It must have been a poet who offered the name Esmeraldas, and it was a biologist who called it the Western Ecuadorian Moist Forest biome. But both referred to the same region of intensely humid rainforests who meet the Pacific Ocean in the Northwestern corner of Ecuador. The union of ocean and rainforest is, we say, the reason why we add a hint of sea salt to our Esmeraldas Milk. But salt also is a traditional ingredient of the hot cacao which the local people of three ethnic groups – mestizo, Afro-Ecuadorian, and the indigenous Chachi – drink. Each of these groups has a distinct relation with the original criollo cacao bean, the Arriba. The Afro-Ecuadorian community tells perhaps the most fascinating tale: how they took cacao from the Caribbean islands on their flight from slavery.
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The forests they found in the Esmeraldas are some of the most diverse in the world, teeming with birds (over 650 species), monkeys, deer, orchids, bromeliads, insects, and, yes, poison frogs. One of the world’s most important mangrove forests lies in the ecological reserve Mache – Chindul, where the estuaries offer fly-over accomodation to thousands of sea birds. The 70,000 hectares of Mache – Chindul also contain some of the last cloud forests in Ecuador, replenishing the important rivers in the Esmeraldas, such as Cuaque, Cojimes, Muisne and Atacames.
The current deforestation rate around Mache – Chindul is at 3% per year (i.e. 2100 hectares), caused by local logging, and slash and burn. If the total production of cacao from 1,600 small farmers is sold under Original Beans criteria, deforestation can be stopped and the park’s border area restored.
