Organic Coffee for Sustainable Forest Conservation Project

Today the forests in Thailand are in danger. Therefore, the Coffee for Forest Conservation Project was initiated under the Earth Net Foundation. The project's focus is to save the forests from extinction (and revitalize them) though promoting integrated organic agriculture in forest buffer areas. To sustain an ecological balance while providing good livelihood for small-scale farmers, we believe that growing coffee organically in the forest environment is one of the best ways for local farmer to stop burning and clearing the trees, which both causes longterm local and global environmental problems. On the other hand, forest grown organic coffee can provide a good livelihood while conserving the community's environmental health. Forests provide an invaluable lifeline to man. If they are all destroyed, there is no way that human beings can survive. From the oxygen that we breathe in, to the food that we eat, to many things we use every day, much is owed to the trees. Not only this, trees act as purifiers of air and receptacles of our waste products. Trees have great economic value too. We get fuel, fodder, timber, medicines and numerous other valuable products from the trees. It is, therefore, not surprising that trees were given great importance in our culture, our tradition, our mythology and legends. The Story behind our Project: In 1961 Thailand had over 27 million hectares of forest area. From the last report made in 2010 only 11.6 million hectares remain. While more than have of Thai forest land has been lost in 50 years, what is worse is deforestation is continuing. Currently the main causes of deforestation are: local people who live in/ next to the forest need space for earning their livelihood and are following the modern economic agriculture system (monoculture) which uses qualities of chemical inputs, clearing land without providing protection from erosion. This leads to species extinction or migration, floods and soil erosion, drought, and environmental pollution.

The Mae Lao watershed forest is one of the healthiest forests in Chiang Rai Province. There many local communities have been living in balance with the forest for more than a hundred years. Most have growing tea and other crops for self-sufficiency. However, within the past 4-5 years, the way of life has changed from growing food for home consumption to growing economic crops for sale. The farmers were supported to grow crops that require full sun such as passion fruit. Thus they need to clear and burn the forest to shift to this type of production. After two years of production, these vines will not produce fruit without the addition of copious amounts of fertilizer. This has meant shifting to using chemical inputs. These chemical inputs are another cause of damage for the forest environment and watershed quality.

Earth Net Foundation and other organizations have studied the causes for this change and possibilities to reduce this environmental damage while sustaining the community economically. Coffee, a major commodity crop, can help solve this crisis. Coffee grown under the shade of the forest, yields beans of magnificent taste and aroma. This becomes a quality product from the community, a profitable commodity for the farmers that also allows them to live in peace and balance with nature.

Why Grow Coffee in The Forest? The Earth Net Foundation (Coffee Project) started on July 20, 2010 with the Mae Lao watershed community under the name of Coffee for Forest Conservation, working with Ban Khun Lao Village, Weing Pa Pao District, Chiang Rai Province, Northern of Thailand. Earth Net Foundation helped support the development of a strong farmers' group, working with the farmers on good organic production techniques, quality processing, organic and Fair Trade standards, certification and good community enterprise management practices. This has helped the villagers to return to self-reliant way of life that is revitalizing their forest and improving their quality of life.

Objectives: The Coffee for Forest Conservation project aims to support the work in the community to: 1) Solve the problem of deforestation in farmer areas 2) Increase the economic strength of farmers, farmers' groups, and the village communities while improving the longterm environmental health of the area through application of organic methods and fair trade. 3) Help develop increased knowledge, understanding, awareness, and sense of ownership of the natural environment that surrounds them and thus increase the whole community's involvement in environmental conservation and revitalization. 4) Providing quality products to the consumer that give the consumer an active role in supporting small-scale farmers and in sustainable environmental conservation 5) Being a model of a successful venture that applies sustainable farming methods to stop and reverse forest degradation. 6) Being a model Social Enterprise demonstrating an effective green business that produces quality products while improving environmental and social conditions

