The foundation for Biodiversity Conservation (BIOFUND) and the company Café de Manica have recently signed a partnership protocol for the creation of a mechanism to channel funds for the development of the Chimanimani National Park (PNC).

The initiative emerges as an alternative to reduce the pressure on natural resources and as a way to create new sources of income for local communities.

To this end, Café de Manica has introduced shade coffee cultivation in the PNC buffer zone in degraded areas and in the fields between food crop rows.

This innovation not only introduces an alternative, high-yield crop, but also allows farmers to retain their production areas.

The partnership will also reduce the deforestation that was practiced in that region and help in the restoration, besides benefiting around 300 families that are working in the production and commercialization of coffee, in an area of approximately 350 hectares.

This is BIOFUND's first partnership to channel revenue from a private company to a specific conservation area. The organization will be responsible for the management, monitoring, disbursement, and financial supervision of the amount donated to the reserve.

Thus, Café de Manica will channel, for five years, two percent of its revenues from the sale of processed coffee to support the improvement of environmental and social practices as well as the promotion of the importance of biodiversity in the Chimanimani National Park.

The project for biodiversity conservation and community development in the Chimanimani protection zone is the result of funding from the French Development Agency (AFD), in coordination with the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) and Fauna and Flora International (FFI).