The Chocó Project:
Saving the critically endangered
brown-headed spider monkey
through the production of native
cacao
The Chocóan Biodiversity hotspot in
Ecuador is one of the most threatened
rainforest ecosystems in the world.
Esmeraldas Province has the highest
deforestation rate in the country with only
2% of the original forest cover remaining.
These forests are home to an incredible
number of species only found here. In
2005 biologists estimated that there were
only 250 brown-headed spider monkeys
(Ateles fusciceps fusciceps) left in the
wild. Our surveys through the Chocóan
rainforests identified one of the last
healthy populations of 150 primates in a
30km2 area of unprotected forest at
Tesoro Escondido, a forest cooperative
located in the area.
This is the most
endangered primate in Ecuador and one
of the top 25 most endangered primates
globally (IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species, 2012).
Some
farmers
located
in
Tesoro
Escondido are keen to conserve the
species and forests but face economic
pressures to log them.
A brown-headed monkey is spotted in the forests of
Tesoro.
Collaboration Agreements, farmers have
committed themselves to carry out
conservation
of
the
forests
and
reforestation activities to create forest
connectivity. This is a mandatory
condition that will be verified throughout
the project in order to continue providing
technical and commercial support to sell
their cacao directly in national and
international markets. In this way we aim
to avoid intermediaries and achieve a
better price for farmers. By linking high
quality cacao with conservation, farmers
will not expand their cacao plantations
nor log the forest to sell timber.
In this way, the Chocó Project seeks to
establish a conservation strategy with the
aim to protect the last remnants of
primary forests in Tesoro Escondido and
to bring the brown-headed spider
monkey back from the brick of extinction.
One of the main activities we envision to
achieve is to provide an alternative
livelihood to logging.
Tesoro is well known for its very high
quality
“Nacional”
native
cacao.
Through our ‘Cacao Improvement
Programme’ we are providing farmers
with capacity building and knowledge to
ensure the highest quality of cacao is
achieved. In exchange for our support,
and
through
individual
Mutual
Yadira Giler from Tesoro collects cacao from her
farm.
We believe in zero extinction. Together
we can save this primate and its
habitat, support us to make a real
difference!
For
more
information
please
visit:
www.sussex.ac.uk/lifesci/pecklab/spider
monkey/index
Meeting with cacao expert Samuel Von Rutte and
cacao farmers of Tesoro Escondido (Nov 2013).
Our
conservation-based
guarantees
protection
the
of
cacao
recovery
the
habitat of
and
the
critically endangered brown-headed
spider monkey.
We aim to reach
ethical chocolate buyers interested in
forest conservation and in protecting
this endangered species. The Chocó
project is addressing socio-economic
aspects that cannot be left apart in
any conservation project in order to
be successful.