Coffee, a small tree-shrub, has been traditionally grown under the canopy of high forest trees.  This tradition is currently under severe threat. Over the last several decades, throughout the coffee growing regions of the Americas, farmers have been removing older, shade canopy coffee trees and replacing them with new high-yielding, sun-tolerant varieties. This new full-sun farming system increases soil erosion and requires constant doses of fertilizers and pesticides. Of course it also means the old forest trees must come down to clear the land.
Full-sun coffee plantations are virtually biological deserts. The higher yields tempt farmers to convert to full-sun, and the majority of plantations in Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica have already been cleared of trees. Even though full-sun farms are more expensive to maintain — and have significant environmental costs—government agencies often subsidize the transition.
Every year in Central America and Mexico too many acres of tropical forest are destroyed.  The Caribbean islands that host migratory birds are mostly deforested. The reason that more birds have not become extinct may be because the birds found refuge in traditional shade coffee farms. In Chiapas, Mexico, biologists found that shaded coffee has considerably more birds (more than 150 species) than other agricultural systems, and compares favorably with natural forest. The shade coffee farms are providing some of the last remaining forests in Latin America.
When trees are cut down to "technify" or "modernize" a coffee farm, the environment is no longer a balanced, self-nurturing system. New varieties of coffee have been developed to tolerate high levels of sun and increase yield. However, this "sun coffee" requires greater amounts of chemicals to support the greater growth rate, and pesticides to control the insects that were previously managed by the bird population. In addition, the soil is rapidly depleted of natural nutrients. Its texture changes from dark, sweet-smelling earth to a gray and lifeless substance.
The movement from traditional shade grown coffee to sun grown coffee is analogous to the "Green Revolution" in wheat, corn, and rice farming. This revolution produced new varieties of these crops that required higher input of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, supporting a gigantic, world encompassing, agri-chemical industry.
Shade-grown coffee benefits from the overstory of tropical rain forest trees by drawing from the natural nutrients abundant in the forest. The trees are nitrogen fixers, which enrich the soil and reduce the need for chemical fertilizers. The birds help control destructive insects that would otherwise require the application of chemicals. And finally, in addition to hosting hundreds of species of birds, the trees are also home to many other species of wildlife. The following are other animals who rely on shade-grown coffee forest for their survival:
| Howler Monkeys | Iguanas | Leafcutter Ants | Ocelots |
| Peccaries | Pumas | Red-eyed Tree Frogs | Spider Monkeys |
| White-tailed Deer | Wild Goats | |
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