How Big Chocolate manufacturers buy cocoa grown illegally in a Nigerian rainforest
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Over the course of two visits and several days, The Associated Press repeatedly documented farmers harvesting cocoa beans where that work is banned in conservation areas of Omo Forest Reserve, a protected tropical rainforest 135 kilometers (84 miles) northeast of the coastal city of Lagos in southwestern Nigeria.
The Ogun State Government has asked 17 communities in Ijebu-East/North Local Government Area to vacate the elephant conservation area in the Omo Forest Reserve.
The communities, whom the government tagged “illegal farmers and timber contractors” were ordered to vacate the area on or before January 15, 2024.
Nigeria’s leading hygiene brand, Dettol, has as part of its 2023 Global Handwashing Day (GHWD) activities, provided a rural community, Area J4, Omo Forest