<p>Tropical forests are vital ecosystems, supporting approximately 75% of global biodiversity and acting as significant carbon sinks. Despite their ecological importance, these forests are increasingly threatened by land-use change, primarily driven by agricultural expansion. Agroforestry systems have emerged as a promising alternative to conventional agriculture to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss by integrating conservation and productive land use. This study evaluates the ecological dynamics of cocoa agroforestry systems—locally known as cabrucas—in Bahia, Brazil, by assessing changes in aboveground biomass, species composition, and ecosystem services over an eight-year period. Our results show that aboveground biomass remained stable over time, while species composition varied across plots with different tree densities. Native tree species dominate the system, supporting key ecological functions such as insect pollination and vertebrate seed dispersal. These findings underscore the ecological importance of cabrucas and their capacity to sustain biodiversity and sequester carbon more than conventional agriculture. As multifunctional landscapes, cabrucas hold great potential for inclusion in conservation initiatives, payment for ecosystem services, and biodiversity-based carbon credit projects. Continued ecological research is essential to further understand their role in maintaining biodiversity and supporting functional, healthy ecosystems within the Atlantic Forest biome.</p>