Clean cookstoves and reforestation, West Africa
Efficient cookstoves for the poor rural population to avoid deforestation of local mangroves to be used as fuel on three-stone fires.
Clean cookstoves and reforestation, West Africa.
In order to deliver the best possible projects and cut expensive intermediaries, we are starting our own project at Climaider. By creating our own project, we can provide maximum community benefits while delivering maximum CO2 savings for the same cost as before.
The project area is home to the third largest mangrove ecosystem in the world, which has unfortunately been partially cleared due to illegal logging for timber and firewood. Our project will have two main objectives: Work to reforest this essential habitat and to distribute efficient biomass cookstoves to local people.
To create this project we are working together with a local Nigerian NGO that focuses on natural resource management, indigenous knowledge/ resource preservation, sustainable agriculture and community livelihoods.
Supporting the local population
90 million people across Nigeria cook with traditional 3 stone fires that can use up to 5 tonnes of firewood per year and produce large quantities of toxic smoke. The high levels of indoor air pollution created by these types of fires can lead to a range of illnesses such as pneumonia, chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, low birth weights and many more. Smoke-inhalation related deaths are thought to be the third-largest cause of death in Nigeria.
The project aims to produce and distribute climate-friendly and efficient cookstoves to the local population at a discounted and affordable price. The efficient cookstoves burn much more cleanly, producing considerably less, if no smoke, using up to 90% less fuel wood. These stoves can also run on other forms of biomass such as crop residues, sticks and briquettes.
The distribution of efficient biomass cookstoves means that less fuelwood is needed, reducing both the pressure on mangrove ecosystems and harmful health effects on local people. A reduction in the amount of fuel needed means less time and money needs to be spent acquiring firewood, freeing resources for other activities. The harmful effects of three stone fires are experienced disproportionately by women and children in these areas, who perform most of the cooking. In addition to distributing the stoves, the goal is to create dedicated fuel forests from which people can get fuel, further reducing pressure on the mangrove forests.
This part of the project aims to prevent further deforestation of the already endangered forest.
Mangrove forests are incredibly important for the climate and local ecosystems. Mangrove forests absorb quite a bit more CO2 and can store ten times more carbon than temperate forests, protecting the coastal areas from flooding while acting as a habitat for some of the earth’s most vulnerable plant and animal species.
The mangrove within the project area is a biodiversity hotspot and is home to endangered and endemic species. The people living in coastal communities around the mangrove forest are losing their livelihoods due to increased vulnerability to flooding.
That is why we have chosen to make an effort in this important but fragile area, to support the local communities as well as the endemic and endangered wildlife.
The project is completely new and your support is extremely crucial for the success of the project.
The reason why we have chosen to start our own project is so that we can cut out expensive intermediaries. Climate credits have skyrocketed in price over the past few years, as the confidence in their effect has gotten more and more ingrained in society. But it also means that you, the members, would have been getting less climate impact for the money you contributed than before. We thought that was a crying shame.
Therefore, we have now entered into a direct collaboration with a local NGO and will also be present "on-the-ground" to run the project and make sure that everything goes as it should. Moreover, it now allows us to design the project exactly the way we want it, instead of compromising and simply screening other people's projects to find what we thought met our criteria and requirements.
All statistics from https://naccnigeria.org/about-us/issue Nigeria clean cooking alliance
Receipts
Carbon Credits from certified and trustworthy projects
Navigating the market for carbon credits can also be a challenge due to expensive resellers and non-certified projects.
Our job at Climaider is to select the best projects that are verified by the most strict industry standards (e.g. Gold Standard and Verified Carbon Standard) and our own internal criteria.
By gathering our member’s money, we are able to buy big bulks of credits directly from the projects, cutting out expensive middlemen. This also enables us to follow the money from you, as a member, to the projects, ensuring that your membership is removing as much carbon as we promise.
plant trees in Addition to your offsetting
In addition to offsetting, you also plant 15 trees for every ton of carbon you offset. The trees are planted in our forest on Madagascar through our partnership with Eden Reforestation Project
The locals in Ankilahila are hired to plant mangrove trees, which are a type of tree that absorbs 4-5 times as much CO2 as normal trees. The project restores the forest, but is also helping people out of extreme poverty.
Former carbon-reducing projects
As a member, you offset your emissions by buying carbon credits from our current climate project. One carbon credit equals the removal of 1 ton of carbon.
This means that if you buy one carbon credit, you remove or avoid one ton of carbon from entering the atmosphere.
