\/p>\n The report is urging the EU, the world\u2019s largest importer of cocoa, to take action.<\/p>\n Why are producers turning to Liberia?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Ivory Coast<\/strong><\/a> is the world’s largest exporter of cacao beans. But decades of dependence on the industry have disrupted the environment. Massive deforestation and chemical fertilisers have weakened the soil, pushing producers to look elsewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n Deforestation is illegal under Liberian law, but that has not stopped producers from trying to establish new cocoa plantations there. The report also shows that since 2020, more than 38,000 people have been registered in the Grand Gedeh region, which borders the Ivory Coast.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Global Forest Watch<\/strong><\/a>, in 2024, the country lost 162,000 hectares of natural forest.<\/p>\n \u2018The scale of deforestation is colossal\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n The IDEF report found \u201cmassive\u201d levels of deforestation in Liberia because of cocoa production.\u00a0 In the Grand Gedeh region alone,\u00a0 nearly 500,000 hectares of primary forest were cleared and converted into cocoa plantations since 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe scale of deforestation is colossal,\u201d says IDEF Executive Director Bakary Traor\u00e9 in a press release. \u201cIn the localities we visited, all the families had ceded forest plots ranging from 50 to 300 hectares, compared to 8 or 10 hectares in our previous report last year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The report didn\u2019t just demonstrate environmental harm. Investigators highlighted the growing trend of human trafficking, exploitation and child labour. Many younger people are brought to work on cocoa production and land clearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Europe\u2019s role in the industry<\/strong><\/p>\n The European Union is the world\u2019s largest importer of cocoa<\/strong><\/a>, and a main producer of finished chocolate.<\/p>\n In 2023, the EU created a new deforestation regulation<\/strong><\/a> (EUDR) to curb deforestation. The regulation prohibits European marketing of products that contribute to deforestation, namely coffee, cocoa, rubber, palm oil, soy, beef, and timber.\u00a0<\/p>\n