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About Zorzal Comunitario
Dr. Charles (Chuck) Kerchner co-founded Reserva Zorzal in 2012, hoping to prove that a for-profit business could be a viable, economically sustainable driver of environmental conservation. Chuck and his co-founders bought a relatively undeveloped 412-hectare piece of land in the mountains of Duarte Province, Dominican Republic. They subdivided land within Reserva Zorzal (a bird sanctuary) to create Zorzal Estate (a farm) to protect critical habitat while growing high-quality cacao.
While Zorzal Cacao’s efforts are focused primarily on land preservation and cocoa production, they also address reforestation of the Dominican Republic. Reforestation is implemented through a carbon-offset program, which pays farmers annually to set aside a portion of their land to grow local trees. To fund the program, chocolate makers who buy from Zorzal Cacao can purchase $200 worth of carbon credits for each tonne of cocoa. In total, Zorzal Cacao and partnering organizations have protected 1,238 hectares of threatened rainforest in the northeast Dominican Republic since 2012.
The Zorzal team guards the Reserve’s biodiversity, notably in the sanctuary protecting habitat of the Bicknell’s thrush, an endangered migratory bird species. Zorzal’s protection of local birds led them to work closely with the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI), which expanded its Bird Friendly certification program — previously focused on coffee — to include standards for cacao farming. In 2023, Zorzal Cacao was recognized for producing the first Bird Friendly Certified Cocoa in the world.