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  PlanetArk 25 Jan 07
Indonesia Denies Coffee Growing Endangering Wildlife

WWF 17 Jan 07
Illegally grown coffee threatens tiger habitat in Indonesia

Yahoo News 17 Jan 07
Brands sell illegal Indonesian coffee, threaten rare species: WWF
by Nabiha Shahab

PlanetArk 17 Jan 07
Coffee Growing Risks Indonesia Tigers - WWF

GENEVA - Illegal coffee bean growing in an Indonesian wildlife park could wipe out already endangered local tigers, elephants and rhinos within 10 years, the WWF conservation group warned on Wednesday.

The coffee growers are clearing vegetation in Bukit Barisan Selatan park, a World Heritage Site on the southern tip of Sumatra Island, to make room for the crop which brings much needed export revenue to the impoverished region.

The WWF said over 19,600 tonnes of illegally grown coffee a year was being blended with legally produced beans before being sold to international food and drinks companies.

"WWF determined that most of the companies buying the coffee likely were unaware of its illegal origins," the WWF said, adding that it was in discussions with some about how to avoid purchasing illegally grown coffee.

The park is one of the few protected areas where Sumatran tigers, elephants and rhinos coexist, the WWF said. "It is one of the most important habitats left for the three endangered or critically endangered species. But it has already lost nearly 20 percent of its forest cover to illegal agriculture," the WWF said.

"If this trend of illegally clearing park land for coffee isn't halted, the rhinos and tigers will be locally extinct in less than a decade," said Nazir Foead, WWF-Indonesia's Director of Policy and Corporate Engagement.

Indonesia is the world's second largest exporter of robusta coffee which is often used in instant coffee and packaged coffee sold in supermarkets, the group said.

Yahoo News 17 Jan 07
Brands sell illegal Indonesian coffee, threaten rare species: WWF
by Nabiha Shahab

JAKARTA (AFP) - Global food giants Nestle and Kraft Foods have sold coffee illegally grown in a key conservation area for endangered tigers and rhinos, WWF said.

The coffee comes from the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park on the southern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island, which is home to about 40 Sumatran tigers, of which there are fewer than 400 left in the wild, the conservation group said. It is also home to about 500 Sumatran elephants, a quarter of the remaining population, and 60 to 85 critically endangered Sumatran rhinos.

Despite its importance as a conservation area and World Heritage Site, nearly 20 percent of the park has been cleared for illegal coffee cultivation, the WWF said in a report titled "Gone in an Instant."

"About 17 percent of the national park area is being cultivated for coffee," Nazir Foead, from WWF Indonesia, told AFP. "If current trends continue, in 10 years' time the area could double, causing significant impacts to the (endangered) species' habitats," he said.

Indonesia is now the world's fourth-largest coffee exporter and second-largest producer of robusta, widely used for instant coffee. At least half the country's coffee is exported through the port of Lampung, adjacent to the national park.

"All the coffee exported from Lampung is tainted," said Foead, who authored the report. Local traders mixed illegally grown coffee with legal beans and exported it to international firms. Kraft Foods, ED and F Man in Britain, Dutch firm Andira, Hong Kong's Noble Coffee, Germany's Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, Marubeni Corp. of Japan, Hamburg Coffee Company, Nestle, Olam of Singapore and Italy's Lavazza were the top 10 buyers of Lampung coffee in 2003, the WWF said. Folgers and Tchibo also received shipments from Lampung in 2004.

The WWF said data indicated Starbucks had received coffee from Lampung but the coffee shop chain had said it was legally grown coffee from Northern Sumatra trans-shipped through Lampung. Starbucks said it was not involved in selling illegally grown coffee.

Foead said buyers were probably unaware of its illegal origins, due to the lack of regulations in the region. "I think they don't know where the coffee comes from," he said. "The village and sub-district traders are mixing the (illegal and legal) coffee."

Neither exporting nor importing companies had mechanisms in place to prevent the trade in illegal beans.

"We are asking the coffee companies to first of all recognise the problem," he said. Swiss food giant Nestle responded by "launching an effort to clean up part of its supply chain and advise farmers on how to produce higher-quality coffee," the WWF said.

US-based Kraft Foods Inc., the world's second-largest food and beverage company after Nestle, and Lavazza were in the early stages of engaging with the WWF on the issue, the group said.

Foead said the WWF was also working with farmers to convince them to cultivate coffee outside conservation areas and provide them with the technical knowhow to produce better quality beans.

"We would like the big buyers to clean up their chains of supply and help the poor farmers to plant coffee in a sustainable way outside the national park," he said. "We do not want the buyers to shift to somewhere else."

Foead said farmers could improve their productivity and profits if they tended their plants properly and selectively harvested them. The WWF also called on the Indonesian government to better protect the park and give incentives to legitimate coffee producers and microcredit for coffee farmers.

WWF 17 Jan 07
Illegally grown coffee threatens tiger habitat in Indonesia

Gland, Switzerland/Jakarta, Indonesia: Coffee lovers the world over are unknowingly drinking coffee that was illegally grown inside one of the world's most important national parks for tigers, elephants and rhinos, says WWF.

The illegally grown coffee is mixed by local traders with legal coffee beans and exported from Indonesia to companies such as Kraft Foods, Nestlé, Lavazza and Marubeni, according to the global conservation organization. Neither exporting nor importing companies have mechanisms in place to prevent the trade of illegal beans.

Using satellite imaging, interviews with coffee farmers and traders, and monitoring of coffee trade routes, WWF tracked the illegal cultivation of robusta coffee inside Indonesia's remote Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park all the way through its export routes to multinational coffee companies and the shelves of grocery stores across the US, Europe and Asia.

