By Matteo Cavallito<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With about 2.2 million tons produced, or about 38 percent of the global total, C\u00f4te d’Ivoire<\/strong> is the Planet’s leading cocoa supplier<\/a>. But this supremacy, which underscores the importance of the country’s main industry, has long produced a major side effect: deforestation<\/strong>. This is reported<\/a> by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), a nonprofit organization with offices in South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Senegal.<\/p>\n The cocoa rush, in fact, promotes deforestation while fueling the illegal timber market<\/strong>. The phenomenon, which is also made possible by ineffective law enforcement, ends up endangering the survival of primary forests, which are home to high biodiversity and a notably fertile soil that is tempting to many exploiters.<\/p>\n