Cacao mapping in Brazil finds most mapped crop on pre-2020 cleared land

What you need to know

• The mapping recorded 116,436 hectares of cacao in Pará in 2024, up from 87,309 hectares in 2022, according to Mongabay’s account. The overall mapping covered about 121,000 hectares across Pará and Rondônia. These figures describe mapped crop area, not the amount of forest saved or restored. 12
• Most mapped cacao in both states was on land cleared before 2020: 96% in Pará and 98% in Rondônia. That land-history finding does not reveal what would have happened to those areas without cacao, or demonstrate that the crop was responsible for protecting nearby forest. 12
• The production system matters. Mongabay reports that full-sun monoculture accounted for 63% of Pará’s new cacao plantings from 2022 to 2024. The research pack provides separate evidence on soil improvements in established agroforestry systems, not in these newly mapped full-sun areas. 24
• An earlier study of cacao in Pará from 2004 to 2020 found that plantations had mostly replaced pasture. This supports a description of past land-use transitions, but does not establish the outcomes of the more recent expansion or show that all new sites are degraded pasture. 3
• A separate field study found improvements in several soil physical and biological measures in 12- and 25-year-old cacao agroforestry systems established on degraded pasture. Its results concern those established systems and cannot be generalised to all cacao expansion in the region. 4

Why this matters

The findings distinguish where cacao is grown from what its expansion achieves for conservation. Previously cleared land can be part of the picture, but the mapping alone cannot show avoided deforestation. The contrast between agroforestry and full-sun systems also cautions against treating cacao expansion as having a single environmental outcome. 1234

What happens next

The reporting identifies unresolved questions about the mapping’s accuracy, the future land-use effects of new plantings and whether plot-level histories and supply-chain checks can support claims of EU market compliance. Access to the technical report, spatial data and validation results would help assess the mapped classifications. 12

What we know

• Embrapa’s 2024 mapping covered about 121,000 hectares of cacao in Pará and Rondônia. 12
• The mapping reports that most cacao in both states was on land cleared before 2020, with reported shares of 96% in Pará and 98% in Rondônia. 12
• Mapped cacao area in Pará rose from 87,309 hectares in 2022 to 116,436 hectares in 2024; full-sun monoculture made up a reported 63% of plantings during that period. 2
• Earlier research found cacao plantations in Pará had mostly replaced pasture, while a separate field study found soil improvements in established cacao agroforestry on degraded pasture. 34

What we don't know

• The underlying 2024 technical report, spatial data and validation results were not located in the reporting, so the mapping’s accuracy and land-cover classifications cannot be fully assessed here. 2
• The mapping does not establish whether cacao expansion prevented deforestation, or how the new plantings will affect forest retention, biodiversity and soil over time. 12
• It remains unresolved whether mapped land histories, plot geolocation, legality checks and supply-chain due diligence together support actual compliance for cacao sold into the EU. 2
• The reported soil benefits apply to established agroforestry systems. The supplied research does not establish comparable outcomes for the recent full-sun plantings. 24

Read the reporting

This WildNews briefing synthesises and summarises reporting from the sources below. WildNews did not produce the original reporting. Learn more about how we use AI