World Rainforest Day: Support To’ak’s Rainforest Conservation Efforts
, by Jerry Toth , 3 min reading time
To celebrate World Rainforest Day, we’re putting our money where our mouth is for the next month. For every bar we sell, To’ak will donate at least $1 to rainforest conservation and restoration in Ecuador. For each Reserve Series box sold, To’ak donates $5. For each Masters Series box sold, the donation is $10.
World Rainforest Day is Thursday, June 22. To celebrate, we’re putting our money where our mouth is.
- For every bar we sell, To’ak will donate at least $1 to rainforest conservation and restoration in Ecuador.
- For each Reserve Series box sold, To’ak donates $5.
- For each Masters Series box sold, To'ak donates $10.
Funds are specifically donated to the protection and expansion of the Jama-Coaque Reserve in coastal Ecuador. This project is managed by TMA (Third Millennium Alliance), an Ecuador-based nonprofit organization with over 15 years of rainforest conservation experience in this region.
On top of this, if you spend over $200, you will receive a free gift from us—while supplies last! For the first 55 customers that purchase over $200 of chocolate, we will include a free tasting kit bundle that contains a unique selection of To'ak mini bars, a tasting and pairing guide, and bamboo tasting utensils (a $99 value).
The program will be in effect for one month, starting on Thursday, June 22 and ending on Friday, July 21.
What’s the impact?
Here is the breakdown of where your donation will go:
- It costs an average of $151 for TMA to manage each hectare of rainforest per year.
- To protect an area of rainforest the size of a professional soccer field, it costs $107 per year. It only takes 107 chocolate bars to do this.
- Each $1 donation equates to an annual carbon benefit of 50 kg of CO2. Check out TMA’s carbon assessment for details.
How you can help
To’ak is donating on your behalf, but your purchase is what makes it happen. If you’d like to supplement our donation with your own, you can donate here. One of the last surviving remnants of the great Pacific Forest of Ecuador will thank you.
To learn more about how To’ak and TMA are working together to use cacao as a rainforest restoration tool, check out:
Using Cacao to Reverse Deforestation: Despite its "forest-friendly" reputation, cacao farming is actually causing deforestation in some parts of the world. Fortunately, there's a way to reverse that trend. This is what we've been working on in Ecuador.
To’ak Chocolate and the Ecuadorian Rainforest: A Mutually Beneficial Relationship: Get a deeper look into how businesses, conservationists, and local farmers can join forces to help regenerate the rainforest rather than cut it down. We call this program Regenerative Cacao.
Protecting and restoring the most endangered rainforest on Earth
For the past 15 years, TMA has been working to protect and restore one of the last major remnants of the Pacific Forest of Ecuador. Only 2% of this forest remains intact. Here’s how they do it:
- Protect all remaining tracts of old-growth forest through purchase and/or easement.
- Restore degraded forest in areas no longer suitable for farming and grazing.
- Connect isolated forest fragments through regenerative agroforestry with local cacao farmers.
- Ensure that all lands are managed by local communities.
All of the above represent the roadmap to building a 40,000-hectare conservation area called the Capuchin Corridor.
See below for a breakdown of forest conservation and restoration costs, and head here to learn more.
Notes:
- *Per hectare costs are averaged over 25 years.
- **Establishment cost is the average purchase price and legal costs of rainforested land sold by absentee landowners.
- ***Conservation cost includes park ranger salaries, drone mapping and remote sensing technology, and field team management costs.
- ****Restoration cost includes tree planting combined with assisted natural regeneration. This only applies to deforested land, which represents 1/3 of the project area.
