The Charcoal Project will present a roadmap for sustainable charcoal production and consumption in Africa at a summit of the continent’s Energy Ministers next week in Johannesburg.
Charcoal
Study: Charcoal and patterns of forest degradation in Tanzania
A study presented at the June symposium on charcoal organized in Arusha, Tanzania, finds that,
1. At current rates, no high value timber will be left in Tanzania’s coastal forest in 37 years.
2. The Tanzanian government lost $53 million USD in 2005. This is due to the fact that 96% of the timber harvest was undeclared.
3. China imports 10 times more timber from Tanzania that total declared imports.
VIDEO: The charcoal problem in Tanzania compellingly explained
Dar es Salaam consumes the equivalent of 16 olympic pools in charcoal every day. This figure is increasing daily as rural populations migrate to urban centers. At $350 million per year, charcoal is big business, too.
This great video produced by the World Bank last year (2010) lays out the issue in a way that is well-documented and visually compelling.
Sustainable charcoal production in Africa can protect ecosystems, provide jobs.
The charcoal industry has great potential to contribute to rural development because production utilizes locally available and potentially renewable resources.
The charcoal industry can generate employment and local income in both rural and urban areas.
— Dr. Emmanuel Chidumayo, Zambia.
The Road to Sustainable Charcoal — What world figures tell us and not.
Today we begin posting the first of a dozen paper’s presented in June at a symposium in Arusha, Tanzania, on Sustainable Charcoal. The event, co-organized by The Charcoal Project, heralded the launch of a year-long initiative that will culminate in an International Conference on Charcoal and Solid Biomass in 2012.
Today’s topic focuses on the absence of reliable data on woodfuel and charcoal use from a national and global perspective.
Hot Tip: this is sure to be a top-shelf priority at next year’s conference!