The Atlantic Forest is recognized world-wide as one of the key regions for the preservation of biodiversity in the entire American continent due to its biological wealth and the profusion, concentration and diversity of its fauna and flora. This forest is the second largest of the neotropical region (Central and South America) after the Amazonian forest. It covers a continuous stripe of land along the Brazilian Atlantic shore the size of Paraguay and Argentina together – an estimated 500,000 square miles of forest along 28 degrees of latitude.

Today, Bahia is the guardian of a fourth of the 8% remainingAtlantic Forest in Brazil, and the cocoa cultivation is responsible for that preservation. With the creation of “protected natural areas” in Brazil (Áreas de PreservaçãoAmbiental, APA), the cocoa region is being integrated through environmental corridors, which maintain the native flora and fauna and help sustain the native populations.

The cabruca technique in the FazendaLadejo de Ouro has allowed to maintain the vegetable cover of the cocoa plantations and protect species such as the Jequitiba (Carinianaestrellensis), Black Laurel (Cordiatrichotoma), Sucupira or Faveiro (Pterodonemarginatus), Vinhatico (Plathymeniareticulata) and Maçaranduba (Manilkarahelata).