“Normally I collect a lot of wood and foliage from the forest, this takes a lot of time and I know that I’m not meant to, but it takes a lot [of fuel] to cook,” explains a women before she attends the Sewalanka Foundation fuel efficient stoves workshop during 2003/04. Two three-day programmes involved general training on the improved stoves and cooking installation demonstrations.

The community identified that traditional stoves produce too much smoke and heat, uncontrollable flames, and require large amounts of fuel. To address these problems Sewalanka Foundation sourced two different types of stoves for the community. The first stove is ready-made and appropriate for domestic use. The second one is a new design that can easily be made by local craftsmen using readily available materials and is ideal for home-based kithul and jaggery producers.

The first training course was attended by local craftsmen, local kithul producers and selected community representatives from three villages in the Kudawa in Kalawana area. The second course focused on the ready-made stove for domestic use. Fifty fuel-efficient ready-made stoves were supplied at a subsidised rate and profits will contribute to the committee’s ongoing conservation activities.

“It is incredible a new stove creates a difference but it needs one-third less firewood and it cuts cooking time in half from 60 to 30 minutes for cooking rice,” explains the same participant after the workshop.

Sinharaja Rainforest, an UNESCO World Heritage Site and the communities living in the border zone walk a fine line between conservation concerns and survival. These programmes aimed to reduce the negative environmental and health impacts caused by the use of traditional stoves. They are part of a larger conservation project being undertaken by Sewalanka Foundation with the buffer-zone community.

>> To find out more, contact:
Mr. A. Tennakoon, Coordinator Sinharaja Rainforest

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