Slide 1:Trees, Water & People: Making a Difference in Central America


Slide 2:Trees, Water & People (TWP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving people’s lives by helping communities protect, conserve and manage the natural resources upon which their long-term well-being depends. About Trees, Water & People TWP develops and manages reforestation, watershed protection, and renewable energy programs in Latin America and the American West.


Slide 3:International Programs Working in Latin America since 1998 Currently working in Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Haiti TWP has built over 26,000 improved stoves, helping more than 130,000 people


Slide 4:International Partners Nicaragua: PROLEÑA Haiti: AMURT El Salvador: ARBOLES Honduras: AHDESA


Slide 5:Climate change threatens life as we know it. What can you do to reduce global warming? Carbon Offset Program It’s difficult to completely cut out fossil fuels, so you can compensate for your remaining greenhouse gas emissions with TWP’s Carbon Offset Program First try to minimize fossil fuel use by carpooling, biking, heating and cooling your house less, insulating your house, using compact fluorescent bulbs, turning off lights and power strips when not in use, etc.


Slide 6:TWP’s two-pronged approach to reducing global warming and conserving tropical forests Reforest land to increase the supply of trees to capture carbon dioxide and reduce the harvesting pressure on forests Build fuel-efficient stoves that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and demand for firewood You can offset your carbon emissions via trees or stoves


Slide 7:Tropical Deforestation In El Salvador, for example, only 2% of native forests remain. Bare hillsides are vulnerable to erosion and catastrophic landslides.


Slide 8:TWP and our partners grow hundreds of thousands of trees every year in community nurseries, locally owned & operated – more than 2.5 million trees in the last 10 years! Reforestation Programs


Slide 9:Our trees are planted by: Community groups to keep springs from drying up and protect rivers from erosion Individual farmers wanting to grow a sustainable supply of wood Reforestation Programs


Slide 10:Indoor air pollution Stove Programs The World Health Organization estimates that over 1.6 million women and children die annually from indoor air pollution – caused chiefly by traditional open-fire cookstoves


Traditional Stoves :Traditional Stoves Utilize only 8 – 10% of potential wood energy 90% of wood wasted = more deforestation


Traditional Stoves :Traditional Stoves In Honduras, for example, 90% of rural families and 50% of urban families use traditional stoves for cooking


Traditional Stoves Because traditional stoves are inefficient, in some regions people need to walk over three - four miles to cut their firewood two - three times per week :Traditional Stoves Because traditional stoves are inefficient, in some regions people need to walk over three - four miles to cut their firewood two - three times per week


Traditional Stoves :Traditional Stoves Families that buy fuelwood instead of collecting it themselves can spend more than one quarter of their monthly income on fuel wood purchases to feed inefficient traditional stoves and Household Economics


The Justa Stove :The Justa Stove Developed by Trees, Water & People, Aprovecho Research Center, and the Honduran Association for Development (AHDESA) in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch in 1998


The Justa Stove :The Justa Stove Stove design is adapted to local cooking needs – metal griddle to cook tortillas


The Rocket Elbow :The Rocket Elbow Addition of improved technology increases fuel efficiency and saves firewood


Slide 18:Benefits of the Justa Stove Remove approximately 80% of indoor air pollution Reduce incidence of respiratory illnesses Save money & time because less firewood is needed


Benefits of the Justa Stove :Benefits of the Justa Stove Reduces deforestation by consuming 50 – 70% less fuel wood, compared to traditional cook stoves


Slide 20:TWP’s stove programs are evolving with research and development, training programs, and micro-enterprise ventures with portable metal EcoStoves Stove Programs


Slide 21:Emissions testing conducted by independent researchers showed that each stove in domestic use saves 1 metric ton in CO2 emissions per year, thanks to its fuel-efficiency. Stove Programs


Nicaragua Stove Factory :Nicaragua Stove Factory In 2000 PROLEÑA pioneered the design of a portable metal version of the Justa known as an EcoStove to allow mass production for efficiencies of scale PROLEÑA moved into a new stove factory in 2006 after winning the Ashden Continuation Award


Honduras Stove Factory :Honduras Stove Factory EPA funding and the Ashden Award allowed AHDESA to develop their own EcoStove models and micro-enterprise program starting in 2005, while continuing to build Justa stoves AHDESA moved to a new factory in 2008 to scale up production of EcoStoves and Justa components


Rocket Stoves in Haiti :Rocket Stoves in Haiti Dr. Larry Winiarski designed a simple clay molded Rocket stove for TWP and AMURT that could be built for just $10 It’s perfect for Haiti’s traditional one-pot meals


Conclusions :Conclusions TWP’s carbon offset program, reforestation programs, and stove programs complement each other to save tropical forests and help Central American communities More funding needed to share the Justa’s environmental benefits, health benefits, and savings and with more families You can help by donating $75 to build a Justa stove for a family in need! Thanks and Happy Holidays from TWP!