The thirst for cheap coffee in the West could be wiping out endangered wildlife in Indonesia, reveals a study by the us-based Wildlife Conservation Society. The cultivation of robusta coffee beans -- used to make instant coffee -- might be destroying Sumatra's wildlife, it states.
The research shows that large tracts of Indonesian lowland forests are being replaced with coffee plantations. In Sumatra's Lampung province, land cleared for coffee production has increased by 28 per cent in recent years. Lampung's coffee production mostly occurs near Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park -- home to Sumatran elephants, tigers and rhinoceroses.
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