Coffee the right way is Coffee the Analog Forestry way!
Along with our Tea, Guarana, Miranthan, Urucum, Andiroba, Cashews, Cinnamon, and Cloves, some of the best Coffee on the world market is now also available through Bioverde.
Learn more about coffee from the costa rican point of view, by clicking into wiki
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| Bioverde is offering Forest Garden Coffee! |
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Why an analog forestry coffee?
To be certified FGP, these AF products come from designs based on the nearest forest ecosystem using the data base of information; these farms must have implemented designs that mimic the forest structure and the ecological functions of those trees and plants that are analogous to the same forest. The farmer must have;
(1). a Master Plan for the Forest Garden which must include existing drainages, crops and their companion design scheme,
(2) existing infrastructure,
(3) at least 40% canopy,
(4) bio-Indicators that indicate a healthy anthropogenic ecosystem,
(5) design implementation plan.
These strict guidelines are above and beyond any other certification standards for organic cultivation because we certify not only the products, but the biodiversity within the AF plot. The membership of the IAFN is comprised of 26 non-profit civil based organizations, (CBOs) based in 21 countries, on every continent. Also, there are individual members that are contributing to AF in farming and capacitation building. The Secretariat is in Quepos, Costa Rica.
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| Visit the Bioverde Blog to learn more about our Sri Lanka Coffee by clicking the Image! |
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Sri Lanka has been identified as one of the 18 bio diversity hotspsots of the world.
However if farmers do not receive a fair price for their commodities then they are forced to find work in the cities or use unsustainable agricultural practices which deplete the land and its biodiversity.
We at Bioverde are sourving from Hansa Coffee to helping repair environmental damage by supporting farmers who practice analog forestry.
The History of Sri Lanka Coffee
From Arabia?
No one knows when coffee first came to Sri Lanka. However, it was noted by Sir James Emerson Tennent in the 1800s that "As to coffee, although the plant had existed from time immemorial on the island (having probably been introduced from Mocha by the Arabs), the natives were ignorant of the value of its berries, and only used its leaves to flavour their curries, and its flowers to decorate their temples. It was not until nearly a century after the arrival of the Dutch that one of their Governors attempted to cultivate it as a commercial speculation.
The Dutch
The Dutch abandoned the cultivation to focus on their Javanese plantations because they did not want to oversupply the market which would have dropped the price from the Javanese coffee plantings. However according to the Report of Governor Schreuder "Coffee succeeeded very well in the western parts of the island. It was superior in qualitly to the coffee of Java, and approached near to that of Arabia, whence the first coffee plants came."
The Dutch also brought seedlings from their Javanese plantations to Sri Lanka. These coffee plants were brought plants from Java that had previously been procured from what is now Yemen and Ethiopia. These Javanese plants did not succeed well at the lower elevations where the Dutch experimented with coffee growing.
The British
It was the British who had now conquored the highland interior who successfully commecialised coffee as the first hugely successful export crop from Sri Lanka.
Cutting down the Mountain Forests of Ceylon
The higher plateaus and peaks were rapidly and aggressively annexed and deforested and the acreage under coffee doubled from 80,000 acres to 162,700 acres by 1867. Only the Nuwara Eliya plateau escaped the transformation offorest and patana lands. At the lower elevations, the locals cashed in on land sales and acquired large acreages. In 1857 67,453,680 lbs was exported out of Ceylon. Today it is negligible.
The Coffee Blight
Due to the British only focussing on monoculture coffee without shade, the conditions were created for a devastating fungus. This was the famous coffee blight. This coffee blight destroyed the plantations and forced the British to find other crops they could export.
Tea
Fortunately for them the tea bush, camilia senensis, is not as susceptible to the fungus and that is why Sri Lanka today is the leading exporter of tea worldwide.
We feel tea as it is grown today continues to be highly destructive to the upland ecosystem. This can be witnessed by the fact most tea estates have no A-horizon of soil remaining and very little biodiversity.
Traditional varieties of coffee
Though some of the more recent hybrid coffees have been introduced, Hansa Ceylon Coffee is encouraging farmers to keep with the traditional more flavourful varieties.
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Although coffee production in Costa Rica is a major source of revenue, it is not without its environmental problems. The main effect on the environment is the pollution of rivers during the separation and de-pulping process at the beneficio processing plants or mills. After the beans are separated from the pulp, the beans are left to ferment in a water tank to remove the gummy gel that surrounds the bean. By the end of the drying process, there is leftover pulp and sugar water. In the past, many coffee producers dumped the pulp waste directly into the rivers. Approximately 57% of the coffee bean consists of contaminants which destroy wildlife in rivers and may harm people. The pulp as it decays in river water has the effect of depleting the water of oxygen and killing off aquatic life. Read in Full at Wiki
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It is a great joy to know that sustainability is an inclusive movement! We are not alone. We believe that we should recognize each others work and become more aware of the various regions, adpations and potential alliances. So we have posted a video above that we feel will help you see a little more of what people are doing to protect and preserve the planet!
Make sure you check our forums tabs for more of where the video above comes from and for other activity worthy of mention!
We are very happy to see the interdependent project dancing with the tea promotions to support unifying and analog forestry!
http://interdependentproject.ning.com/group/sustainyourself/forum/topics/green-tea-for-those-beautiful
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