A few weeks back, a radio reporter from US-based Public Radio International contacted us to discuss charcoal, woodfuels, and briquettes projects in Haiti. We are pleased to share with you her story. “Before the recent earthquake, Haiti was no stranger to natural disasters. In recent years, thousands of people have been killed by floods and landslides. To understand why the toll is so high, one need look no further than the country’s bald mountains. Haiti has lost about 97 % of its forests. And the main culprit is the nation’s most popular cooking fuel: charcoal. Reporter Amy Bracken looks at Continue reading
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MONGOLIAN Capital grapples with smog problem from IAP
At two to 10 times above Mongolian and international air quality standards, Ulaanbaatar’s PM rates are among the worst in the world, according to a December 2009 World Bank report. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that health costs related to this air pollution account for as much as 4 percent of Mongolia’s GDP.
A balancing act in the Cardamoms
Conservationists sometimes find their efforts in protected areas at odds with indigenous rights.
The Central Cardamom Protected Forest (CCPF) in Cambodia is a 400,000-hectare zone that the government created in 2002.
Conservationists see the Cardamoms as an ecological jewel. It is home to dozens of threatened species, including some that have become extinct elsewhere, as well as a vital watershed that supports hundreds of thousands of people downstream of its rivers.
But the CCPF is also home to more than 3,000 isolated villagers, many of them indigenous Khmer Daeum whose ancestors have lived in the forest for centuries.
In dealing with them, authorities have two choices: Offer a stick, or offer a carrot. Officials can tell the communities to stop using their ancestral forests outright, or work with them to end destructive commercial poaching and logging.
Brazil introduces plan for charcoal consumption to protect native
BRASILIA, March 16 (Xinhua) — Brazil’s Ministry of Environment on Tuesday announced a plan to encourage industries to use charcoal that is not made from native trees in efforts to protect forest and the ecosystem.
According to the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Deforestation in Cerrado (PPCerrado), Brazilian companies are not allowed to buy charcoal made from native trees of the Cerrado ecosystem.
The PPCerrado, to take effect in 2013, is the extension of Resolution 3545 of Brazil’s Central Bank, which rules that any producer who fails to comply with environmental laws should not be qualified for applying for credit from the Central Bank.
World’s Pall of Black Carbon Can Be Eased With New Stoves
by Jon R. Luoma for Yale360
Two billion people worldwide do their cooking on open fires, producing sooty pollution that shortens millions of lives and exacerbates global warming. If widely adopted, a new generation of inexpensive, durable cook stoves could go a long way toward alleviating this problem.
With a single, concerted initiative, says Lakshman Guruswami, the world could save millions of people in poor nations from respiratory ailments and early death, while dealing a big blow to global warming — and all at a surprisingly small cost.