Who pollinates the chocolate tree?
Cacao trees cannot produce cacao beans without pollination, yet the tiny insects that pollinate them remain poorly known.
We are the Cacao Pollination Research Unit, part of the Community Ecology Lab at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, led by Prof. Bram Vanschoenwinkel. With a background in entomology and aquatic ecology, the lab started this applied research line in 2015, after earlier work on small aquatic habitats in neotropical rainforests.
We study which insects pollinate cacao, where they breed, and how plantations can be managed to support them. We combine fieldwork in cacao plantations with DNA barcoding to identify the insects involved, together with partners in Latin America, West and Central Africa and Southeast Asia.
Our research questions
Which insects are the main pollinators of cacao in different regions and on different continents?
Where do cacao pollinators reproduce?
Can we promote cacao pollination by protecting or creating pollinator breeding habitats?
Which plantation management practices promote biodiversity in cacao plantations?
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