CECOVASA Wildlife Conservation Society Organic Coffee, Peru
Farrer’s not only have a long coffee heritage, but their small, dedicated team have the drive and vision to bring you the very best ethically and sustainably sourced coffees from around the globe.
Farrer’s is introducing a new and intoxicating coffee from CECOVASA, Wildlife Conservation Society. Grown in the Tambopata Valley and the Inambari Valley, which are located in the Puno region on the eastern slopes of the Andes, where the natural shade protects the coffee trees that grow on the fringes of the Bahuaja Sonene National Park, Peru.
(Image by @mastababa on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/PO7CGnoDFUI)
La Central de Cooperativas Agrarias Cafetaleras de los Valles de Sandi (CECOVASA) was founded in 1970 by five co-operatives with the aim of directly exporting the coffee they produced to obtain a better price for their crop and share the processing costs.
Before the existence of CECOVASA, the farmers, mainly from the indigenous Quechua and Aymará tribes, sold their beans to local traders, who typically paid less than half the market price. Today the organisation exports directly to US and European markets and is one of the largest small producer organisations in the country. It is now made up of 10 cooperatives, with eight located in Puno region and two in Cuzco region, with most farms located on the eastern slopes of the Andes.
(Image by @vandelinodias-793341 on Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/photos/coffee-cherry-coffee-red-coffee-645514/)
On average farmers cultivate around two hectares of coffee at altitudes of between 800 to 2,000 metres, with the harvest lasting from March to July, extending to November in the higher zones.
This coffee is attached to the Puno Coffee and Conservation Project, which is a project that supports biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in the Sandia Valleys, Peru. A collaboration between the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and CECOVASA.
WCS is a private non-profit global organisation founded in 1895, which operates in 60 countries around the globe. The organisation has established long term projects in dozens of natural landscapes where it focuses protecting biodiversity and learning more about habitats so they can be protect for the future.
WCS has been working in Peru since 1968, where is promotes the integrated management of biodiversity, the sustainable use of natural resources and the conservation of species and natural landscapes.
Working with 1,000 Peruvian farmers on pilot plots to test various coffee-growing approaches, WCS have already started to improve the productivity and quality of their coffee. By exploring different technical options in crop management, soil fertilisation and disease-resistant plant varieties they are also helping to manage natural resources to best effect without impacting on the hugely important eco systems those resources also support.
WCS have a particular interest in the Madidi-Tambopata landscape that covers approximately 11 million hectares, including globally important carbon storing forests, one of the largest swaths of intact montane forest in the Tropical Andes, and two of the world’s most biologically diverse protected areas: the Bahuaja Sonene National Park and Tambopata National Reserve. These areas are home to crucial ecosystems, including around 12,000 species of vascular plants, 1,100 species of birds (that’s 11% of all bird species in the planet), and around 300 species of mammals, and it is a crucial stronghold for species such as the scarlet macaw, jaguar, tapir, spotted bear, giant river otter, spider monkey, harpy eagle, and black caiman.
In addition to awards for cup excellence, CECOVASA has won national awards as a leader in bio-trade and is also a leader on an issue that coffee buyers are becoming increasingly focussed on around the world - the environment and gender equality. One of the reasons CECOVASA established the Committee for the Development of Women (CODEMU) providing a platform for increasing the number of women in leadership roles in the co-operative as well as providing a forum for improving representation through providing better healthcare, education and training.
CECOVASA Wildlife Conservation Society Peru, is a lovely well balanced washed organic coffee from Andes, with notes of maple, chocolate with subtle notes of sweet lemon to finish.
Farm: CECOVASA farms in the Tambopata and Inambari Valleys
Country: Peru
Region: Sandia Valley, Puno
Varietal: Catuai, Caturra, Catimor and Typica
Process: Fully Washed
Profile: Notes of berry, maple syrup, peach, apricot and sweet lemon
Cup Score: 83