Coffee is one of the most widely traded commodities in the world. In the U.S., it is the second-ranking import, right behind fuel oil. Our country consumes a third of all the world's coffee. Traditionally, coffee bushes, planted together in plantations, have been grown among the taller, native trees of a given region, thus the term "shade-grown coffee". Although lacking in native understudy vegetation, these plantations are a haven to birds that live in the forest canopy. Biologists have found a large number of bird species and individuals in traditional coffee and cacao plantations in various countries. For example, in eastern Chiapas, Mexico, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center biologists found over 150 species of birds in these plantations. Species include both local residents and neotropical migrants. Some of the species that breed in North Carolina and that are found in shade coffee plantations during the winter are Eastern Wood Pewee, Yellow-throated Vireo, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Summer Tanager, and a host of warblers, including Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Golden-winged, Black-and-white, American Redstart, and Ovenbird.
Because of changes in coffee production and marketing, shade coffee plantations are now a threatened habitat. Over the last two decades, many coffee producers have switched to a variety known as "sun-grown coffee". This variety grows in full sunlight. The result: native forests must be clear-cut. Sixty nine per cent of the coffee plantations in Colombia are now "sun-grown". Studies have found that the diversity of migratory birds plummets when coffee is converted from shade-grown to sun-grown. Avifauna studies in Colombia and Mexico found 94-97% fewer bird species in sun-grown coffee plantations. There are other differences, however, beyond just which birds are or are not attracted, and these differences are both biological and economical.
For example, native trees in shade-grown coffee plantations serve many functions: they help maintain soil quality, reduce the need for weeding, and aid in natural pest control-thanks to the many birds that live in them. And, as it turns out, shade-grown coffee tastes better. Sun-grown coffee plantations require intensive chemical input and year-round labor, and result in greater soil erosion and subsequently higher amounts of toxic runoff.
Traditional coffee plantations can be thought of as modified forest habitats. Even where a single species of tree is planted as cover, the trees often produce flower and fruit crops used by omnivorous birds, such as Tennessee Warblers and Orchard Orioles. Typically, however, coffee bushes are cultivated among a variety of nitrogen-fixing trees as well as other useful species. Up to 40 species of trees can be found in some traditionally managed plantations, and many of these are managed for household or commercial commodities such as wood or fruit.
In regions most heavily used by migratory North American birds--Mesoamerica, the Caribbean islands, and Colombia--coffee plantation "forests" cover 2.7 million hectares, or almost half of the permanent cropland. These "forests" provide critical woodland habitat in mid-elevation areas where often no other large reserves are found. But birds are only one group of organisms found in shade coffee/cacao plantations. Ongoing studies of insects, canopy trees, orchids, and amphibians show that these plantations are often critical refuges protecting forest species where there is no longer any other forest type. In Costa Rica, for example, insect diversity in coffee plantation "forests" rivals that found in lowland rainforest areas.
Coffee plantations provide a critical resource for one other group--the farmers who cultivate them. Revenues from coffee exports exceed 10 billion dollars per year. It is the second largest source of foreign exchange for developing countries around the world and is particularly important for Latin America and the Caribbean, where it is the leading source of foreign exchange. As such, shade coffee presents a tremendous opportunity for both conservation and economic gain, and one in which all of us can participate.
There are numerous companies around the U.S. now that are marketing various "brands" of organic and/or "bird-friendly" coffee. You can see a number of these advertised in many of the popular bird magazines. In North Carolina we're lucky to have a local coffee roaster who is also a birder. Fred Houk, co-owner of Counter Culture Coffee, began marketing bird-friendly coffees in early 1997, in response to concerns about the clear-cutting required to grow sun coffee. The company is based out of Durham, and markets its' bird-friendly coffee under the "Sanctuary" label. To establish credibility, Counter Culture certifies that all Sanctuary coffee comes from shade plantations. Both Fred, and co-owner Brett Smith, tour some of the plantations from which they purchase beans, and rely on reports from environmental groups for some of the others. The Sanctuary line includes coffees from Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Mexico. This line can be found at specialty stores such as A Southern Season and Wellspring Grocers, and will be sold in the Museum Store of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences after April, 2000. Or you may easily order direct from them at 919-361-JAVA (5282). You may also organize sales through your local Audubon or other bird clubs. For further details on this or on how you might raise funds, as well as awareness, for your club, contact Counter Culture directly.
Much of this information was gleaned, with permission, from the web site for the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. To learn more about this topic and a variety of other bird-related topics, visit their site at http://www.si.edu/smbc.