Coffee sales helping chimpanzees, Goodall says.

• Author: Block, Ben
• Position: EYE ON EARTH

Decades after Jane Goodall began her efforts to protect Tanzania's endangered chimpanzees, she found a solution growing right beneath her nose: The forests surrounding the famed chimps grow some of the best coffee in Tanzania. At 1,400 meters above sea level, the region provides a cool enough climate for beans of "giddy, honey-toned, floral sweetness as fresh but voluptuous as a tropical morning," according to Coffee Review.

Since the savory discovery about three years ago, U.S.-based coffee companies such as Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Starbucks have helped improve and expand the region's bean production. As a result, growers are receiving double compensation for their crop, and the additional income is encouraging greater community support for Goodall's conservation efforts.

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Within Gombe Stream National Park, about 100 chimpanzees continue to face the threats of habitat loss, poaching, and inbreeding. An estimated one-third of the population has been lost since Goodall's work there began four decades ago, and more than half of the chimps' original habitat has been converted into farmland.

"All problems are related--poverty, increasing populations, lack...