Improved cookstoves to protect the national parkThis climate project in southwest Rwanda saves emissions through improved cookstoves and at the same time helps protect the Nyungwe Forest National Park from deforestation.
The park is home to one of the largest mountain rainforests in Africa and an enormous variety of animal and plant species. However, as the regional population is growing strongly, the pressure on the unique ecosystem of Nyungwe is increasing. Traditionally, people here cook over open three-stone fires, which is very inefficient and consumes a lot of firewood. At the same time, the heavy smoke formation threatens the health of many families.
The project facilitates the distribution of simple but efficient cooking stoves. The so-called Canarumwe model is made out of clay and sand by a local cooperative and consumes two thirds less fuel than the three-stone fires. Thanks to the project support, the stoves are available at a subsidized price and improve living conditions for people from low-income households.
How improved cookstoves contribute to climate actionAccording to a statistic from the World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) around a third of the global population still relies on unsafe and environmentally harmful cooking methods. This includes, for example, cooking over open fires or using polluting cooking fuels, such as coal or kerosene. Improved cookstoves tackle this problem by using thermal energy more efficiently. Depending on the model, an improved cookstove can reduce fuel consumption by up to 70 percent, which significantly saves CO2 emissions and can lower the pressure on local forests as less firewood needs to be harvested.
Improved cookstove projects allow the distribution of the - often simple - devices made from metal or clay to households, small enterprises or community facilities. Especially for households, this has an impact beyond the CO2 reduction: better indoor air quality decreases respiratory diseases and families can save time and money as less fuel is needed. Improved cookstoves projects in the ClimatePartner portfolio are registered with international standards.
