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

Conservation in Brazil’s Chocolate Forest: The Unlikely Persistence of the Traditional Cocoa Agroecosystem NORMAN D. JOHNS component of modernization efforts was a shade-tree re- Department of Geography moval program designed to maximize cocoa production by University of Texas at Austin using low shade and fertilizer while substituting agrochemi- 4311 Caswell Avenue cals for many beneficial roles of the overhead trees. This re- Austin, Texas 78751, USA search 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 ABSTRACT / In southern Bahia, Brazil, the traditional cocoa wide range of shading were interviewed, and it was found agroecosystem with a dense shade canopy of native trees is that decisions to remove or maintain the shade trees were now recognized as a secondary conservation route for linked to both agroecological and risk-minimization factors. highly endangered Atlantic Rainforest species. This ‘‘choco- Farmers’ perceptions of the agroecological functions of the late forest’’ of the densely shaded farms persists despite a shade trees and individual willingness to entertain the eco- massive 20-year Brazilian government modernization pro- nomic risk associated with substituting agrochemicals for gram in which shade was seen as a chief impediment to these were important. A less-profitable, but lower-risk ap- raising cocoa production. The objective of this study was to proach of occasional fertilizer and agrochemical use with the determine how this traditional agroecosystem endured. Al- traditional shade intact was a rational and widespread though dense shade limits cocoa yield, it provides several choice. Policies designed to maintain the traditional agroecological benefits: control of insect pests and weeds, agroecosystem through the current economic crisis should microclimate stability, and soil fertility maintenance. A key heed the multiple functions of the overhead trees. The Brazilian cocoa region in the south of the state conservationists. While it is one of the planet’s most of Bahia is among the last areas still possessing much of biologically diverse forests (Thomas and de Carvalho the character, although not the true identity, of the 1993), with many endemic species (Thomas and others formerly extensive Atlantic Rainforest (Figure 1). Al- 1998), it is also one of the most threatened ecosystems though southern Bahia contains the largest concentra- worldwide. Estimates of the current extent of the tion of actual tropical Atlantic Rainforest remnants, it is Atlantic Rainforest range from 2% to 7% of original the widespread cultivation of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) area (Mittermeier 1988, de Miranda and Mattos 1992). under a dense canopy of shade trees that more fully Because of the dire situation of the Atlantic Rainfor- imparts a forest character on the region. Furthermore, est, the shade canopy of the traditional cabrucagem a large portion of this cultivation is based on the cocoa farms has recently drawn attention as another traditional cabrucagem agroecosystem in which cocoa is route of environmental conservation. Although the planted under large trees retained from the original cabrucagem agroecosystem is highly modified com- forest (Figures 2 and 3). Today this ‘‘chocolate forest’’ pared to the original forest due to the removal of lower stands like an island amid a sea of deforested ranch and canopy trees and herbaceous components (da Vinha other agricultural lands. and Silva 1981), the well-shaded farms still incorporate The ongoing destruction of the Atlantic Rainforest a considerable diversity of trees (Figure 3). Many has been characterized as one of the greatest biological valuable timber species, which have been nearly elimi- tragedies of our time (Mori 1989). Although distinct nated regionally, are commonly used for shade on these and smaller than the renowned Amazon rain forest, the farms. These include the highly prized rosewood (jacar- Atlantic Rainforest is of greater immediate concern to anda´, Dalbergia nigra), brazilwood, the namesake of Brazil (pau Brasil, Caeselapinia esplinata), and others KEY WORDS: Conservation; Brazil; Atlantic Rainforest; Cocoa; such as jequitiba´(Cariniana brasiliensis) and cedro Agroecology; Risk; Agroforestry (Cedrela odorata). Environmental Management Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 31–47 ௠ 1999 Springer-Verlag New York Inc. 32 N. D. Johns Figure 1. Map showing former extent of Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest and present day land use in the southern portion of the state of Bahia (sources: inset map modified from Por 1992, land use from CEI 1994). In addition to tree conservation, primates such as The emerging environmental