Gary Kirkpatrick

Artist and travel blogger.

Peg writes about the difference between east and west parts of Berlin

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We’ve walked our feet off here in Berlin, making great progress in our long list of museum visits.  We’ve had very nice weather, usually a bit cool, excellent for walking.  The public transportation here, like in Paris, is excellent, and although the city is enormous, it is very easy to get to anywhere, even if it is 15 kilometers from the city center.  To see “German” architecture one must go to the parts of the city that are a bit further away from the center, which were not so badly damaged by the air raids of WWII.  In these areas the buildings still retain their 19th century character and charm.  In the center, everything is new and rather massive, more like La Defense in Paris.  

The contrast between east and west is still visible.  In the eastern zone, most buildings have been renovated and decorative bits of color have been added to remove the severity and plainness of Soviet-style architecture.  But what I have noticed, even 23 years after the collapse of the Berlin wall, is the difference in the number of shops on the ground floors.  In the west, the atmosphere is quite festive – trees, sidewalk cafes, restaurants, boutiques, signs, color, etc.  On the east side, you can go for blocks on the bus without seeing anything except the front doors of 5-storey cement block buildings.  It is still obvious on the east side that there was a real dearth of consumer goods and a strong disincentive to the establishment of small businesses.

We’ve also been eating typical German food and drinking German beer, although so far, Gary has been a bit disappointed by the beer, and I have as well!  I have eaten roasted pig knuckle, which is sold in France as “jarret” and is a Berlin specialty.  Some restaurants boil it, others roast it.  The one I had was roasted in the oven, and was delicious.  The size is a bit intimidating when it arrives in front of you in the restaurant, but after you dig into it, you see that although there is plenty of meat, much of the dish is bone and gristle, which one does not have to eat! I adore German-style red cabbage, and am finding many opportunities to eat that as well. 

Peg

 

 

Per capita consumption of beer in Germany: 3 gallons. Per day!

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I can not be exhaustive of the possibilities but here are some highlights from my viewpoint:

  1. Beer.  It is everywhere.  There are beer stores and wine shops, and a few carry both.  You see people in parks and on benches drinking from glass bottles, no cans.  I was generally not super impressed.  I recall my first trip to Germany watching people take five minutes to pour a beer, which resulted in a huge thick head.  They are nice here but not as impressive as I remember, and I remember the beer being stronger.  Per capita consumption, 3 gallons.  Per day!!!  No just joking.
  2. Pork.  Enormous quantities.  Pig’s knuckle is a big deal.  I do not think they come from the foot.  The one we shared was too big to be a pig’s foot or at any rate did not look like one. We saw them boiled or baked.  The baked one Peg had was very good.  Per capita 4 per day.
  3. Curry weiner.  I had one, it was awful.  It was a hot dog type of sausage with breading and it might have had meal in it.   Served with a catsup with some sort of mild curry spice.  Per capita only 2 a day.
  4. Breads.  Fantastic unless you are looking for a baguette.  Hearty dark grains, seeds on the top, seeds throughout.  Small role to big loaf.  Hard rolls too, with poppy seeds.  Some great desserts, too, many creamy ones that must have 750 calories.  Cherries and other fruits are often included.  Per capita about 10-12 slices!   Up to 3000 calories per slice.
  5. Schnitzels.  Can’t believe I have not had one.  The per capita must be 6-7 per day!!
  6. Cheese.  A pleasant surprise.  There are some very strong flavored ones that compare favorably with similar French cheeses.  Per capita: 1 oz per month
  7.  Coffee.  Not as good as Paris or Italy but certainly respectable and cheaper than Paris.
  8. Wine.  This is beer country.  German wines are mostly just ok.

All in all I’ve enjoyed the food here more than I thought I would.  You come here for the museums not the food but you’ll not be disappointed.

My art in Berlin (1)

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Here are some of the pieces I’ve done while in Berlin.  For more click on the “Art” category.

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Best viewed with PicLens

I am afraid some of the images might not fit on the screen.  I have a very small screen so it might just be a problem on mine.

