About Bird Friendly Coffee

Bird Friendly does more than any other certification to conserve habitat for birds. Smithsonian scientists developed the Bird Friendly certification for coffee in the late 1990s to conserve habitat and protect migratory songbirds — and this trusted brand has recently expanded to cocoa.

Bird Friendly habitat ensures a mix of foliage cover, tree height, and biodiversity that creates quality habitat for birds and other wildlife. This certification provides farmers with a premium for their products, and because of stringent growing standards, the Bird Friendly program is also a critical asset in fighting climate change.

• The bird population in the United States and Canada has declined by almost 30% — a total loss of 3 billion birds — across biomes since 1970 with habitat loss as a driving force.
• 75% of the world's coffee is farmed with practices that leave no place for birds, or worse, actively destroy forest habitat. When forests disappear, migratory songbirds disappear too.
• Bird Friendly farms are 100% organic certified — no harmful pesticides — so they are better for the people and the planet.
• Bird Friendly certification protects birds and habitats through the hard work of 5,100 Bird Friendly farmers in 11 countries growing 34 million pounds of coffee annually.
• New Bird Friendly certified cocoa protects new habitat; farmers in the Dominican Republic are now proudly growing cocoa that is good for birds, better for their bottom line, and positive for our planet. Smithsonian is looking to rapidly expand into additional countries.

Bird Friendly coffee habitat flies above the rest by protecting a combination of foliage cover and tree diversity proven to provide quality habitat for birds and other wildlife. This work also helps in pursuit of the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.