The creator of chocolate brand Oat m!lk, HAPPi, is launching a joint project ‘Kids for Nature’ with Luker Chocolate. Part of Luker Chocolate’s collaborative plan called ‘The Chocolate Dream’, the initiative aims to protect Colombia’s diverse wildlife with the help of Colombian youths.
Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world, with more animal species found in its rainforests than anywhere else. According to HAPPi, Colombia’s extraordinary ecosystem is at risk, with poaching, deforestation and climate change posing a threat to the country’s wildlife.
To curb these issues, HAPPi co-created the new project with the intention of recruiting the next generation of Colombia’s cacao-growing farmers and educating them on environmental matters. The selected group of children will be studying their local ecosystem, tracking, measuring and recording their findings to grant them a better understanding of Colombian rainforests and sustainable farming practises.
We know that children have the power to bring about positive change in their families, which in turn influences their communities.
Gavin Cox, Founder, HAPPi
There’s been a mass exodus of young people from rural areas in Colombia moving to the city and this project aims to encourage them to stay and make farming a viable option for their future. We want to help protect the Colombian rainforest as well as the future of farming for rural communities. This project will help to establish future ecological ambassadors in the communities we buy our chocolate from, ensuring a strong future for cacao farmers.
This project is close to home for HAPPi’s partner, Luker Chocolate, which is based in Colombia and supplies sustainability-driven Cocoa in the country.
At the time this article was published, HAPPi and Luker Chocolate have not yet set the criteria for the children who would like to join the initiative. HAPPi, through its website, says that it will be following the initiative closely in the coming year and is urging visitors to check on the children’s progress with them.
