How does my purchase help songbirds and other wildlife?

Simply by purchasing Java Forest you are helping protect vital wildlife habitat.

As habitat around the world is threatened, migratory birds and other wildlife have found sanctuary in shade coffee farms. Studies suggest that shade coffee farms support nearly as many species of birds and small wildlife as undisturbed forest.

By purchasing Java Forest you are helping to protect this important habitat as well as supporting small-scale family farmers who steward important wildlife habitat on their shade coffee farms, and also protect neighboring parks and reserves by maintaining the economic viability of already settled land.

Many studies have examined the important link between coffee and conservation, and the conclusions are unanimous: traditional shaded farms host high levels of biodiversity, but the new sun coffee farms are disasters for wildlife.

Shade grown coffee farms provide wintering habitat for many species of migrating birds found in the United States. These include orioles, warblers, tanagers, flycatchers, thrushes and vireos. Shade grown coffee trees are also an important haven for resident bird species such as parrots, toucans, hummingbirds, parakeets and woodcreepers.

In the 1990s, biologists working in Mexico discovered that traditionally, shade-managed coffee and cacao plantations supported at least 180 species of birds, an amount significantly greater than bird numbers found on any other agricultural land and exceeded only by undisturbed forest. The researchers found 94 to 97 percent fewer bird species in sun coffee than in shaded coffee. 

Birds are not the only wildlife that benefit from shade coffee. Studies have also shown that shade coffee farms support a richer diversity of small mammals such as margays, ocelots, foxes, ringtails and bats than areas without shade. Finally, by closely mimicking a natural forest system, shade coffee supports a great diversity of reptiles, insects and native plants. 

There are also other environmental and social benefits to purchasing this coffee. Coffee grown under the shade not only preserves wildlife habitat but also decreases soil erosion and protects watersheds. Java Forest coffee is certified organic.

This not only benefits the coffee drinker but helps protect soil and water quality as well as the health of communities where the coffee is grown. Instead of chemicals, farmers rely on shade trees to fixate nitrogen in the soil and leaf litter to naturally create a rich and fertile topsoil.

Finally, $2.25 of every purchase is returned to Defenders of Wildlife to support Defenders' crossborder programs with Mexico. Defenders is working to save jaguars, ocelots, parrots and the Mexican wolf -- your support helps save wildlife!

Sign up for a monthly subscription to Java Forest, you can enjoy a great cup of coffee every morning and provide an ongoing benefit to Defenders' programs.