Did you ever ask yourself where that delicious chocolate bar came from? It certainly was manufactured somewhere but, your chocolate started in the forest. Chocolate is made from cacao beans, which come from cacao trees. The cacao trees are delicate and do not like to bake under the sun. For the cacao trees to thrive they need protection from taller trees and shrubs that will provide shade and moisture.
Taking that into consideration, small cacao producers in the state o Para, in the Amazon state, have been planting their cacao crops among native trees and also recovering degrading pasture areas. The result is a combination of a lucrative and sustainable way of living with forest protection.
This system of land cultivation is called Agroforestry, the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems to create environmental, economic, and social benefits. It has been practiced in the United States and around the world for centuries.
The cacao trees are a beautiful example of collaboration for survival in the forest, one tree needs the other to thrive.
Please check this video from IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature:
