Côte d’Ivoire: Ivory Coast Seeks to Save Forests from Illegal Cocoa Boom

Oct 5, 2015 | Ange Aboa, Reuters
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In Mont Peko National Park, thousands of leafless Iroko and Samba trees tower over a sea of lush plantations like headstones, a testament to the heavy environmental cost Ivory Coast has paid for a dramatic rise in its cocoa production. Ivorian officials say 99 percent of the park's 34,000 hectares have been destroyed by cocoa farmers taking advantage of the chaos wrought by a decade-long political crisis in the West African nation.