I am what I like to call a “casual” coffee drinker. I usually have a cup or two on weekends but my drink of choice during the week is cappuccino. Most birders have heard about shade-grown coffee and there are now several companies that offer it. However, I just read a release from the World Wildlife Fund about coffee being illegally grown in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBS) in Indonesia.
This area is a prime location for wildlife including Sumatran tigers, elephants and rhinos and many cool birds. Already the BBS has lost 30% of its forest cover mostly to illegal coffee cultivation. The World Wildlife Fund did an in-depth report on the entire supply chain of this coffee from Indonesia to super markets in at least 52 countries (including the U.S.). The WWF contacted some of the companies such as Kraft Foods and Nestle and has so far gotten mixed responses (they don’t specifically say who said what). Some companies are working with the WWF on how they can stop this problem while others are in denial. Most are unaware that the illegal beans are being mixed with legal ones.