conservation image of the sagui (Callathrix kulhii) and the endangered golden Bahia’s cocoa zone is also aided by the geographic lion tamarin (Leontopithicus rasalia), one of the world’s extent of cultivation. An estimated 4224 sq km of rarest monkeys (Mittermeier 1988), frequent the shade original forest remain in all of southern Bahia (Figure tree canopy of some cocoa farms. The shade canopy 1), but only some 285 sq km have officially protected often serves as an important connection between frag- status (Mori 1989). Meanwhile, the area in which cocoa ments of true forest (Alves 1990). Realizing the poten- predominates is some 13,400 sq km of which approxi- tial contribution of Bahia’s cabrucagem cocoa farms to mately 6060 sq km are actually in cocoa cultivation conservation efforts for Atlantic Rainforest species, a (CENEX 1994). Approximately 98% of Brazilian cocoa consortium of North American and Brazilian environ- is produced in Bahia (Filho 1981). mental groups recently deemed that the cocoa cultiva- Therefore, because of its spatial extent and the tion zone should be considered a priority conservation incorporation of native trees, this ‘‘chocolate forest’’ of area (Conservation International and others 1994). the traditional cocoa agroecosystem is today an uninten- The conservation potential of these traditional farms tional route of conservation for at least some species of was recently highlighted by the discovery of a previously the Atlantic Rainforest. Although this new role for the unknown bird species inhabiting the trees of the cocoa cocoa zone would appear to have emerged rather shade canopy (Pacheco and others 1996). fortuitously, in actuality it has been made possible only Conservation in Brazil’s Cocoa Agroecosystem 33 Figure 2. Typical view of Bahia’s cocoa cultivation using the cabrucagem agroecosystem of native Atlantic Rainforest trees for shade (photo by author). through the unlikely persistence of the traditional cocoa agroecosystem. The native overhead trees on Bahia’s cocoa farms have persevered through 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 these traditional farms were able to endure this modernization program to take on their important conservation role today. Figure 3. Detail of a typical 50-m sq plot of the cabrucagem Modernization and the ‘‘Shade Problem’’ cocoa agroecosystem on a farm near Camaca˜, Bahia. Upper: Cocoa agriculture was widespread in Mexico and plan view of the shade canopy (cocoa omitted); lower: horizon- Central America at the time of European contact and tal view (some canopy trees omitted for clarity). Shade tree species: A, Bacumixa´(Sideroxylon vastum); B, Jitaı´(Apuleia sp.); the use of shade trees was a prominent feature of its C, Inga (Inga edulis);D&M,PauSange (Pterocarpus violacens); cultivation. In 1556 the Italian, Girolamo Benzoni, F, I, and L, Biriba (Eschweilera speciosa); G, Jatoba´(Hymenaea chronicling his travels in the New World, wrote the first stignocarpam); H, Carobuçu (Jacaranda mimosaefolia); J, Fidalgo known description of cocoa agriculture: ‘‘Cocoa flour- (Aegiphila sellowiana); K, Gameleira Branca (Ficus doliaria); N, ishes only in a hot climate, in shaded locations; if it were Jacaranda´ Branca (Swartzia macrostachya); Q, Buranhe´m(Prado- exposed to the sun it would die . .’’ (from La Historia sia lactescens); O and P, Jaqueira (Artocarpus integrifolia) [not del Mundo Novo as excerpted in Bondar 1938). The native to Atlantic Rainforest]. origin of the use of shade is usually attributed to early cultivators mimicking the natural subcanopy environ- ment of wild cocoa trees in the forest (Murray 1958) of and Saõ Tome´, then among the leading world produc- the upper Amazon and Orinoco river basins (Simpson ers, cut much of their shade canopy in an effort to raise and Ogorzaly 1986). Cocoa cultivation was later spread production. Shortly thereafter, however, most of these throughout the tropics in the New World, Africa, Sri farms were wiped out by insect attacks (Gordon 1976). Lanka, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In the 1950s and 1960s the controversy over cocoa While the use of shade appears to have been a shade and productivity intensified with the emerging universal practice formerly, in this century the shade worldwide availability of agrochemical technologies. requirement of the cocoa tree has been questioned and Efforts to incorporate these technologies were largely the practice has been subject to wide experimentation. guided by state-sponsored research centers in Latin The production of cocoa fruit generally increases if America and Africa. A principal line of inquiry was to shade is decreased, but such a change brings on other uncover

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