Making sustainable chocolate the norm – forest restoration in Côte d’Ivoire with Barry Callebaut
February 16, 2022
Alliances, Project Updates
Barry Callebaut is committed to make sustainable chocolate the norm by 2025, which includes a commitment to be forest and carbon positive. Together with our consortium partner Eticwood, FORLIANCE is supporting Barry Callebaut on this journey by carrying out the field assessment and the technical implementation of an ambitious forest restoration program in the Ivory Coast.
300 ha of pre-selected land in Côte d’Ivoire are to be restored
Large scale forest restoration initiative
Putting Barry Callebaut’s climate commitment into action, the company initiated a large-scale forest restoration program. 300 ha of pre-selected land in Côte d’Ivoire are to be restored as a pilot project and a minimum of 50,000 trees will be planted in the first year. FORLIANCE assists Barry Callebaut on this project by developing a site-specific approach to efficiently plant trees and support natural regeneration.
We have provided Barry Callebaut with an in-depth analysis of the environmental, social and climate situation to understand conditions on the ground and possible hidden risks. This analysis opens the path to an efficient, transparent, and well-designed project implementation. We ensure that this initiative is implemented according to international recognized carbon methodologies such as the GS4GG, A/R methodology from Gold Standard.
Drone pictures of the project area
This restoration program is the first step towards Barry Callebaut’s global reforestation campaign. The objective of Barry Callebaut is to develop restoration projects around the world. The goal is to bring climate action and sustainable cocoa production together.
Getting insight directly from the locals
From left to right: Huntley Brownell (FORLIANCE), Geza Toth and Romain Aka (Barry Callebaut), Julien Philippart (Eticwood), Captain N’Guessan (SODEFOR), Basile Houters (Eticwood)
Our FORLIANCE Project Manager Huntley Brownell just returned from an on-site visit. During his visit to the project location in the Agbo forest near the village of Kouadiakouro, Huntley and the team from Barry Callebaut and Eticwood discussed the project with village elders and were able to directly observe the ongoing site preparation and tree planting. Together with the local people who work directly on site he exchanged ideas and was shown the temporary nursery where seedlings recover after the long journey from the main nursery before they are planted. Other potential restoration areas nearby were visited where several hours were spent discussing forestry and silviculture with the motivated forest managers from SODEFOR, the Ivorian Forest Management agency.
During the field visit, Huntley Brownell (FORLIANCE) exchanged wih the local staff
Visiting the initiative on site and connecting with the local people allows for a deeper understanding of the initial situation and the challenges faced by such programs.
We are honoured to support Barry Callebaut on their journey towards becoming forest and climate positive and making cocoa production more sustainable.
Learn more about FORLIANCE sustainable forest and land restoration programms.
