Climate change and deforestation are putting more than half the world's wild coffee species at risk of extinction, including the popular commercial coffees Arabica and Robusta, scientists warned on Wednesday.
Research published by experts at Britain's Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew found that current conservation measures for wild coffee species are not enough to protect their future.
Aaron Davis, head of coffee research at Kew, who co-led the work, said that among coffee species threatened with extinction are some that could be used to breed and develop the coffees of the future, including some that have resistance to disease and that can withstand worsening climatic conditions.
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