From Prussia With Love (2): The Stasi

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The Stasi museum is housed in its former headquarters in what was East Berlin.  It’s stark modern construction holds the archives (961 bags of still torn up documents included), offices, spy equipment and stories of repression only its mute walls can probably tell in full.  It houses the remaining controversy about openness and acknowledgement that remain from The Fall in 1989.  (see video link below).

Among the capacities contained here was the ability to open and reseal 90,000 envelopes a day.  Someone had to check those letters and did, more often than not, for they had 90,000 employess and 180,000 IM’s- people spying on their friends, neighbors, co-workers.

The Stasi came early in the morning without warning.  Some were even nabbed while in the western zone.  The Stasi readily obtained the warrants they needed.  It was a mere formality.  They were never refused.  They interrogated and isolated, so isolated that many looked forward to their interrogation.  It was the only human contact they had.

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Best viewed with PicLens- you can see the captions.

 

After they were done with the interrogations, most often ending in a signed confession, you sometimes served prison terms, sometimes were turned into an IM, while some were sold to the West German government for about $50,000, a major revenue source for the cash starved GDR (German ‘Democratic’ Government).  Hundreds of thousands were thus treated.  They did not want ‘hardened hostile negative people’ as they called them, just walking about anywhere they pleased.

A few were executed.  This was done by a shot to the back of a head, without warning.

Today former prisoners complain that high level Stasi employees, and other high level personnel, were never tried, and receive still a government pension.  The people they destroyed, whose careers and family lives were wrecked, whose health was damaged, receive much less and if they never worked, they get nothing.  Stasi employees are often still working as policeman and in other government jobs.  German law says they committed no crime if the action was legal in the East, so they went on as if nothing happened.  And that’s what many say to this day.  Nothing happened.  But those little strips tell us otherwise.

Here are a couple of good documentaries

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha1jM9HAs6c&feature=related

 

 

From Prussia, With Love (part 1)

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We arrived here on September 1.  We rented a flat for the month to explore this city of some 3.4 million people, filled with wonderful museums, and the epicenter of Germany’s turbulent past, where beer is king, not wine.  Foie gras and escargot give way to meaty sausages and pigs’ knuckles.  Still some mighty good food but not as refined as the French cuisine we have so enjoyed for the past 14 months in Paris.

The architecture also does not compare, not surprising given the near total devastation this city experienced just 6 decades ago.  Its turn of the century beauty turned to rubble and up came many ugly boxes in their place.  It would be foolish to have expected other wise.

Nonetheless there is a festiveness here, judging by the busyness of the cafes and bars.  That it is still warm out no doubt helps convey the feeling of togetherness friends must feel sitting in front of one of the many fine brews they serve endlessly.

Sitting in a cafe drinking a beer. It is what you do.

 

 

At one of our tables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We visited the Reichstag (German Parliament).  It was one fine older building they restored and modernized inside.  On the steps the brass band played for the visitors on a sunny Sunday.

http://youtu.be/gqO_vdrn5AE

And along the way we stumbed upon this smaller brass band on the street:

http://youtu.be/09_sUwRRhPw

 

A typical street in Berlin. There’s a brick church just up the street.

Because Berlin is not generally a pretty town – you come here mostly for the museums and some historical sites- you’d stay here longer only if it were one of those cities where living there is really more interesting than visiting.  This it may be.

There is an extensive music and dance scene here, an attitude of openness and experimentation, so we’ve read, that makes one feel not only welcome and at home but stimulated.  For us, it might be the international folk dance scene that would keep us involved; there are several groups.

More soon I hope!

Vaughntown: spend a week in Spain at a nice resort for free

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Vaughntown: spend a week in Spain at a nice resort for free

 

I spent a week just outside Segovia talking to Spanish people in English.  Aside from transportation and overnight stays in Madrid, the whole week’ room and board were free.  Only native English speakers can apply for these positions.

In our group, there were 14 Anglos and 9 Spaniards, so the Anglos had downtime, the Spaniards didn’t.  On the other hand, they had each paid $2400 for the week, so they were determined to get the most out of it.  The ratio differs with each program, so the amount of free time for the Anglos varies, as you will understand when you see the daily schedule.

