• Coffee plants can grow in a naturally shaded forest.forest image by Julia Lami from Fotolia.com
  
  Most coffee tree varieties cannot tolerate direct sunlight. Instead, coffee plants prefer growing up under a canopy of sun-filtering trees, or shade trees. Protecting the coffee plant and budding coffee cherries from direct sunlight, shade trees also mulch the soil with fallen leaves, which helps keep soil soft and nutrient-rich. Shade-grown coffee, as of 2010, is known as an organic, earth-friendly and sustainable coffee project because coffee farmers can grow the plants in a natural forest instead of plowing through a forest for a plot of farming soil.
  
  

Arabica Coffee

• Arabic coffee trees are shade-tolerant plants and produce dark, fruity beans.coffee grains image by Lev Aleshin from Fotolia.com
  
  Arabica coffee beans do not need to grow in plowed fields: the plant grows naturally in shaded, canopy forests. Arabica coffee trees naturally prosper high in the mountains on small farms under the shade of taller trees. Taller, shade-giving trees prevent erosion on the steep slopes where coffee is grown, protect the trees from intense sun and high winds, and nourish the soil with natural processes like fertilization.
  
  

Robusta

• Most instant coffee uses Robusta, a cheaper coffee plant to produce.cup of coffee image by Indigo Fish from Fotolia.com
  
  Second to Arabica coffee, Robusta coffee plants possess beans that are more tolerant of heat and direct sunlight than their Arabica counterpart, but the plant is extremely shade-friendly. Some coffee farmers, however, are choosing to grow the beans in plowed fields instead of in natural lush forests. Primarily cultivated in Africa, Robusta coffee trees are easier and cheaper to grow because they are less finicky than Arabica, which needs shade and more moisture to thrive.
  
  

Other Growing Types

• Direct sunlight coffee plantations take up large swaths of forest.green plantation image by Arun Kumar from Fotolia.com
  
  Farmers can grow shade-grown coffees through a few techniques. The Rustic style involves clearing out the low level growth in a forest and replacing it with coffee, keeping the higher trees alive to protect the baby coffee plants.
  
  The Traditional Polyculture technique asks growers to choose certain species of trees that grow alongside the coffee, like orange and banana trees. Farmers can increase yield of all crops that are being grown by the symbiosis between plants. On the other hand, in Commercial Polyculture, farmers remove some shade trees to make room for more coffee shrubs. Farmers must use at least some fertilizers and pesticides in this method.
  
  In the Specialized Shade method, farmers utilize only one type of shade canopy tree to protect the coffee. Commercial Polyculture and the Specialized Shade method seek to control the forests while allowing some plants and wildlife to remain unscathed.