Share
Share
A preserved ecosystem with resilient communities
The Cavally Forest Reserve is one of the 234 classified forests of Côte d'Ivoire. It is part of a forest corridor connecting the Taï National Park in Côte d'Ivoire with the Grebo Kran and Sapo National Parks in Liberia. The Cavally Forest Reserve covers an area of 67,541 Ha and is home to endangered species such as chimpanzees and pygmy hippopotamus. In November 2017, in partnership with the forest development agency of Côte d’Ivoire (SODEFOR - Société de Développement des Forêts), Earthworm Foundation launched a pilot project using Starling (a solution co-developed with Airbus) to monitor deforestation, mainly related to cocoa, in the Cavally Forest Reserve.
This enabled the establishment of a base map of the Cavally forest in January 2018, which indicated that 33% of the forest is highly degraded (with sun cocoa), and another 7% is degraded (with cocoa under the forest canopy). Based on this finding, Earthworm Foundation entered a partnership with Nestlé, the Ivorian Ministry of Water and Forests (MINEF) and the Ivorian Forest Development Agency (SODEFOR) in July 2020 to help protect and restore the Cavally Forest reserve and enhance the resilience of local communities through a 3-year funded project.
Encouraged by the positive impact reached by mid-2023, the partnership has now renewed its commitment for another three years with improved metrics and additional partners supporting the Cavally Landscape project, including the Swiss government (SECO), Touton, Cocoasource, Barry Callebaut and the rubber industry. One of the learnings from the first phase was that cocoa and rubber smallholders living at the periphery of the forest reserve might be tempted to encroach onto the protected area, looking for fertile soils to establish plantations. Collaborating with stakeholders from the cocoa and rubber sectors aims to jointly stop deforestation and fight poverty without merely shifting problems from one sector to another.
In September 2023, the Ivoirian Council of Ministers issued a decree changing the status of the Cavally forest to a Natural Forest Reserve, which leads to a higher protection level of the reserve. Consequently, the new governmental partners to the project are the Ministry of the Environment, Sustainable Development and Ecological Transition (MINEDDTE) and the Office Ivoirien des Parcs et Réserves (OIPR) for the Cavally forest management.
Transformative efforts are underway in our Côte d'Ivoire landscape, to safeguard the precious Cavally Forest Reserve through our collaborative project with local communities, the Ivorian Ministry of Water and Forests, and Nestlé in Phase 1 of the project. Initiated in 2020, this initiative focuses on regenerating the forest ecosystem while empowering local residents. From significant reductions in deforestation rates to providing entrepreneurial opportunities for women and enhancing agricultural practices, Phase 1 of the Cavally project has made tangible impacts.
Click here to read the Cavally Phase 1 Report (in English) and Rapport Cavally Phase 1 (in French).
Reduced deforestation rate from 3.78% in 2018 to 0.05% in 2023 in the Cavally Forest Reserve.
Higher economic and social resilience among local communities - 350 women having access to Village Savings and Loans Associations, 460 producers engaged in alternative income generating activities, 160 producers coached on Good Agricultural and Environmental practices & 250 children received birth certificates
1’500 ha of trees replanted and more than 7’000 ha of natural regeneration in the Cavally Forest Reserve
Cavally is one of the key ecosystems where Earthworm Foundation works through its landscapes approach.
Click on the icons to learn more about Earthworm's work in the commodities:
