The stoves are expected to curb deforestation, save the Kibale National Park

Jan 13, 2014 21:46 GMT  ·  By

Uganda's Kibale National Park, which happens to be a highly biodiverse region, is currently threatened by deforestation. Apparently, a significant amount of the wood taken from this area serves to keep stoves used by local communities up and running.

In an attempt to protect the Kibale National Park, a ground of ten kids from the country's Iruhuura Primary School's Wildlife Club have teamed up with folks at the Kasiisi Project and Camp Uganda to build several fuel-efficient stoves.

The goal of this project is to promote sustainability and curb wood consumption in the Kibale National Park region, Mongabay explains.

The stoves that these ten children helped build require about 40% less wood than their not-so-environmentally-friendly counterparts do.

Consequently, they are estimated to help keep some 3.3 million pounds of wood from being set on fire on a yearly basis.

What's more, the stoves are more people-friendly, meaning that they release less carbon monoxide, fine particles, smoke and other pollutants. Therefore, they also benefit public health.

The same source tells us that the materials used to build one such fuel-efficient stove are water, ash, bricks, sand and cow dung. One stove is estimated to cost about $2 (€1.46) to erect.

Commenting on this initiative, Stella Aishemerirwe, chairperson of the Iruhuura Primary School's Wildlife Club, stated as follows: “I love clean cooking stoves, because they use less fire wood which has protected many trees.”

Furthermore, “I believe it's everyone's need to live in a good and clean environment.”