Agroforestry Coffee and Cocoa in the Amazon to Restore the Ecological Balance of Target Areas

Since 2011, Envol Vert has been working to preserve forests and biodiversity in Colombia, France, and Peru, while building strong ties with local communities to support their conservation efforts, contribute to sustainable rural development, and develop economic alternatives to deforestation.

Our missions

To develop concrete and effective on-the-ground projects that support or help launch local initiatives by resident groups, communities, cooperatives, or small associations; and to contribute to rural development linked to forest conservation, ecosystem restoration, and climate change adaptation in Latin America and France. Initiatives that must combine social and societal added value by offering communities alternatives to deforestation and ensuring skills development through training.

Implement awareness-raising and advocacy campaigns targeting the countries most directly or indirectly responsible for deforestation, with the aim of engaging businesses and citizens in changing their behaviors and consumption patterns.

PERU: The “Agroforestry Coffee and Cacao in the Amazon” project aims to restore the ecological balance of the intervention areas, conserve biodiversity, and support Peruvian farming families committed to the agroecological transition and the development of economic alternatives to deforestation. Envol Vert successfully concluded this project in 2024 to refocus on conservation efforts.

While the project was initially based on developing agroforestry models through the planting of native varieties of timber, fruit, and auxiliary trees on cocoa and coffee plots or areas degraded by agriculture, it gradually evolved into a project supporting farmers in adopting good agricultural practices that respect forests and biodiversity. Through training sessions, exchanges of best practices, nursery work, and gender workshops, various economic alternatives to deforestation were identified in the two project zones:

• Pichanaki: the nogal negro nut (Juglans Neotropica) and a network for forest seeds of native tree species.
• Tingo Maria: honey and byproducts (pollen, propolis) from native Amazonian bees, the meliponas.

These initiatives have helped farmers reduce their dependence on their primary crops—coffee and cocoa—and thus diversify their income while preserving their forest areas.

Awareness-raising activities were also organized to help conserve the remaining forested areas and limit shifting agriculture, the main source of deforestation in the project areas.

The project was implemented in partnership with five coffee and cocoa producer cooperatives. They were actively involved on a daily basis in defining and implementing activities, through both technical and financial support.
This project was notably supported by AFD.