In Mont Peko National Park, thousands of leafless Iroko and Samba trees tower over a sea of lush plantations like headstones, a testament to the heavy environmental cost Ivory Coast has paid for a dramatic rise in its cocoa production. Ivorian officials say 99 percent of the park's 34,000 hectares have been destroyed by cocoa farmers taking advantage of the chaos wrought by a decade-long political crisis in the West African nation. With the years of turmoil over, the government of President Alassane Ouattara is preparing to re-exert state authority by expelling tens of thousands of farmers from parks and reserves in an attempt to save the dwindling forests. Mont Peko, with an illegal population of around 28,000, will prove the first test of the government's new policy. Evictions are slated for December and similar operations will follow in Ivory Coast's more than 200 parks and reserves. Here: Agents of the OIPR, one of the government agencies charged with managing protected land, patrol inside Mont Peko National Park in Duekoue department, western Ivory Coast August 18, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A farmer works on a cocoa plantation in the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





An agent of the OIPR, one of the government agencies charged with managing protected land, stands next to a cocoa tree inside Mont Peko National Park in Duekoue department, western Ivory Coast August 18, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





Kolo Ouattara, an OPIR agent responsible for Mont Peko, tallks during a patrol inside Mont Peko National Park in Duekoue department, western Ivory Coast August 18, 2015. The OIPR is one of the government agencies charged with managing protected land. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A view of an entrance to the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





An agent of the OIPR, one of the government agencies charged with managing protected land, stands next to cocoa trees inside Mont Peko National Park in Duekoue department, western Ivory Coast August 18, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





Agents of the OIPR, one of the government agencies charged with managing protected land, patrol among destroyed cocoa plants inside Mont Peko National Park in Duekoue department, western Ivory Coast August 18, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)REUTERS/Luc Gnago





Farmers from Burkina Faso weigh sacks of cocoa in a village built inside the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





Farmers from Burkina Faso dry cocoa beans in a village built inside the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





Agents of the OIPR, one of the government agencies charged with managing protected land, patrol inside Mont Peko National Park in Duekoue department, western Ivory Coast August 18, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A boy uses a mortar and pestile in a village built inside the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A farmer uses a machete as he works among dead trees and young cocoa plants inside the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A farmer rides his bicycle among dead trees and and young cocaa plants (R) inside the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A view of dead trees inside the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A boy uses a mortar and pestle in a village built inside the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A fire set by a farmer burns the roots of a tree to kill it inside the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





Farmers from Burkina Faso stand in a village built inside the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast, August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A woman stands in a village built inside the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. Picture taken August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A farmer stands among dead and destroyed trees in the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A farmer walks in a village built inside the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)





A farmer stands among dead and destroyed trees in the protected Gouin-Debe forest in Blolequin department, western Ivory Coast, August 17, 2015. (Photo by Luc Gnago/Reuters)