 

 

The only rule (other than attending all activities held between 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.) had to do with seating at meals.  We always sat at tables of 4, two Anglos and 2 Spaniards.  This was so that the Spaniards would hear Anglos talking among themselves, which is different than when we talk to foreigners.

The schedule for each day was as follows:

9:00-10:00  breakfast (you didn’t have to talk then, just grunting sufficed.  You didn’t have to stay for the full hour, either.)

10:00-14:00  – One on One conversation with a different Spaniard each hour, 10-minute breaks between sessions.  I never had more than 3                         and never 3 in a row.  There was at least one free hour each morning.

14:00-15:00  –  Lunch (15:30 if you had an interesting conversation going)

15:00-17:00 – break/siesta (Spaniards and Anglos)

17:00 – 18:00 – Group activity – everybody in central meeting room, no responsibility unless the MC selected you to participate in a skit or                         sing!!

18:00 – 20:00 – One on Ones (again, never more than 1, w/free time the other hour)

20:00-21:00 – Group activity – everybody together, no responsibility except to laugh at MC’s jokes

21:00 – 22:00 – Dinner

22:30 to whenever – optional pub quiz, bingo, whatever in bar

 

Long day, but hardly intense.  Between 6 and 8 pm on a couple of days, the Spaniards practiced phone calls, conference calls, and One-on-Ones over the telephone.  They find this difficult, as there is no body language to help them understand what’s being discussed.

 

Two paid staff on hand – the program director, who handled schedules, all details and emergencies, and the Master of Ceremonies, who explained everything and handled all the group activities.

 

I found the whole thing very enjoyable.  The facility was luxurious, the food was excellent, the other Anglos very interesting and the Spaniards quite outgoing, very determined to improve their English and so not shy in the One-on-One conversations.  They had 6 hours of One-on-Ones per day, and not once did I ever feel they were tired of doing them!  It was remarkably easy to get conversations going – I never had to resort to the usual questions.  You know, “Where are you from, How long have you been studying English, Why are you studying English”, etc.  Sometimes we had to rush to get the the next One on One because we were in the middle of a conversation and forgot to look at the time.  Youngest participant was 23, oldest about 50.  One of the young men was the son of the ex-Governor of Madrid and ex-head of the Spanish national police.  A 40-year old guy had just finished building a huge solar-powered photo-voltaic plant with 5 partners, one 30-year old woman was a high-school English teacher, another 30-year old was an optician (who lives in Valencia, coincidentally), one account executive for Pernod-Ricard, etc.  Only one recent college graduate who has not yet had a job.  Many of the participants had been sent by their companies, although some paid the full amount themselves.

 

The Anglos included 3 Australians, 1 Swede who spoke excellent English and who teaches Swedish to immigrants as his real job, 1 Czech (many years in England), 1 Trinidadian, 1 Canadian, 1 American (me) and the rest from England, although not all with the same accent!  No Irish or Scots — too bad for me, as I love those accents.  Various ages.

 

Vaughn has a special hotel rate at the hotel where they hold the opening reception on the Saturday evening before, as many Anglos arrive in Madrid on Saturday.  We met with the Spaniards at the bus at 9:00 am on Sunday morning, got to the site in a couple of hours, had lunch and an orientation session and One-on Ones Sunday evening.  On Friday, the last day, we had 2 One on Ones, a closing ceremony (with presentation of certificates, of course), a farewell luncheon, and left the site at 3:00.  Got back to Madrid about 5, so the Spaniards who were going home by train could all get home that evening.  So the program runs an actual full 5 days.

The whole week was very well organized and the participants felt that the week had been worth it.  Some were already trying to figure out how they could spring for another week!

I went to the El Rancho de la Aldeguela resort.  You can see it on Google Maps.  Look up “El Rancho de la Aldegüela, Spain”.  It is near Segovia, which some of the group went to for a few hours in their spare time.  A very beautiful old city.  I didn’t go, as the sun was really bright and burny up there.  At the resort, the weather was perfect.  Hot in the sun, but very comfortable in the shade.  So you could do your One on Ones outdoors in one of the gardens or indoors in the bar or one of many other quiet spots.   They

didn’t care.  You could go to a neighborhood cafe if you wanted to, or walk over to the grocery or pharmacy if you needed something.

