"As cocoa production in Liberia fosters mass deforestation, campaigners urge Europe to act"

Cocoa production is fueling illegal deforestation in Liberia, new investigation reveals.

Producing cocoa takes a major toll on the environment. Farmers will often clear tropical forests to plant new trees, causing significant environmental damage. 

A new investigation from The Initiatives for Community Development and Forest (IDEF) Conservation Association, an Ivorian nonprofit organisation, demonstrates the wide scale of such deforestation in Liberia. 

The report is urging the EU, the world’s largest importer of cocoa, to take action. [...]

According to Global Forest Watch, in 2024, the country lost 162,000 hectares of natural forest.

‘The scale of deforestation is colossal’

The IDEF report found “massive” levels of deforestation in Liberia because of cocoa production. In the Grand Gedeh region alone,  nearly 500,000 hectares of primary forest were cleared and converted into cocoa plantations since 2020. 

“The scale of deforestation is colossal,” says IDEF Executive Director Bakary Traoré in a press release. [...] 

The report didn’t 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. 

Europe’s role in the industry

The European Union is the world’s largest importer of cocoa, and a main producer of finished chocolate.

In 2023, the EU created a new deforestation regulation (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. 

If effectively enacted, it could help curb cocoa-related deforestation in the region as cocoa produced through deforestation would not be exported. However, this process has been delayed again until December 2026, which the report’s authors call “extremely worrying”. 

“Even though Europe could play a key role in saving these forests and helping these communities thanks to its regulations on deforestation, it is failing to do so because of its constant procrastination,” says Traoré. 

“While Europe dithers and keeps putting off the implementation of its law, there will be no forests left in Liberia and it will be too late.” 

Euronews Green has reached out to the European Commission and The Initiatives for Community Development and Forest for comment.