Thank you for growing a tree!
look at the amazing regeneration you have been helping us with on the esmeraldas coast
Soccer fields of cloud forest ARE preserved
seedlings were grown in local nurseries
farmer families received organic certification
tree nurseries are up and running
Your tree grows here
| Area: | Chocò Cloudforest – Camino del Jaguar Reserve |
| The forest: | Camino del Jaguar Reserve in the size of 255.600 soccer fields |
| Rare wildlife: | Mache glass frog, boa constrictor, choco toucan, nine-banded armadillo, white-fronted capuchin, jaguar |
| Original bean: | Rare old-growth Arriba Nacional cacao |
| Your growers: | 44 farmer families |
TIMELINE
Updated: January 2026
Winter 2025
Collection of seeds of a huge diversity of native timber tree species in the communal conservation areas to be grown in the nurseries 2026
Winter 2025
Our local team organized a capacity building for students of the local high schools to learn about cacao grafting, conservation of native varieties and organic agriculture.
Autumn 2025
Distribution of 181.000 seedlings to 324 small holder families to install new, highly diverse cacao forests.
Summer 2025
Capacity building in the grafting of cacao trees to preserve ancestral cacao landraces at the Cayapas River
Spring 2025
Set up of 5 additional community managed nurseries at the Cayapas River in cooperation with PASOS to install highly diverse cacao forests together with the Chachi communities:
Winter 2024
Set up of community managed nurseries in 5 different indigenous Chachi communities at the Caypas river in the Camino del Jaguar Reserve.
Winter 2024
Distribution of 25.000 seedlings of native timber tree and selected Nacional Cacao treess.
Spring 2024
Distribution of 10.741 seedlings of native timber tree and selected Nacional Cacao trees in teh village of Loma Linda at the Cayapas river.
Summer 2023
The Mono Bravo community took part in skill training on gathering seeds from native cacao trees and cultivating seedlings in their established nurseries.
Spring 2023
Cacao growers in Loma Linda received skill training in grafting cacao trees, a process ensuring the purity of newly planted cacao. In winter 2022, approximately 1,500 trees were grafted using materials from 100 selected mother stock trees.
Winter 2022
The Loma Linda community nurtured 4,693 seedlings by the Cayapas River, distributing them to local farmers. Over 20 different species, mostly native to the Cotacachi Cayapas reserve cloud forest, were grown in this nursery to enrich cacao forests and agroforestry systems.
Autumn 2022
The Greenhouse Gas Balance Assessment for Esmeraldas cacao’s climate was conducted by the field team, led by Piura project leader Littman, traveling from Peru to Ecuador. They assessed the number of trees, species, altitude, and diameter on 20 sample farms.
Summer 2022
The Mono Bravo community is cultivating 5,000 locally selected Nacional cacao seedlings to enrich their cacao forests.
Spring 2022
An audit on the farm to evaluate the growth of the timber trees that have been planted in the last few years is being conducted.
Visit the complete timeline of this project
One4One Trees Programme
Over past decades, the rainforests of Ecuador’s Pacific coast have been reduced to a few green patches. The largest is known as Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve. It was created in 1996 to protect against large timber companies.
The cacao farmers of Mono Bravo live inside the Reserve and act as stewards of the forest and its wildlife. Your enjoyment of Original Beans Esmeraldas chocolates empowers them culturally and economically in their old cacao tradition. Cacao here is more than income, it is an identity. That’s why the farmers are preserving their forest as a “Climate Forest”.
PARTNERS IN ESMERALDAS
Esmeraldas 42%
Notes of caramel and hazelnut with Fleur de Sel resonate throughout this rare Arriba cacao. The taste floats down from Ecuador’s last Pacific cloudforest, where silky tree frogs bask in the humid breeze.