I talked with some Anglos who had done the program several times.  Three or four of them were doing back-to-back weeks at two different sites.  They said all the facilities are excellent, and only one is so remote that it has no Internet.  That is Valdelavilla (sp?)  Unfortunately, it is also the one with the best food  ;) winking.  Given what Vaughn charges the Spaniards, the facilities had better be excellent…  I met a very interesting American at the opening reception who was going to Gredos, one of the other sites.  She has emailed me that she had a wonderful time there as well.

Vaughn posts the schedules way ahead of time so folks coming from far away can book flights, arrange the rest of their vacation, etc.  Some of the Brits who have done it before just check for last minute openings and hop over on a discount air carrier if the weather forecast looks bleak in England!  From Valencia, we can do that as well, as we can get to Madrid on the train.  Once you have been accepted, you do not have to reapply – you just go online and pick your week, if there are still slots when/where you want to go.  Very clever!

Everything I said above could be wrong, of course.  You may have a different ratio of Anglos to Spaniards, they may all be very shy or at a lower level, who knows?  The Anglos said that we did have a bit more downtime than normal, but that the English level of the participants was typical.  I thought it was quite advanced, actually, and that they were there for exactly the right reason – they wanted to get their speaking capability more closer to their reading and aural comprehension level.  Apparently they have to “test” in – somebody calls them up and they talk over the phone in English.

It took them about a month to send me the acceptance notice,  although I think the only requirement is that you speak English, can put two sentences together and are willing to invest your time to improving the English of these folks.    We had all different types of people in the Anglo group, from a young Australian guy whose main concern seemed to be when he was going to get his next beer to a couple of English housewives.Here is the link to the VaughnTown program:  http://volunteers.grupovaughan.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=2

La Amistad Biosphere Reserve (RBA)

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La Amistad Biosphere Reserve (RBA)

The ‘La Amistad Biosphere Reserve’ is a biological reserve shared by Costa Rica and Panama. The Costa Rican sector was added to the list of World Heritage sites in 1983 while the Panamanian sector was added in 1990. The site is also referred to as the Biological Corridor of Talamanc or Cordillera de Talamanca-La Amistad-Parque Nacional La Amistad.

The Parque Internacional La Amistad (PILA) was created by Resolution 21-88 of September 2, 1988. The area covers 207,000 hectares, one of the largest protected area in the world. It is located in the provinces of Bocas del Toro (97%) y Chiriquí (el restante 3 %) in the western section of the country. al occidente del país. The Parque Nacional Volcán Barú was created on July 24, 1976 with an area of 14,300 hectares. The Reserve also includes other protected areas and areas set aside for indigenous peoples.

The activities carried out in the Reserve seek economic and educations alternatives, the strengthening of bi-national coordination and the support for monitoring activities focused on the state of biological diversity.

The Panamanian sector is formed by the following management themes:

Protected Areas This consists in areas, land as well as ocean waters, in an area totalling 270,151 hectarues. These areas are :

Parque Nacional Volcán Barú (14,300 h)
Parque Internacional la Amistad (207,000 h)
Lagunas de Volcán, wetland, (143 h)
San San Pond Sak, wetland, (16,125 h)
Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos (13,226 h)
Reserva Forestal Fortuna (19,500 h)

There is a cushion in three of these areas for a total of 300,517h. There is a an unprotected section covering the rivers Chiriquí Viejo, Caldera, Los Valles and Fortuna to a height of 1200 meters.

Bosque Protector de Palo Seco
The area of the proposed reserved areas for the Naso y Bribri tribes

A transition zone refers to an area where practices are changing to be more protective of reserved areas to which they abut. These are 1. Province of Chiriquí: all the areas adjacent to cushioning zone to an altitude of 1000 meters. 2. Province of Bocas del Toro: areas adjacent to the BPPS to an altitude of 100 meters above sea level.

