Conservation in Brazil's Chocolate Forest: The Unlikely Persistence of the Traditional Cocoa Agroecosystem

Abstract

/ In southern Bahia, Brazil, the traditional cocoa agroecosystem with a dense shade canopy of native trees is now recognized as a secondary conservation route for highly endangered Atlantic Rainforest species. This "chocolate forest" of the densely shaded farms persists despite a massive 20-year Brazilian government modernization program in which shade was seen as a chief impediment to raising cocoa production. The objective of this study was to determine how this traditional agroecosystem endured. Although dense shade limits cocoa yield, it provides several agroecological benefits: control of insect pests and weeds, microclimate stability, and soil fertility maintenance. A keycomponent of modernization efforts was a shade-tree removal program designed to maximize cocoa production by using low shade and fertilizer while substituting agrochemicals for many beneficial roles of the overhead trees. This research found that many farmers rejected, or only partially accepted, the shade reduction process although it promised much higher cocoa yield and profit. Farmers employing a wide range of shading were interviewed, and it was found that decisions to remove or maintain the shade trees were linked to both agroecological and risk-minimization factors. Farmers' perceptions of the agroecological functions of the shade trees and individual willingness to entertain the economic risk associated with substituting agrochemicals for these were important. A less-profitable, but lower-risk approach of occasional fertilizer and agrochemical use with the traditional shade intact was a rational and widespread choice. Policies designed to maintain the traditional agroecosystem through the current economic crisis should heed the multiple functions of the overhead trees. KEY WORDS: Conservation; Brazil; Atlantic Rainforest; Cocoa; Agroecology; Risk; Agroforestry

Geographic distribution of epiphytic bromeliads of the Una region, Northeastern Brazil

“…Although inventories that use standardized sample methods are desirable, it is interesting to point out that this percentage is, nonetheless, biologically significant. The Una region is one of the last areas that still possess some of the characteristics of the formerly extensive Atlantic Rainforest (Johns 1999).…”

Parrot populations and habitat use in and around two lowland Atlantic forest reserves, Brazil

“…Other habitats outside reserves are more important and these include forest fragments and`Cabrucagem' shade cocoa plantations. Some of the more traditional cocoa growing regimes have been identi®ed as useful for nature conservation (Johns, 1998), and may be well utilised by parrots such as P. cruentata (Forshaw, 1989). Table 6 Sizes of key areas known to hold populations of P. cruentata and/or A. rhodocorytha (from Wege and Long, 1995) It may be that the preservation and regeneration of forest fragments around certain stronghold reserves may yield high returns for species conservation at comparatively low cost.…”

Trade-offs between crop intensification and ecosystem services: the role of agroforestry in cocoa cultivation

“…In Brazil, Johns (1999) reported that yield almost doubled (from 900 to 1,700 kg ha -1 of cocoa beans) with the total removal of the shade trees and use of fertilizers on a series of cocoa farms monitored by researchers of CEPLAC in the cocoa producing region of Bahia during the period 1964-1974. However, the author pointed out that this intensification package was not widely adopted by farmers, who preferred a lower-risk management approach, with occasional use of fertilizers and agrochemicals and the maintenance of shade trees, recognized for their valuable role in limiting ecological risks such as drought and outbreaks of pests and diseases.…”