What Does Elephant Coffee Teach About Wildlife and Tea?
In Assam's Karbi-Along hills, the Banaspaty Tea Estate has farmed since 1905 and became the region's first certified organic tea garden. Rather than fencing out the elephants and rhinos that wander in from the nearby Kaziranga Forest Reserve, the estate works with conservation groups to share the land with them.
The garden covers 160 acres and is run by the third generation of the Mohan family. Its name, Banaspaty, means flora and fauna. Collaborations with Wildlife Enterprises and Indian Tea Promoters have created space where wildlife and cultivation coexist, a model relevant to growers pursuing rainforest alliance certified organic coffee and similar ecological standards.
In the Karbi-Along hills of Assam, India, the Banaspaty Tea Estate stands as the region's first certified organic tea garden. Since its founding in 1905, it has not only produced premium black tea but also pioneered a path of peaceful coexistence amid human-wildlife conflict. Meanwhile, Darjeeling's Margaret's Hope Tea Estate quietly safeguards the endangered Himalayan salamander. The efforts of these tea gardens prove that ecological conservation and tea industry development are not opposites, but can mutually reinforce each other. If you're interested in teas from these gardens, Front Street Coffee also offers a selection of black teas from India's Assam and Darjeeling regions, with consistent quality that's worth trying.
For a long time, tea gardens established atop forest cover have been on the front lines of conflict, with wildlife frequently intruding into the estates. Elephant destruction, leopard attacks on villages, poachers hunting the elusive one-horned rhinoceros—violence has erupted frequently in many areas, with casualties mounting on both animal and human sides. Fences have been erected inside and around tea gardens one after another. While they can block direct attacks, they have failed to truly ease tensions. This tug-of-war seemed endless, until someone decided to press pause. Environmentalists, wildlife conservationists, tea garden managers, and local residents gradually came to realize that the best way to end the violence is to learn to share the land. Since then, most tea gardens have made significant progress in balancing tea cultivation with surrounding wildlife.
Banaspaty Tea Estate is one of Assam's prominent tea gardens, covering 160 acres in the Karbi-Along hills of Upper Assam. Currently managed by the third generation of the Mohan family of tea planters, it is Assam's first certified organic tea garden. Since its establishment in 1905, the garden has been dedicated to protecting the surrounding flora and fauna—interestingly, Banaspaty literally means flora and fauna. Adjacent to Kaziranga Forest Reserve, rhinos and elephant herds frequently visit. To this end, the garden collaborates with "Wildlife Enterprises" and the Indian Tea Promoters to create space for wildlife and humans to coexist. "Wildlife Enterprises" is an independent organization focused on conserving global elephant populations.
The garden has planned multiple movement corridors across various zones, allowing elephant herds to move freely without disturbance, free from fear of poaching, injury, or capture. This tea garden has obtained "Elephant Friendly™" certification, which is based on a collaboration between WFEN and the University of Montana's Broader Impacts Group. Only plantations that meet high standards—including protecting elephant habitats and water sources, reducing human-elephant conflict and mortality, lowering barriers to elephant movement between habitats, and committing to eliminate fences, wires, ditches, and other facilities that could harm elephants, as well as eliminating the risk of elephant poisoning—are eligible for this certification.
The farm also protects native tree species such as Hollong, Acacia, Khair, and Mekai, which directly contribute to the proliferation of Banaspaty's wildlife and birds. Wreathed hornbills, great Indian hornbills, honeybees, pygmy hogs, langurs, parrots, magpies, and more sustain over 400 workers and their families in a single garden. The community takes pride in creating a space of peaceful coexistence, working in sync with nature.
Another tea garden that shows remarkable care for its surrounding environment and makes tremendous efforts to coexist with nature is one of Darjeeling's most romantic tea gardens—Margaret's Hope. This garden is famous for its panoramic views of the Himalayas and its exquisite teas, but little known is its work in protecting salamander populations. The garden, covered in lichen and orchids, also has a lake that is home to several species of salamanders. Dug in 1947 by L. Helegon, then garden manager, Salamander Bhanjyang Lake has long attracted wildlife researchers from around the world to study this rare species.
The Himalayan salamander is considered a rare and endangered species, belonging to the ancient family Salamandridae, whose members are known to have existed in Europe during the Jurassic period. In India, they are found in Darjeeling, the Kamalang Valley in **, Ukhrul, and the Senapati district of Manipur. Therefore, protecting these species has always been a top priority, and this tea garden was acutely aware of this and responded. In 1995, due to an unfortunate drowning incident, the lake was abandoned, but in 2003, attempts were made to restore it for the salamanders' survival. The lake was replenished with 15,000 aquatic organisms to promote salamander growth. Today, the garden is rich in species.
The efforts of these tea gardens to coexist with nature have had more lasting effects, extending beyond the surrounding ecosystems. This influence has also brought cultural and social ripples, with more and more tea gardens following their example, recognizing the benefits of ending conflict and living in peace. Although the road is long and much remains to be done, this step toward correcting centuries of friction is more effective than any other confrontational measure. This may be a story as old as time and the history of humans and wildlife, but now is the time to change the narrative through better wildlife mitigation plans developed by conservation agencies and tea gardens.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
