 |
|
|
|
BrazilAbout Brazil | Sustainable Forestry | Non-Timber Forest Products | Sustainable Tourism | Sustainable Agriculture | Species Profiles | Join Us! Sustainable AgricultureCoffee -- Here Comes the Sun
Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN) partner FIIT did some of the first studies to show that coffee grown the traditional way, under a forest canopy, hosts biodiversity levels greater than all other agriculture (except cocoa) and is nearly equal to "real" rainforest. Based on that research, SAN developed the first standards for eco-friendly, "shade" coffee and after years of experimentation the first farm was certified in Guatemala in 1996. There has been much debate within the conservation community about how much shade is enough to make significant wildlife habitat, and agronomists argue over how much shade can be tolerated without affecting production. Many Costa Rican technicians insist that coffee farms should be "tree free," and they have spread their version of full sun coffee from Mexico to Colombia. The deforestation of coffee farms in Latin America has been one of the fastest and most destructive land-use changes recorded anywhere. It is also bad business, causing coffee production to soar as demand levels off, resulting in the present market crisis. Shade coffee farms provide many of the conservation values of natural forest -- habitat, watershed protection, soil conservation -- plus many benefits for smallholders and workers - firewood, fruits, medicinal plants and protection from the elements. Shade farms resist hurricanes, protecting people and nature, while sun farms slide downhill onto the villages below. Many sun farmers have sacrificed the environment for increased production, butthe Rainforest Alliance's program works with those who are contributing environmental services to their community. When the Rainforest Alliance began our program, we doubted that we would ever work with farms in countries with a lot of sun coffee, such as Costa Rica, Colombia and Brazil. However, some Brazilian coffee farmers insistthat they have always grown coffee in the sun in regions that do not naturally host shade trees. Our Brazilian partner organization IMAFLORA is now working with farms that were never naturally forested. It would be ecologically incorrect to plant trees in the savannah that is rich in biodiversity in it's own right, with much of it endemic to this increasingly rare habitat. We are excited to embark upon this new chapter of our sustainable coffee program and hope you stay tuned for updates. Citrus The joint audits will help to determine methods of verifying safe and decent workplace conditions in diverse agriculture settings -- so that producers can demonstrate both social and environmental responsibility. Pilot audits are taking place in Latin America, North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, and cover a wide range of crops from rice in Thailand to cut flowers in Colombia. In October, Rainforest Alliance led a pilot audit on an orange cooperative in Brazil. Issues explored during the pilot included: finding out producers knowledge about certification systems; potential for adding value to existing occupational safety and health legislation; the role of worker unions; the security of employing temporary workers; efficient and practical internal control systems; and, how to define the living wage. More about the Rainforest Alliance's citrus work.
|
