It is not often that you get the opportunity to plant a forest. But today is an exception. It is official: We are planting a forest in Honduras. And you can contribute to the forest!
We're planting shade trees on coffee farms in the mountains of Honduras and converting them to agroforestry. The forest project is carried out in collaboration with the cooperative Cafesmo, which is owned by Honduran smallholder farmers. CleverCoffee finances the sprouts – Cafesmo plants them.
Every year around 10 million hectare of forest is cut down – that's an area the size of an island.
Why Is This an Important Project for CleverCoffee?
Since 1990, it is estimated that 420 million hectares of forest have been cut down and converted into agriculture among other things – including coffee farms. Although the rate of deforestation has decreased in recent decades, a lot of forest is still being cut down. Every year, around 10 million hectares of forest are cut down - an area the size of Iceland.
That is why we need to do something.
Forestry is a really good solution for both having food production and at the same time taking care of our ecosystems and climate. There are many advantages to growing coffee in the forest. Here are just some of the benefits of agroforestry:
- Increases biodiversity
- Absorbs far more CO2e from the atmosphere
- Minimises the need for fertiliser
- Make the coffee plants more resistant
- Extends the life of the coffee plant
- Gives the coffee a higher quality and better taste, as the coffee berries take longer to ripen in the shade.
If you want to know more, we have written an article about forestry here:
What Type of Forest?
We don't just plant random trees. After talking to the farmers and the agronomist employed by Cafesmo, we have come up with a plant composition that is absolutely ideal for the farmers.
The composition includes 10% fruit trees such as citrus, avocado and banana, which can be eaten by the farmers and their families or sold as a secondary source of income.
The remaining 90% consists of a mixture of local wood types, all of which fall under the category "maderables". “Maderable” means timber or firewood in Spanish. These are trees that families have typically used as firewood in their stoves. In this case, however, the primary purpose of the trees is not to cut them down for firewood – they are primarily to provide shade for the coffee plants.
Shade Percentage
With 500 sprouts we can create approximately 50% shade on one hectare. This is the ideal proportion of shade on most of the farms in Cafesmo. However, the ideal amount of shade can vary. It depends, among other things, on the direction of the hillside on which the plants are growing.
Cafesmo is certified Bird Friendly. A certification we don't really know about in Denmark, but which is actually the closest we get to a certification of forestry.
The three primary requirements for the Bird Friendly certification are:
- Minimum 40% shade coverage
- At least 10 different local varieties of shade tree varieties
- The coffee farms must be certified organic
Read more about the criteria for the Bird Friendly certification here.
Therefore, it is safe to say that agroforestry is not new territory for Cafesmo – yet they still have areas that need many more shade trees.
How the sprouts are distributed between Cafesmo's members is something we have left completely up to Cafesmo's team. They know best where the sprouts can do the most good. But Cafesmo has expressed that they prioritise the areas with the least shade coverage first and foremost. In some cases, it may make sense to prioritise areas that are at risk of being damaged by erosion and landslides.
Within 5-8 years, the sprouts have reached a height where they form shade for the coffee plants. How fast the trees grow depends on their species, as well as soil conditions, altitude and how much sun the area gets.
Now IMPACT No. 02 is no longer "just" a fantastically delicious organic coffee that helps to eliminate poverty among the coffee farms.
Get IMPACT No. 02 here
CleverCoffee
IMPACT No. 02 - Organic coffee from Honduras
Grown in the shade of the mountain forests of Honduras, IMPACT No. 02 is free of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and traded directly with the Cafesmo cooperative.
This favorite is suitable for every occasion and brewing, from espresso to filter coffee. You will experience a balanced and sweet taste with notes of chocolate and honey.
- Certified Organic coffee beans from Honduras
- Meets both EU and Danish standards for ecology
- Balanced, sweet flavor with notes of chocolate and honey
- Versatile – suitable for any brewing method
Sources
1 https://www.fao.org/state-of-forests/en/
2 https://unric.org/en/world-losing-forests-the-size-of-iceland-every-year/
3 https://nationalzoo.si.edu/migratory-birds/bird-friendly-farm-criteria
