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    'Once this was all trees, but they burned them to plant cocoa': the ruin of West Africa's rainforest

    A journey into the heart of Ivory Coast reveals its forests are being ripped up to feed the growing global demand for chocolateChocolate industry drives rain forest disaster in Ivory Coast
    by Ruth Maclean in Marahoué national park, Ivory Coast Sep 13, 2017 4 minutes
    A cocoa farmer who has a plantation in Mount Tia forest holds a recently harvested cocoa pod. Many traders turn a blind eye to the provenance of the produce. Photograph: Ruth Maclean for the Guardian

    Sinewy, silvery trees rise from the green landscape of Marahoué national park, their smooth trunks supporting branches only at the very top. Marahoué is one of eight national parks in Ivory Coast and 20 years ago it was covered by forest and home to chimpanzees and elephant herds.

    Now it is more common to see the skeleton of a tree, slowly burnt by fire to get rid of the shadow it casts over cocoa fields, or just a sawn-off stump.

    Henri, a traditional leader from the nearby town of Diafla, grew up with the forest, and speaks lovingly of its towering iroko trees – but he had a hand in destroying it. Like many others, he has cocoa

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