Since its creation the Parque International La Amistad has been under the control of the Panamanian government of Panama. The agency in charge is ANAM (Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente). The con servation objectives are:

1) Protect a significant sample of the biological diversity of one of the richest zones in terms of fauna and flora. All other remaining areas in Panama have already been significantly altered.

2) Protect the watersheds of the rivers Teribe y Changuinola, assuring stability and and characterists necessary to take advantage of its potential for hydroelectric generation, considered the best in the country.

3) Maintain a natural and stable environmental setting that assures social, cultural and economic development. Diminish the risk of flooding and guarantee the continuity of agro-industrial activities in the areas adjacent to the provinces of Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro.

4) Promote scientific investigation and the natural and cultural legacies of the areas.

5) Develop eco-tourism.

6) Encourage bi-nacional cooperation in protecting and managing natural resources.

The people living in these areas primarily earn their living from farming. Since 1930 farmers have greatly influenced the environment with the harvesting of trees, and the production of coffee, vegetables and cattle. These activities have stressed the now protected areas, causing the government create s Parque Nacional Volcán Barú y Parque Internacional La Amistad.

There are more than 12 zones of the region recognized by the Holdridge life zones system, including:

1) mountain rain forest 2) high humidity mountain forest 3) lower mountain rain forest 4) lower mountain high humidity forest 5) lower mountain humid forest, 6) pre-mountain rain forest 7) high humidity pre-mountain forest 8) high humidity tropical forest y 9) a life zone not indicated by Tosi (1971), but which has been recently confirmed by the literature, sub-alpine rainy moor.

The life zones of the highlands are located on the foothills and peaks of the Talamancan Corridor and Volcan Baru. The intermediate zones are found on both coasts. In the lower elevations there are life zones characteristic of lower elevations. In some cases the sequences does not adhere to this general description due to the precipiations, cloudinessw and wind direction.

The contribution of numerous scientists are based upon the location, environmental conditions and the varieties of species in a given area. In Panama there are 2 bio-regions, 7 eco-regions and three mangrove complexes that contain four types of mangroves.

Studies have indentified eight conservation objectives that target the most threatened by human intervention, as follows:

natural pastures, large mammals, high altitude cloud forests, oak groves and moors, forests that transition between cloud forests and lower elevation tropical forests, high altituide humid zones, endemic species, migratory species, and aquatic ecosystems.
La Reserva de la Biosfera La Amistad es un conjunto de áreas naturales protegidas compartida por Costa Rica y Panamá, el sector costarricense del parque fue inscrito en la Lista de Patrimonios de la Humanidad en 1983, y el sector panameño en 1990. Este Sitio Patrimonio de la Humanidad Transnacional es mencionado como Cordillera de Talamanca-La Amistad/ Parque Nacional La Amistad.

El Parque Internacional La Amistad (PILA) fue creado por la Resolución de Junta Directiva 21-88 del 2/9/88, con una extensión de 207,000 has, es una de las unidades de manejo más grandes del sistema de áreas protegidas. Está ubicado en la provincia de Bocas del Toro (cerca del 97%) y en Chiriquí (el restante 3 %) al occidente del país. En tanto el Parque Nacional Volcán Barú fue creado por decreto ley del 24 de julio 1976 con 14,300has.

También la zona de influencia, incluye otras áreas protegidas y las reservas indígenas. Las acciones que se llevan a cabo en este sitio prioritario se han venido realizando en coordinación con grupos de base con el fin de encontrar alternativas económicas y educativas, fortalecimiento de la coordinación binacional y apoyo a actividades de monitoreo sobre el estado de la biodiversidad en la región.

Esta reserva del lado panameño esta formado por las siguientes unidades de manejo.

Áreas Protegidas

Esto consiste en 6 áreas e incluye, áreas terrestres así como marinas. El total de extensión es de 270,151has.

Parque Nacional Volcán Barú (14,300has)
Parque Internacional la Amistad (207,000has)
Humedal de importancia internacional Lagunas de Volcán (143has)
Humedal de importancia internacional San San Pond Sak (16,125has)
Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos (13,226has)
Reserva Forestal Fortuna (19,500has)

La zona de amortiguamiento consiste en tres áreas con una extensión aproximada de 300,517has. La sección no protegida de las cuencas altas de los ríos Chiriquí Viejo, Caldera, Los Valles y Fortuna hasta una cota de 1200msnm.

