Reducing deforestation in a critically important forests while improving the health of locals
In the project area, 95% of families depend on wood (and other non-renewable biomass like charcoal and crop residues) to fuel open fires for cooking. As well as increasing pressure on surrounding forests, the smoke these fires cause leads to an increased likelihood of respiratory illness. Women and children are often burdened with collecting firewood, meaning they have less time for other activities such as paid work or education.
To learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals verified by the standard for this project, please check the project's registry link above.
Together with the Jane Goodall Institute – Uganda, the project distributes energy efficient cookstoves to households in areas surrounding the Albertine Rift corridor, replacing traditional inefficient ones. The efficient cookstoves will be distributed at a highly-subsidised cost, ensuring access for families who would not otherwise have the economic means to purchase them.
Thanks to the stoves, the amount of indoor air smoke inside family homes will be greatly reduced, ensuring cleaner air and better health. The local standard of living will be greatly improved by the community spending less time collecting wood fuel and cooking, thereby allowing greater opportunity to focus on other household tasks or areas of economic development. For the environment not only do the efficient cookstoves reduce GHG emissions but pressure of forests is severely reduced.
By empowering people to move away from inefficient fires for cooking, the project cuts the amount of wood needed. This reduces significant pressure on the Budongo-Bugoma Corridor forest, which is a vital ecological link between critically important chimpanzee habitat.
With the pandemic, the project has taken strict precautions so the new cookstoves can be safely distributed to families in western Uganda. The distribution starts in July for around 6 months. The team demonstrates how to use the cookstove properly and takes detailed notes of the location so the stoves can be checked in the coming years.
