Fuel-efficient stoves are an important part of EcoLogic’s broader menu of community based approaches to conservation and sustainable development. EcoLogic originally introduced the stoves to reduce pressure on forested areas and to also help educate and inspire local people to adopt approaches that can have a significant impact on the ecosystems. Over the past few years, we have endeavored to expand and improve our stove program.
We recently visited our work in Totonicapán, Guatemala, getting to see the current state of the 8 greenhouses EcoLogic has helped establish. As of this September, 5,520 seedling trays have been fully planted with 132,480 seedlings of different species and ages. These include white pine, red pine, alder, oak, and Guatemalan fir, among others. The trays used to grow these seedlings yield a root “plug,” which makes the roots more resilient and decreases mortality once they are transplanted to the reforestation site.
Fifty families in northern Guatemala, across four communities, have recently received EcoLogic’s fuel-efficient stoves as part of our ongoing conservation efforts in the area. As the number of stove beneficiaries grows – so does the amount of acres reforested, conserved, and protected.
As a stove recipient, families must agree to not only use the stove in an effort to reduce their wood consumption, but to conversely give back to the forest through reforestation and vigilant monitoring against illegal loggers and fires.
Reforestation in the Ixcán Region of El Quiche has included the participation of 146 families. They have attended trainings focused on the preparation of seed mixes and general care for saplings in nurseries.
Because of donors like you, EcoLogic is making strides in Guatemala. During the past few months 33 fuel-efficient stoves were built for families in the towns of Barillas, El Ixcán, and San Antonio Tzeja. The stoves are just one part of the holistic approach EcoLogic takes in an overall conservation strategy. In exchange for a stove, communities involved in our projects commit to engaging in another form of environmental stewardship. In this case, the families came together and planted over 500 trees.
The fuel-efficient stoves program has a significant impact on rural families and the environment. By making cooking significantly more efficient, pressure on the forests that surround communities is reduced, less time is needed to gather wood (a task typically undertaken by women and children), and indoor air pollution is vastly decreased—mitigating a significant respiratory health threat in the home. The holistic element of family participation through environmental stewardship has proven to be an essential element of the program and one of the key reasons for its success.
Although building 33 stoves is a step in the right direction, we need to progress at a faster pace to meet demand and reduce fuel-wood extraction from standing forests. This is where you come in. Please continue to support this project with another modest donation, tell your friends about your contribution and challenge them to match your gift, or simply like us on Facebook. Your support is essential to this important work and we need you to help us spread the word.
The overarching goal of the helping communities build and use fuel-efficient stove is to increase environmental stewardship within rural communities of Guatemala by improving the resource efficiency and healthiness of household cooking. The stoves decrease the human threats to tropical forests, promote environmental leadership within some of the most marginalized members of society, and improves the lives and health particularly of women and children. To make sure of the efficiency of the EcoLogic stoves – we commissioned a study completed by the experts at the Zamorano Institute’s Improved Stove Certification Center in Honduras.
The studied resulted in several insights and recommendations that will help us adjust our program to maximize our impact. For instance, we learned that the fuel-efficient stove models that we introduce is not the most efficient stoves on the market (though they are considerably more fuel efficient that conventional open-pit fires); however, they are well liked and used by beneficiaries. Our model, though less efficient, is durable and multi-functional as a table and cooking surface. It is also important to note that adoption rates and demand for the stoves remains high.
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