Project Areas: Currently (Jan., 2013), the project is working with 324 local farmer families in three different areas of northern Thailand: The total project area is 7,000 rai (1,120 hectares) and we are expecting that we will expand the area reach 15,000 rai (2,400 hectares) in five years (2017), and 20,000 rai (3,200 hectares) in 10 years (2026) as follows: 1) Mae Lao Watershed, most of this area is next to the Mae Lao River, in Wieng Pa Pao district, Chiang Rai Province: We have 172 local farmer families working with us. They have 5,500 rai (880 hectares) in four villages: Baan Khun Lao, Baan Hauy Khun Pha, Baan Mae Hang, and Baan Hauy Kai. Most of the area is blessed with volcanic soil and sits at an altitude between 1,100 1,300 meters above sea level. 2) Mae Sruai Watershed in Wawee subdistrict, Mae Sruai district, Chiang Rai province We have 125 local farmer families working with us. They have 1,200 rai (192 hectares) in four villages: Baan Doi Chaang, Baan Mai Pattana, Baan Pha Deang Lee Zor, and Baan Pha Deang Laung. Most of the area is blessed with volcanic soil and sits at an altitude between 1,200 1,600 meters above sea level. 3) Mae Korn Watershed in Hauy Chom Poo subdistrict, Mueang district, Chiang Rai province We have 27 local farmer families working with us. They have 300 rai (48 hectares) in Baan Rom Yen villages. Most of the area is blessed with volcanic soil and sits at an altitude between 1,200 1,600 meters above sea level. The project is currently working hard to expand membership and organic production in the provinces of Nan and Mae Hong Son Province.

Our Coffee MiVana Organic Forest Coffee: Our coffee is organic forest coffee which is different from the others coffees and organic coffees on the market as follows: 1) MiVana Coffee has been thoroughly tested and selected with a fine taste and distinctive aroma on purpose and care. 2) MiVana Coffee is 100% Organic Arabica Coffee which is free from chemical use both in the farming and post production processes and certified to international organic standards. 3) MiVana Coffee is shade-grown coffee with a conscience at an average altitude of approximately 1,000 meters on volcanic soils - called Strictly Hard Bean. Organically grown under the canopy of the rain forest and , each cup you drink preserves one of our most precious resources and ensures indigenous farmers a fair wage, access to healthcare and education. The production systems are helping to conserve and revitalize the forest and watershed environment. 4) MiVana Coffee is carefully hand-picked throughout the season and only chosen at the height of maturity with purpose and care by the farmer who passed the organic training program. 5) We produce the coffee from our wet processing plant within 24 hours; therefore MiVana Coffee is fresh odor and clean cup. 6) Each batch of MiVana coffee is graded and cupped, and inspected by specialists (Q & R Grader) from SCAA Specialty Coffee Association of America. 7) MiVana Coffee is roasted by Master Roaster from SCAE Specialty Coffee Association of Europe. 8) Our coffee is a Fair Trade Coffee which meets fair trade standards including fair pricing and conditions for the farmers involved and payment of a Fair Trade Premium back to the farming communities which though a collective decision-making process the community can decide how to use for their own community developments. Uses might include developing a community library, playground, community education, forest conservation activities, etc.

The MiVana Organic Forest Coffee Product: 5 MiVana coffees within 2 different packing sizes 200 grams and 500 grams. 1) Deep Forest Special City/Medium Roasted Fruity, floral, bake-banana. Nice acidity. Sweet, bright and well balanced. Good for filter. 2) Tropical Forest Exotic Full City/Medium-dark Roasted Fruity, nutty, caramel, chocolate, honey, spices aroma. Complex flavor, rich crema, medium body and well balanced. Good for both hot and cold coffee. 3) Evergreen Forest Premium Full City/Medium-dark Roasted Floral, caramel, dark chocolate aroma. Sweet, round, smooth body and well balanced. Good for espresso. 4) Rain Forest Supreme City/Medium Roasted Wild floral aroma, light chocolate. Sweet. Smooth and well balanced. Good for filter. 5) Black Forest Extra French/Dark Roasted Strong blend with nutty flavor, spices and dark chocolate aroma, creama. Hints of honey. Good for espresso. Our Organic System: We have two tier organic guarantee systems, i.e. Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) and third party certification. Developed by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements - IFOAM (see more info at http://www.ifoam.org/en/value-chain/participatory-guarantee-systemspgs), PGS is a local organic guarantee system appropriate for products with short supply chain and intending only for domestic markets. We employ PGS as the first tier guarantee system for coffee producers converting from conventional farming practices to organic management. With active participation of producers, the PGS enables these new producers to learn and share their knowledge about organic farming techniques as well as to be familiar with organic certification requirements. For more experiences farmers, the third party certification is used as the second tier organic guarantee. We choose to works with a local organic certification body that has

international recognition of its certification services, the Organic Agriculture Certification Thailand (ACT). Our producers are currently certified under ACT's IFOAM and EU Programmes. Our Prides: Social Enterprise Business Planning Award 2012 TSEO (Social Enterprise Thailand) Best Quality Grade Award Thailand Coffee, Tea and Drink 2013 at Mueang Thong Thani, Bangkok Thailand.