Bosque Protector de Palo Seco
El área de las Propuestas comarcales Naso y Bribri

La zona de transición se refiere al área que se esta en un cambio de prácticas amigables a las áreas protegidas y compatibles con ellas. Y estas consisten de dos zonas. 1. Provincia de Chiriquí: todas las áreas adyacentes a la zona de Amortiguamiento (Zona de Vecindad) hasta una cota de 1000 msnm. 2. Provincia de Bocas del Toro: áreas adyacentes al BPPS hasta una cota de 100msnm.

Desde su creación el PILA ha estado bajo la responsabilidad de manejo del Estado de Panamá. De tal forma la Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente es la entidad encargada de velar por la conservación de este sitio. Los objetivos de conservación del PILA son los siguientes:

Proteger una muestra significativa de la diversidad biológica de una de las zonas más ricas en fauna y flora que aún permanecen poco alteradas en la República de Panamá.
Proteger las cuencas hidrográficas superiores de los ríos Teribe y Changuinola, asegurando su estabilidad y calidad hídrica para el aprovechamiento de su potencial hidroeléctrico, considerado el mayor del país.

Mantener un marco ambiental natural y estable que asegure el desarrollo socioeconómico y cultural de los pobladores aguas abajo, disminuyendo los riesgos de inundación y garantizando la continuidad de las actividades agroindustriales que se dan actualmente en las áreas aledañas de las provincias de Bocas del Toro y Chiriquí.

Promover la investigación científica y la investigación de la herencia natural y cultural existente en el área.

Aprovechar el potencial turístico del paisaje natural inalterado, así como de sus componentes biológicos.

Estrechar los lazos de amistad y aunar los esfuerzos binacionales en materia de protección y manejo de recursos naturales de los pueblos hermanos de Costa Rica y Panamá.

Las poblaciones aledañas al PILA son comunidades dedicadas principalmente a la producción agrícola, las cuales han influido grandemente al cambio de uso de suelo a partir de 1930 con la extracción madera, posteriormente con las prácticas agrícolas, con la producción de café, hortalizas, además de la ganadería. Estas actividades han ejercido presiones en las áreas naturales, por lo cual el Estado panameño crea los actuales parques nacionales Parque Nacional Volcán Barú y Parque Internacional La Amistad.

En la región hay nueve de las 12 zonas de vida reconocidas en el sistema de clasificación de Holdrige para Panamá: 1) bosque pluvial montano, 2) bosque muy húmedo montano, 3) bosque pluvial montano bajo, 4) bosque muy húmedo montano bajo, 5) bosque húmedo montano bajo, 6) bosque pluvial premontano, 7) bosque muy húmedo premontano , 8) bosque muy húmedo tropical y 9) bosque muy húmedo tropical y 10) una zona de vida no indicada en el trabajo de Tosi (1971), pero que ha sido recientemente confirmada por literatura, la de páramo pluvial subalpino.

Las zonas de vida de tierras altas están ubicadas en las cimas y estribaciones superiores de la cordillera de Talamanca y el macizo del Volcán Barú. Las zonas de vida intermedias se encuentran en ambas costas. En los sectores de menor altura, en el área regional se encuentran las zonas de vida características de tierras bajas. En algunos casos las secuencias de aparición de las zonas de vida no se apega a esta descripción general, debido al efecto de los patrones estacionales de: Precipitación, nubosidad y fuerza y dirección de los vientos.

Contribuciones de numerosos científicos y el cual se basa en: la localización geográfica, condiciones ambientales y composición de especies de las comunidades. En Panamá se identificaron 2 bioregiones, con 7 ecoregiones y 3 complejos de manglar los cuales contienen 4 unidades de manglares. De estas categorías en el área regional están presentes una bioregión y 3 ecoregiones, además de un complejo de manglar con una unidad de manglar.

