Coffee! Shade-grown and bird-friendly?

Eco-conscious, sustainable, new-age hippies have been preaching the benefits of shade grown coffee for a while now, enjoying their Starbucks "organic shade grown Mexico" blend (http://www.starbucks.com/coffee/whole-bean-coffee/latin-america/organic-shade-grown-mexico),

and protesting "sun-grown" mainstream brews such as Folgers and Dunkin Donuts.

But it's not just the earth saving activists that should be concerned...

It's also the birders. Shade-grown coffee (among other benefits which include long term sustainability, land conservation, increased biodiversity, soil protection, carbon sequestration, etc) also produces a haven for migratory and tropical birds by protecting and creating habitat. A recent article in Audubon http://audubonmagazine.org/features1105/food.html takes an in-depth look at small shade-grown coffee farms (also called fincas) in Nicaragua, and notes the positive impact these farms are having on populations of Golden-winged warblers (a Federal Species of Special Concern in the U.S., due primarily to habitat loss and degradation). And it's not just one warbler that's being impacted; it's half the global population of warblers, who winter in coffee growing regions of Nicaragua. It's also 100s of other songbirds who use regions of Central and South America as critical wintering habitat. In fact, Audubon found that "coffee plantations with a diverse canopy cover of greater than forty percent are 2nd, only to undisturbed forest, in terms of bird species richness." One finca alone counted over 280 different bird species, 7 of which are globally threatened.

With increased habitat comes increased birds, but also increased local tourism and a more stable economy for the regions involved. All the interested birders and scientists, ornithologists and volunteers, flock to see the biodiversity located in these shade-grown coffee farms. This creates opportunities for ecotourism, and for a source of steady local income not provided to traditional coffee growers.

To find shade-grown and bird-friendly coffee, check for labels of Rainforest Alliance http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/ or Bird Friendly. http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/coffee/lover.cfm