At Selva Negra we house well over 400 people during the off-season, this includes the workers as well as their families and children. This creates an incredible sustainability issue when it comes to the use of water, and a good portion of water is used in the bathrooms. We are working on two new systems.
First, is a system that was possible due to the financial assistance of Allegro Coffee. This system consists of a battery of 10 toilets, and showers attached. The system works as follows: a common tank is used for dispensing water to the toilets as well as the showers. The wastewater of the showers will go to a tank that will be used for underground irrigation, and the wastewater of the toilets will channel to a bio-digester tank where methane gas will be produced for the use of cooking. The battery of toilets is completed, but work continues on the bio-digester and completing the methane gas section.
Another latrine system currently in the works was made possible with the assistance of the Rogers Family. These eco-latrines are above ground and dry latrines. The liquid from the liquid waste station are used to irrigate over an area of several meters, and the remains of the solid waste station (after a six month rotation and treatment with ashes) is used as fertilizer. We currently have eight eco-latrines completed and the work is continuing.
We take great pride at Selva Negra in our diversity and self-sustainability. We produce just about everything within the boundaries of our estate; the bottleneck problem of the farm is energy. The electricity in Nicaragua is very expensive, and we will be forced to close projects if we don't find some way of generating our own energy. We have 2 choices at the farm, one is wind energy and the other is a water turbine.
As we discussed in the spring newsletter, we had a wind meter installed in a tower, about 30 meters high for over the span of a year. During that time we had a University taking notes of the wind power and their results are quite interesting. On the Rayleigh scale we had Vm= 6.22 m/s and on Weilbull a=7.00 m/s c=2.16. Our lower wind months are: June, July and October, with winds of 4.5 to 6.5 meters per seconds, and our high months were January February, March, with winds of 8 to 8.5 meters per second.
As it turns out the months with the least wind coincide with the months with the most rain. With the results of the wind energy study, we have come to the realization that our best efforts are concentrated on making a hydraulic turbine to generate electricity and in the future potentially erecting a windmill to complement it during the dry months.
Should this work, we will have enough electricity for the rainy season and then we will need some help for the dry season, which we are planning on either have a generator or connect to the local electric net. There is also the possibility that once we pay off the loan for this hydraulic energy source, we could start looking for a windmill in order to be totally independent.
Shade Coffee Research
Our efforts to maintain a sustainable lifestyle and farm include the continuous search for information on similar efforts. Shade coffee has recently been recognized for its critical role in the survival of various avian species. With the never ending deforestation ongoing throughout the world the habitat that the shade coffee plantations provide are becoming increasingly important. Aside from the superior taste that this canopy provides our coffee, we're proud of the support we give our avian friends.
A recent study performed by, among others, Leopoldo Miranda-Castro, studied the avian reproduction in shaded coffee plantation versus secondary forests. The study was performed in Puerto Rico. The results of this study are very encouraging for us, in support of our efforts. Yet, the increasing dependence of shaded coffee plantations by the avian community is depressing, since it means that the trend of deforestation is not ending.
Avian reproduction and the conservation value of shaded coffee plantations by Jessica D. Gleffe, Jamie A Callazo, Martha J. Gordon, & Leopoldo Miranda-Castro The report states the following results:
- "Avian communities use them [shaded coffee plantations] because they contain a wide range of resources similar to those found in secondary forests"
- "Our findings documented that the shade coffee plantations supported reproductive activity of more species (26) than secondary forests study sites (22)."
- "the density of nests in coffee plantations was arguably high"
- "forest cover provided by shaded coffee plantations is diminishing in Puerto Rico…The situation is compounded because part of the declining trend is due to conversion to sun coffee plantation, a practice that might exacerbate the potential loss of nesting habitat for forest birds."
For a copy of the entire article, please contact Leopoldo Miranda-Castro personally at: Leopoldo_Miranda@fws.gov
