Gourmet Coffee Eats Into
Panama Forest
By Andrew Beatty
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) -
Panama's gourmet coffees
fetch record prices for
their prized flavors but
the strong demand is
convincing some growers
to clear land illegally
and plant in one of the
country's few protected
highland forests.
Last month, Panama's
Environmental Protection
Agency discovered 40
acres of clandestine
coffee trees nestled
deep in the Volcan Baru
National Park, sparking
fears that more forest
could be cleared as
prices rise.
The nature preserve is
ringed with coffee farms
growing the country's
"geisha" beans, often
described as the
champagne of coffee for
their subtle
jasmine-like taste
highly sought after by
boutique roasters from
North America, Europe
and Japan.
Now, sky-high prices for
geisha beans have lured
some growers well inside
the park's boundaries.
"There is a grave threat
to the park. People do
not respect laws and the
(government) has not
done its part to ensure
compliance," said
Ezequiel Miranda, head
of an environmental
group in the western
Boquete region near
Costa Rica.
Last year a batch of the
famed coffee fetched a
world record price of
$130 a pound in an
international online
auction.
While the coffee planted
now only takes up a tiny
fraction of Volcan
Baru's thousands of
acres, the invasion
could disrupt the
wildlife living around
Panama's only volcano,
including pumas, quetzal
birds and rare orchids,
environmentalists say.
"It was designated a
national park to retain
the biodiversity of the
area. People know
perfectly well where the
limits of the park are,"
said Harmodio Santamaria,
an official from the
government environment
agency.
Many specialty coffee
producers decry the
practice of encroaching
on park land, saying a
few rogue growers are
giving the geisha
business a bad name.
Established growers in
the region have built up
reputations for running
environmentally and
socially responsible
farms.
"This is certainly not
what our organization or
members are about. We
really take care of the
environment," said
Ricardo Koyner,
president of the
Panamanian Specialty
Coffee Association.
"Production is growing,
but it is growing very
cautiously to ensure
that quality is
retained," he said.
The Esmeralda Estate,
run by Daniel Peterson,
has coffee that
consistently wins the
highest auction prices,
while being certified by
the conservation group
Rainforest Alliance as
environmentally
friendly.
Peterson says
high-altitude land is
becoming scarcer in
traditional centers of
geisha production, but
expansion does not have
to affect the national
park.
"Around Boquete you
might have difficulty
expanding because of
real estate developments
(which have pushed up
prices), but there is
still a lot of suitable
land between Volcan and
the border," he said.
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