Ivorian Ministry of Forest Pledges Progress on Joint Monitoring Program
In November 2017, the cocoa industry and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire pledged to halt deforestation caused by cocoa and “adopt a transparent satellite monitoring system whose results are independently validated and which provides an early warning of deforestation, quickly supplemented by field verification. This system [was] to be made available to the public immediately after the signing of the Common Framework for Action (CFA) so that all stakeholders can measure and monitor progress towards the overall deforestation target”. Three years later, this has still not been achieved.
It is in that context that Mighty Earth welcomes with great satisfaction the Ivorian Minister of Water and Forests’ announcement, seconded by the President of the World Cocoa Foundation, of the rapid implementation of the long promised joint monitoring of deforestation and remedial measures. This announcement was made on February 25 during the last Cocoa and Forests Initiative (CFI) steering committee in which the two senior officials took part, along with 66 other participants. Joint monitoring is one of the CFI’s major commitments, and Mighty Earth has constantly called for its effective implementation. The launch of the Cocoa Accountability Map in 2020, recently updated in February 2021, is precisely an attempt to remedy this shortcoming.
