Held in Panama in 1998, the workshop featured a select group of ornithologists, plant scientists, environmental advocates and chocolate industry scientists. They embraced the ideal that cocoa grown within a biologically diverse and environmentally sustainable agricultural system is capable of providing long-term economic, social, and environmental benefits to the millions of smallholder farmers who are uniquely suited to cultivate cocoa.

The consensus statement developed at the conference continues to guide efforts by Mars, as well as other members of the chocolate industry, to overcome the challenges facing the cocoa farmers and to better realize the many benefits of the crop.

The principles adopted at the Panama Conference state that a sustainable, biologically diverse system of growing cocoa will:

• Be based on cocoa grown under a diverse shade canopy in a manner that sustains as much biological diversity as is consistent with economically viable yields of cocoa and other products for farmers.
• Use constructive partnerships that involve all stakeholders with special emphasis on small farmers.
• Build effective policy frameworks to support these partnerships and address the particular needs of small farmers for generations to come.
• Encourage future cocoa production that rehabilitates agricultural lands and forms part of a strategy to preserve remnant forests and develop habitat corridors.
• Maximize the judicious use of biological control techniques for integrated management of pests, disease, and other low input management systems.

The principles developed at the conference continue to guide efforts by Mars and our industry partners. Mars continues to be a leader in cocoa sustainability research.