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CACAO CONSERVATION
CACAO
for Conservation
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By Venita Jenkins
Chocolate is known for its many health benefits. A group of UNCW researchers is exploring another benefit of this decadent treat: rainforest restoration.
Gabriella de Souza ’18, ’22M; Environmental Sciences faculty members Dr. Sheri Shiflett and Dr. James Rotenberg (retired); and Dr. Zachary Long, associate professor in Biology and Marine Biology are working with the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education to study the environmental, social and economic benefits of cacao as a tool for conserving and restoring tropical ecosystems.
The group was awarded the Charles L. Cahill Grant in 2020 for a project titled “Birds and Chocolate Forests: Restoring Tropical Rainforests One Delicious Bite at a Time.” The team’s research examines optimal shade and light needed for growing cultivated wild cacao.
De Souza and Dr. Shiflett traveled to Belize in May 2021 to study a rare variety of chocolate trees, Criollo cacao. This native variety has been cultivated by the Mayan community in Belize for centuries, said de Souza. They visited BFREE, a preserve and agricultural forest for Criollo cacao.
“Dr. Shiflett and I measured physiological and environmental parameters to determine which factors might be influential to cacao plant health,” said de Souza, who received a bachelor’s degree in biology and environmental sciences from UNCW. One of the environmental parameters measured was light availability. To do this, de Souza used fisheye lens photography to capture the forest canopy directly above each cacao tree. With Adobe Photoshop, she was able to transform the images to quantify the amount of light passing through the canopy. Black pixels represented vegetation, while white pixels represented the light potentially reaching the cacao plant underneath the canopy.
“From there, you can quantify the amount of light that might be reaching that plant,” she said. “The data from this project are important because they can help us conserve a rare and culturally valuable species by identifying the ideal growing conditions for cacao.”
Dr. Shiflett noted the research will not only make an ancient variety of cacao more widely available and accessible, but it will also contribute to forest restoration in areas that have been disturbed by a Category 4 hurricane. The idea is to plant hardwood trees which facilitate ample light penetration and provide soil nutrients while growing the cacao in the shaded understory layer. Researchers are also interested in studying which bird species benefit from sustainable cacao agroforestry.
Farmers who are curious about sustainable agroforestry would learn new techniques for optimizing their processes, Dr. Shiflett added.
“Recent research studies have focused on the climate adaptation benefits of low-to-intermediate shade cacao agroforestry in Africa, but far fewer studies have been conducted in Central America,” she said. “Our work will allow for comparisons of benefits among tropical agroforestry systems.”
De Souza felt honored to participate in the research. In fact, the study became her master’s thesis.
“With climate change, rapidly developing areas and people constantly wanting to clear land for development, it’s essential that rare species like this should be conserved and preserved, not only for cultural importance, but for genetics and science in general.”
De Souza used fisheye lens photography to capture the forest canopy directly above each cacao tree. With Adobe Photoshop, she was able to transform the images to quantify the amount of light passing through the canopy.
The Life Aquatic The Life Aquatic
By Venita Jenkins
Joe Oliver is living the Earthshot Prize’s mission – applying human ingenuity to catalyze change
Joe Oliver ’06 knew his career choice would be a toss-up between commercial fishing or marine biology. Growing up in a family of fishermen, he developed a love for learning about marine organisms and ecosystems.
His experiences as a MarineQuest camper and later as an undergraduate student at UNCW helped him chart his course. It led him to the Grand Bahamas, where he is helping to restore corals and boost their resiliency against ocean warming.
Oliver is the director of restoration operations at Coral Vita, which restores reefs by growing and transplanting resilient corals. He oversees the planning and executing dive operations, coral collection, scouting and assessing plant sites, maintaining ocean coral nurseries, and coordinating with the aquaculture and research science directors to ensure a seamless transition from reef to farm and back to the reef.
– Joe Oliver ’06
Members of the Coral Vita team from left to right, bottom row: Gator Halpern (founder), Veronica Cuccurullo, Sam Teicher (founder), Alannah Velacott and Joe Oliver. Left to right, top row: Amir Matouk, Oshiko Reilly, Tyriq Forbes and Dr. Katey Lesneski.
“All my education experiences at UNCW either in the classroom, volunteering or working for different labs helped me build the toolkit that’s necessary for this job,” said Oliver, who earned his bachelor’s degree in marine science. “That’s why I try to encourage my employees, interns and youth to continue their education as much as possible.”
In October 2021, Coral Vita received the prestigious Earthshot Prize, the global environment prize launched by Prince William and the Royal Foundation. The award is designed to incentivize change and help repair our planet over the next 10 years. The recognition has helped Coral Vita connect with other organizations and opened doors to ambitious opportunities, such as using robotics to restore coral.
“What we do is critical because the scale and the scope of fixes needed for coral restoration are huge,” said Oliver. “We’ve been trying to bail out a sinking ship with an eyedropper.” Coral Vita is planning to expand its facilities and outreach programs. Getting to this point has been challenging because of the extensive damage of its coral farm after Hurricane Dorian in 2019, pushing back operations for a year, he said.
Oliver never imaged his dreams of working in the marine biology field would lead to a job that would have a worldwide impact.
“I’ve always been a determined kid, but this has exceeded where I thought I could be,” said Oliver. “We’re able to start making large-scale, positive impacts in the world, help people realize how important marine science and natural resources are and how critical they are to us enjoying our happy, healthy life.”