Bukit Barisan Selatan, a World Heritage Site on the southern tip of Sumatra Island, is one of the few protected areas where Sumatran tigers, elephants and rhinos coexist. It is one of the most important habitats left for the three endangered or critically endangered species.

But it has already lost nearly 20 per cent of its forest cover to illegal agriculture, according to WWF.

"If this trend of illegally clearing park land for coffee isn't halted, the rhinos and tigers will be locally extinct in less than a decade," said Nazir Foead, WWF-Indonesia?s Director of Policy and Corporate Engagement. "We think even the world's most committed coffee drinkers will find this an unacceptable price to pay for their daily caffeine buzz."

Indonesia is the world's second-largest exporter of robusta, which is often used in instant and packaged coffee. At least half the country's coffee is exported through the port of Lampung, adjacent to the national park.

WWF's investigation found that farmers were growing coffee on more than 45,000 hectares of park land, producing over 19,600 tons of coffee annually there. Most wildlife has already abandoned those areas. The coffee is exported to at least 52 countries.

WWF determined that most of the companies buying the coffee likely were unaware of its illegal origins, based on the lack of regulations in the region, and provided draft copies of the report's findings to the top recipients of Lampung coffee tainted with illegal beans from Bukit Barisan Selatan.

Some companies denied any purchase of illegally grown coffee, while others are in discussions with WWF on how to avoid purchases of tainted coffee, boost production of sustainably grown coffee and restore wildlife habitat in the park.

"WWF doesn't want to shut down the coffee industry in Lampung Province," Foead said. "But we are asking multinational coffee companies to implement rigorous chain-of-custody controls to ensure that they are no longer buying illegally grown coffee, and we're asking the Indonesian government to better protect the park."

WWF is also asking involved coffee-buying companies to work with local Sumatran growers to provide incentives to switch to sustainable coffee production.

The report recommends that the park and local authorities prevent further encroachment into the park and develop regulations that prevent illegally grown coffee from infiltrating international trade.

END NOTES:

WWF's investigation found that in 2003, exported unwashed coffee beans leaving Lampung --tainted with coffee grown illegally in the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park--totalled 216,000 tons. Export volume increased to 283,000 tons in 2004 and 335,000 tons in 2005. ? The United States, Germany, Japan and Italy were the largest importing countries of tainted Lampung coffee in 2004 and 2005, accounting for more than 50 per cent of all coffee imports from the region. Other significant recipient countries include Algeria, India and the United Kingdom.

Taloca, Kraft and Nestlé were the top recipients of coffee from Lampung in the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, respectively. Other companies identified as recipients of Lampung coffee include Marubeni, Itochu, ED&F Man, Andira, Nestle, Lavazza, J. Mueller Weser, Pacorini and World Transport. Folgers (P&G) and Tchibo received small shipments of coffee from Bandar Lampung's exporters in 2004.

Nestlé has responded to the report, launching an effort to clean up part of its supply chain and advise farmers on how to produce higher quality coffee. Some of the coffee companies approached by WWF have also indicated they are willing to support the development of sustainable, legal coffee production outside the park. This would ensure a reliable market for coffee farmers and provide a reliable, sustainable source of legal coffee for the companies. And the park's rhinos, tigers and elephants will benefit from having production and its subsequent environmental damage moved outside the park boundaries.

To further this effort, WWF has entered into an alliance with ForesTrade, a company with a long history of establishing sustainable development programs in Sumatra, and Rainforest Alliance, an organization best known for its global efforts to certify sustainably produced coffee. WWF is also in discussions with the new Common Code for the Coffee Community Association (4C), whose founding members include several recipients of illegal coffee. The aim is to encourage 4C members to help prevent further damage to the national park and undo the damage coffee production has already done to the park and its wildlife.

The Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is believed to be home to approximately 40 adult tigers. There are fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild and they are considered critically endangered. The park is home to an estimated 500 Sumatran elephants, 25 per cent of the remaining population of the endangered subspecies. It is also home to an estimated 60-85 Sumatran rhinos, the largest population on the island, where they are found in only three other national parks. Sumatran rhinos are critically endangered.

PlanetArk 25 Jan 07
Indonesia Denies Coffee Growing Endangering Wildlife

INDONESIA: January 25, 2007 JAKARTA - The government of Indonesia's main coffee-growing area of Lampung denied on Wednesday allegations that coffee plantations had endangered wildlife in a World Heritage Site on the southern tip of Sumatra island.

The WWF conservation group said last week coffee growers were clearing land in the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and illegal coffee bean growing could wipe out already endangered tigers, elephants and rhinos within 10 years.

The Lampung provincial government said in a statement preventive measures had been taken to reduce illegal land clearing in the protected forest.

"The data issued by WWF was from 2003-2004, while the current condition is much better," the statement said. "Only a small part of the protected forest has been illegally cut down to grow coffee and other plants, but it has not been increasing."

The local government had asked the Indonesian Coffee Exporters Association in Lampung not to buy coffee beans suspected to have been grown in the national park area.

Each year, more than 19,600 tonnes of illegally grown coffee was being blended with legally produced beans before being sold to international food and drinks companies, WWF said.

Indonesia is the world's second-largest robusta producer after Vietnam. Robusta-grade coffee constitutes about 85 percent of Indonesia's output, while the rest is aromatic and high-value arabica.

Lampung, South Sumatra and Bengkulu provinces account for three-quarters of Indonesia's coffee bean output. Exports of coffee bean from Sumatra in 2006 dropped 31 percent to 230,635 tonnes, from 334,845 tonnes a year earlier.
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