Cool Earth is working with the Asháninka people in Peru, to improve lives and protect the rainforest by enhancing the quality and yield of their cacao crop.

Thanks to funding from OVO Energy, Cool Earth has set up a project in Peru’s Ene Valley, a remote part of the Amazon rainforest. Cacao beans are grown, harvested and dried there, providing an income for the Asháninka. The cacao is then shipped to Cornwall, to be aged, tempered and crafted into highly desirable bars of chocolate.

The Ene valley is one of the world’s most at-risk areas, threatened by the illegal trades of logging and coca, which together could destroy the rainforest. Instead, selling cacao has doubled local income for Cool Earth’s Asháninka partners in Peru – earning them far more than logging could ever pay, and helping to keep the forest safe.

Chocolate contains beneficial minerals like magnesium, potassium, zinc and selenium, as well as phenylethylamine, which encourages your brain to release feel-good endorphins. So there are plenty of good reasons for eating it, quite apart from the fact that it’s delicious.

And now it’s helping to save the rainforest.

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