When you stop at your local coffee shop to order your large latté, do you ever stop to think about the wildlife species that may be endangered in the areas where your coffee beans grew? And if you’re like most people, why would you? Those beans are certain to have come from a long way away.
How do endangered species relate to your cup o’ Joe? Coffee was traditionally grown under shade of the rainforest canopy, but in the 1970s with the development of a new coffee hybrid that grows in full-sun, agronomists began encouraging farmers to cut down trees. While it generates a higher yield of coffee cherries, this farming method requires the use of pesticides (due to a lack of natural safeguards that include, for example, birds that eat coffee borers). And the deforestation and heavy agrochemical use that resulted from this agricultural shift has lead to ongoing soil erosion, land degradation, water pollution and the destruction of wildlife habitat, which is where endangered species come into the picture.
The Rainforest Alliance is working to bring coffee back into its natural shade-grown habitat, restoring the rainforest canopy and local ecosystems and protecting wildlife habitat. Shade-grown coffee provides habitat for endangered species like the jaguar and the tapir, for example.
Farms that are Rainforest Alliance Certified™ must map out and protect waterways and wildlife corridors. They inventory wildlife on the farm, and the hunting and trapping of wildlife are prohibited on farm property (a traditional practice for many communities in the tropics).
The biodiversity on shade-grown coffee farms can be awesome. Biologists have spotted dozens of rare bird species, wild cats such as ocelots, postcard-size butterflies, technicolor frogs, seldom-seen orchids, and even monkeys and an once-endangered giant anteater.
It’s not just coffee, but other tropical crops -- bananas all kinds of tropical fruit, cocoa, tea, flowers, ferns and nuts -- are also grown in areas with high biodiversity where species are at risk.
So how can you minimize your impact on endangered wildlife and even help to support their protection? For starters, become aware of where your food and wood products (even paper!) come from. If they’re from particularly sensitive regions of high biodiversity, look for a certification seal from an independent, third-party like the Rainforest Alliance or the Forest Stewardship Council. These seals indicate that the products you purchase originated on farms or in forests that protect wildlife, workers and the local environment. The Rainforest Alliance has also compiled a list of things you can do to help. If you don’t see certified products at your local retailers, be sure to request those products. Businesses respond to consumer demand for certification, which will support sustainable farming and forestry and ensure that endangered wildlife species are protected.
The New-York-based Rainforest Alliance is committed to global and biodiversity conservation and helps to ensure and sustain livelihoods of the people whose survival depends on the land with the transformation of their land-use practices, business practices, and consumer behavior. It has offices worldwide and throughout the United States.
When you stop at your local coffee shop to order your large latté, do you ever stop to think about the wildlife species that may be endangered in the areas where your coffee beans grew? And if you’re like most people, why would you? Those beans are certain to have come from a long way away.
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