17 Jan 2007 - 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.
Jan Vertefeuille, Communications Manager
Tiger and Asian Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy (AREAS)
Programme
Olivier van Bogaert, Senior Press Officer
WWF International