Mediante estudios efectuados en el área se han identificado ocho objetos de conservación dado que estos son los más amenazados por las presiones humanas en la zona. Los objetos de conservación se presentan a continuación:

Pastizales naturales, mamíferos grandes, bosques nubosos de altura, robledales y páramos
bosques de transición entre bosque nuboso y los bosques tropicales de tierras bajas, humedales de altura, especies endémicas, especies migratorias altitudinales, ecosistemas acuáticos.

How your coffee purchase influences the environment

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How coffee is produced has a powerful impact on the environment, and where coffee is often grown makes this an extremely important topic.

In the 1980’s producers starting clearing their fields because growing coffee in full sunlight produces a higher yield and does so faster. However, not only does this require deforestation, which diminishes habitat and reduces carbon requestration, it also requires increased use of pesticides and fertilizers. These products, such as Round-up, damage the environment and threaten the health of workers.

Agro-chemical run off is a problem that threatens the health of water supplies and the fish population. Because the fields are deforested and the chemicals strip the ground of vegetation, there is more soil erosion. Not only is the erosion itself a problem, which is often met by adding more fertilizer to the soil, but the run off reaches streams, rivers or the water tables. These waters are consumed by downstream inhabitants, be they human or animal. Agro-chemicals that reach coastal areas in the threaten fish and coastal mangrove and other flora. Because coffee is grown in 16 of the 34 environmental hotspots in the world (see Conservation International, our buying practices have a powerful environmental impact.

Buying shade grown organic coffee means paying more money, although if it were the predominant product prices would likely be lower than current levers for shade grown organic coffee. Until or unless this happens, consumers are likely to continue buying products that harm zones critical to the environmental health of the planet unless they understand the effects of their choice.

The following organizations campaign for shade grown coffee: The American Birding Association, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Arbor Day Foundation.
Coffee production requires significant water, which can be reduced using proper methods. According to New Scientist it takes 20,000 liters, about 5000 gallons, to make a kilo, or 2.2 pounds of coffee. If there is plenty of water in the area, then this is not a problem but this water is contaminated and has to be properly treated. ADATA member APRE is doing just that in its new coffee processing plant.
La producción de cafe tiene un fuerte impact ambiental. Porque se produce la mayor parte del cafe en areas fragiles, éste es un tema de mucha importancia, y como consumidores podemos mejorar el medioambiente.

En los años ochenta, los productores empezaron deforester sus fincas de cafe para crecer el cafe en el sol. Cafe crecido en el sol produce más cafe y por eso los productores podrían ganar mas.

In the 1980’s producers starting clearing their fields because growing coffee in full sunlight produces a higher yield and does so faster. However, not only does this require deforestation, which diminishes habitat and reduces carbon requestration, it also requires increased use of pesticides and fertilizers. These products, such as Round-up, damage the environment and threaten the health of workers.

Agro-chemical run off is a problem that threatens the health of water supplies and the fish population. Because the fields are deforested and the chemicals strip the ground of vegetation, there is more soil erosion. Not only is the erosion itself a problem, which is often met by adding more fertilizer to the soil, but the run off reaches streams, rivers or the water tables. These waters are consumed by downstream inhabitants, be they human or animal. Agro-chemicals that reach coastal areas in the threaten fish and coastal mangrove and other flora. Because coffee is grown in 16 of the 34 environmental hotspots in the world (see Conservation International, our buying practices have a powerful environmental impact.

Buying shade grown organic coffee means paying more money, although if it were the predominant product prices would likely be lower than current levers for shade grown organic coffee. Until or unless this happens, consumers are likely to continue buying products that harm zones critical to the environmental health of the planet unless they understand the effects of their choice.

The following organizations campaign for shade grown coffee: The American Birding Association, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Arbor Day Foundation.
Coffee production requires significant water, which can be reduced using proper methods. According to New Scientist it takes 20,000 liters, about 5000 gallons, to make a kilo, or 2.2 pounds of coffee. If there is plenty of water in the area, then this is not a problem but this water is contaminated and has to be properly treated. ADATA member APRE is doing just that in its new coffee processing plant.

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