Better Lives in Better Coffee S. Amanda Caudill, a doctoral student at the University of Rhode Island, writes from Costa Rica, where she is assessing mammal diversity on coffee farms. Friday, Feb. 3 It has been raining almost nonstop since we started the third round of sampling at our site in Aquiares to assess the mammal biodiversity in and around coffee farms in Costa Rica. Normally, I like rain - the sound of drops hitting the roof, drinking hot tea cuddled up on the couch, the fresh wet smell it brings - but being outside, soaking wet for hours on end is not fun. The rain makes it much tougher to measure the mice we capture and record data. We try to keep the mice dry under a leaf or a tree if we can, but when it is pouring out, sometimes there is no refuge. Our clothes are soaked through - socks, shoes, underwear all drenched. By the time we get back to the house, our lips are blue and fingers all pruned - thank goodness we have warm showers to come home to! In the last few days of this round, we finally caught a glimpse of the sun, and it is wonderful. Again, as in the first two rounds of sampling here, the Aquiares site is proving to be more successful than other sites in terms of mammal biodiversity. Today alone we had 23 captures. This site is Rainforest Alliance-certified which means that it is required to have diverse vegetation in both structure and composition. Portions of the site are also certified by Starbucks, a certification that focuses mainly on the quality of the coffee. The three most prevalent coffee certifications in this area are Rainforest Alliance, Starbucks Coffee and Farmer Equity (CAFE), and Smithsonian Bird Friendly. The Smithsonian certification has the strictest qualifications and the fewest farms certified by this label. It is also the only label that requires the coffee farm to abide by the regulations of the organic label (no use of synthetic pesticides). The certification was developed by biologists with a focus on protecting habitat for Neotropical bird species and was one of the initial coffee certifications to promote the protection of biodiversity and wildlife habitat. The Rainforest Alliance label is certified through the Sustainable Agricultural Network which certifies coffee in addition to other crops. Rainforest Alliance focuses on the management of the farms and the vegetation complexity in the farms. It includes the three elements of sustainability: environment, economic and social responsibility. Its Web site states that it has farms certified in 25 countries across the world. The Starbucks certification seems to be the most coveted in this area because it is a direct link to the Starbucks coffee market. Farmers receive a higher premium for coffee that is certified, and I've heard that Starbucks offers the highest price differential. A farm can only sell to Starbucks if it is Starbucks-certified, but receiving the certification does not necessarily mean that Starbucks will buy the coffee. Coffee at higher elevations is thought to be of better quality, so Starbucks only buys coffee grown at elevations higher than about 2,600 feet. The Starbucks certification also incorporates elements of social responsibility and environmental leadership, but quality of the coffee is the first criteria. All of the biodiversity certifications use vegetation structure and complexity (like amount of tree canopy cover and native tree species) as an indicator of habitat quality, which in turn is an indicator of biodiversity. As I have mentioned before, these standards are primarily based on bird habitat quality. With our research, we hope to add in the layer of habitat quality requirements for mammals. Measuring biodiversity - especially for mammals - is much more time consuming and expensive than measuring vegetation. I find the idea of these coffee certifications fascinating. They provide a means to protect wildlife and the environment, while providing more financial stability for the coffee farmers and better working conditions for the farm workers. After doing coffee research in India, I realized how important it is to incorporate the social element into these certifications. Most coffee workers in India are a part of the lowest caste and have little say in their society. Some of the farmers who employed these coffee workers were annoyed with the certifications, which included social requirements like providing running water in workers" housing, child labor regulations and educational requirements for the children. ("Why would they need to be educated? The children should work alongside their parents and learn how to pick coffee.") It was eye-opening for me, especially when one of the harshest critics of social responsibility was an environmentalist with an organic coffee farm. Although there may still be room for improvement in the requirements and standards, coffee certifications have the potential to positively impact coffee farmers, workers, ecosystem health and wildlife biodiversity.