The November/December 2006 issue of Bird Watcher’s Digest has an article on shade coffee by author and well-known birder Paul Baicich. It gives a nice overview of shade coffee benefits and issues, and is available here as a PDF.
Here are some very brief summaries of research that had to do with coffee growing that were presented at North American Ornithological Conference. I also put together a page with full abstracts, and author contacts.
Johnson, M.D., T.W. Sherry, R. T. Holmes, and P.P. Marra. 2006. Assessing habitat quality for a migratory songbird wintering in natural and agricultural habitats. Conservation Biology 20:1433-1444.
This study examined American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) in natural and agricultural habitats in Jamaica. Redstarts are beautiful warblers that nest in North America and winter in the tropics (see map).
Four natural habitats were compared with two agricultural habitats: citrus groves and shade coffee plantations, which were shaded primarily by Inga vera, with understories of varying densities.
Measures of habitat quality for redstarts on the coffee farms was generally intermediate between the best and worst natural habitats. Two measures, body mass and overwinter survival, were very similar in shade coffee and the best natural habitat. Body mass is especially important. It indicates that enough food is available, and maintaining body mass is critical for later survival, even after departure from the wintering grounds. This study estimated that a loss of 0.1 grams (a very tiny amount!) over the winter corresponded with a 6.8% reduction in annual survival probability.
The authors provide two caveats: First, this study focuses on a single species in a single region. And importantly, there is no similar data to compare the quality of present coffee farms with the habitat from which they were carved. Although shade coffee farms can provide habitat for some species, they do not possess the complete suite of species or ecosystem functions as the original habitat.
The paper named the three shade coffee farms/areas that were used in the study. None were in the eastern Blue Mountain region. One was in the western growing region, in James Hill, Westmoreland Parish. Two were in the central highlands in Manchester Parish, Coleyville Farm and Baronhall Farms. Most coffee is pooled and single estates are hard to find, but Baronhall (formerly Broomhall Estate) is apparently an exception. I have been able to find various roasters offering this coffee. Here is a review of Jamaica High Mountain, Baronhall Estate at Coffee Review.
The Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) is a bird in trouble. It breeds in the eastern U.S. and winters in South America, and populations have been on the slide in recent decades — faster than any other eastern warbler. It is on the Audubon WatchList and is listed as vulnerable by BirdLife International. Primary threats are loss of habitat both on the breeding grounds as well as their wintering areas in the tropics, where an estimated 64% of its habitat has vanished. For more information on on the importance of coffee fincas to Cerulean Warblers and other migrants, read the excellent article from the National Wildlife Federation called “The Case of the Disappearing Warbler.”
The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is partnering with the American Birding Association to help coffee growers preserve critical wintering habitat around the new 500-acre Cerulean Warbler Bird Reserve in the Rio ChucurÁ basin of Santander, Colombia (click map to enlarge for range of the warbler and location of reserve).
The area, one of the last natural remnant forest fragments in the region, shelters high populations of wintering Cerulean Warblers. The reserve also contains three Critically Endangered bird species: the Gorgeted Wood-Quail, Colombian Mountain Grackle, and Chestnut-bellied Hummingbird, along with many other threatened and endemic birds. A new species of bird, a very colorful brush-finch (below) was recently discovered just outside the reserve, which emphasizes the importance of protecting the area from deforestation due to growing technified coffee.
I dug around for farms that were located in the Santander area. Beans from this region are usually marketed under the name Bucaramanga after the capital city of the department. Coffees from this area are said to be milder and fuller-bodied than other Colombians, and remind some people of Sumatran coffees.
The well-known finca Mesa de Los Santos is located here, which produces organic shade coffee certified by both SMBC and RA. Paramito is another farm in the area, RA certified, that was the only farm from Santander to place in the 2006 Colombia Cup of Excellence competition.
Another conservation project in a coffee-growing area, the El Dorado Nature Reserve on the northwest slope of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, was preserved by ABC, Conservation International, and FundaciÁ³n ProAves. This summer, two critically endangered frogs were rediscovered there.
In a country where 60% to 70% of the coffee is technified “sun” coffee, it is important to support both the conservation of areas as reserves, and to look for coffee grown in small holdings that preserve biodiversity. I will be on the lookout for farms that will be working with these two bird organizations on the habitat preservation project.
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Cerulean Warbler portrait on a notecard by John Sill, available at Acorn Designs. Brush-Finch photo from ProAves.