Origins

COSTA RICA, TALAMANCA
Talamanca is a region in the south-east of Costa Rica bordered by Panama and the Caribbean Sea. Its natural features include cloud forests, steep mountainsides, alluvial plains, mid-altitude and lowland rainforests and wetlands. There are also beautiful beaches and the only one in Costa Rica coral reef.

Talamanca is exceptionally rich in terms of biological diversity and many protected areas were established there such as Cahuita National Park or Parque International la Amistad. There is also a cultural and ethnic diversity incomparable with other areas of the country. Talamanca is home to indigenous Bribri and Cabécar tribes, communities of Afro-Caribbean, Asian, Creole and former banana workers from all over Central America. It is also one of the poorest parts of the country and only until recently there were almost no roads.

Our cocoa comes from the farmers of the APPTA association, which currently has more than one thousand members. Most of the farmers come from Bribri and Cabécar communities. More than one third of the members of the association are women. The Bribris and Cabécars grow their crops in the traditional system which includes bananas, plantains, maize, ayote, pejibaye, yucca, beans and tubers.

Cocoa is grown under the shade of fruit-bearing trees, palms and timber species. In many communities a tradition of communal work was reintroduced and groups of farmers work in rotation two work cycles in each plot. There are about 70 groups functioning at this time.

Most wildlife is found on cocoa farms with the highest diversity of tree canopy and shrubs and therefore providing a greater range of habitats. 144 bird species can be found in managed cocoa, which is more than in the natural forest. Among these species are birds at risk of extinction such as tiny migratory Canada Warbler, Olive-sided Flycatcher and Broad-winged Hawk. Swainson's Hawks have their stopover sites on cocoa farms in Talamanca during more than ten thousands kilometers long migration journey to pampas in Southern America.

See also:
- The Talamanca Initiative by Diego Lynch
- The Role of Cocoa Plantations in Maintaining Forest Avian in Southeastern Costa Rica by R. Reitsma, J. D. Parrish and W. McLarney
- Harmonizing Production and Biodiversity by M. A. Altieri, A. M. Burgos Herrera, H. Y. Armero Zambrano and J. Martinez
- Cocoa Cultivation and Conservation of Biological Diversity by R. A. Rice and R. Greenberg
- Conocimiento indígena sobre aves de Talamanca by E. Fernández, C. Zúñiga, P. rio Hidalgo, V. Buitrago, H. López, X. Hernández, N. López, R. Paez, C. López (14 MB)