WWF: Coffee Threatens Indonesian Animals

Associated Press
January 17, 2007
(AP) Coffee beans exported to the West are being illegally grown inside an Indonesian national park, threatening the habitat of endangered tigers, elephants and rhinos, the WWF said Wednesday.
Around 19,600 tons of coffee from the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park on Sumatra Island are mixed with legally grown beans by local traders and exported each year, according to the global conservation organization.
"If this trend of clearing park land for coffee isn't halted, the rhinos and tigers will be locally extinct in less than a decade," Nazir Foead, WWF-Indonesia's Director of Policy and Corporate Engagement, said in a statement.
"We think even the world's most committed coffee drinkers will find this an unacceptable price to pay for their daily caffeine buzz."

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