Background

The CoffeeReserve Project was started by Dan Cooper in 2006 to complement existing coffee certification programs. It seeks to document, publicize and promote the maintenance of healthy and diverse native wildlife populations on coffee farms in Latin America through research and nature-based tourism. In 2009, Dan started developing the idea of a "conservation award" presented annually to recognize farms making a significant contribution to global biodiversity preservation in each country of Mexico/Central America. The award funds are raised as sponsorships from coffee companies, and used to further meaningful, science-based conservation practices on the winning farms. Model farms will be featured in trade publications (both coffee- and nature-related) and in the marketplace (on labels, etc.), thus providing an economic incentive for real conservation results.

Conservation value

Coffee farms are situated in some of the most biologically-rich areas on earth - the foothills of tropical mountains. In many regions, wooded areas not in cultivation on the farms - essentially the "Back 40" of the properties - are some of the only forest habitat left; when unprotected, trees are quickly cut down for lumber and firewood, and animals are shot for food and sport. Within the farms however, these forests are generally well-maintained and defended from degradation, often for watershed protection of simply for aesthetic reasons. In this way, the farms protect the forests, along with their rich wildlife communities.

Working through U.S.-based importers, the CoffeeReserve Project has documented the presence of several globally-rare birds, amphibians and other wildlife on coffee farms in southern Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua. We have also quantified the usage of on-farm habitat by migratory birds from North America that spend the winter in Central America, which have been a focus of numerous conservation initiatives through certification programs like "Bird-Friendly" coffee.

However, current certification of coffee does not involve surveying farms to "ground-truth" the actual benefits of these various labels and seals, so it is hard to know if planting shade trees, for example, is actually resulting in a benefit to local wildlife or a particular threatened species. As consumers become more sophisticated in their knowledge of food sourcing, we anticipate that such information will be in higher demand, that people and companies at all levels in the coffee supply chain will be interested in the actual contributions of a farmer-supplier to biodiversity.

In the meantime, the Coffee Conservation Award will raise awareness and provide an economic incentive for farmers to maintain on-farm forest habitat, and to better document the contribution of their farms to wildlife conservation.

Award Partners

The "Coffee Conservation Award" is a joint venture between:

Cooper Ecological Monitoring, Inc. (CEM, Inc.)

Roast Magazine

American Birding Association

Award Structure

Winners of the award will receive a $1000 cash prize.

The award funds would be used to further meaningful, science-based conservation practices on the winning farms.

Judging

Applications will be judged by a small panel made up of the partners (see above), and possibly including representatives from appropriate wildlife conservation groups active in Central America. The job of visiting and surveying the potentially winning farms will be assumed by local non-profit conservation groups or in-country coffee associations.

Criteria

The criteria for judging the winning farm must focus as much as possible on actual, documented usage by wildlife. Since most wildlife, particularly rare species, is difficult to observe much less document through photography and other means, a list of "target species" will be developed for each country, which includes both rare-but-readily-observed wildlife like globally-threatened birds and large mammals like monkeys and agouti, which are typically hunted out of degraded landscapes. Outright conservation of forest (as opposed to simply planting trees) will also be an important criterion, since retention of existing forest is far superior to a tree-planting in maintaining forest wildlife. Where possible, we will make these criteria simply to understand and document, while realizing that the cooperation of local partners in the individual countries is essential.

Examples of criteria are below.

1. Amount of forest on property not in cultivation (photo required):

2. Status of monkeys on property (documentation/photos required):

3. Briefly describe existing wildlife conservation efforts on the farm, such as the existence of a fenced or a guarded reserve, effective and enforced prohibitions on shooting and capturing wildlife, etc.