Sustainable forestry: Fairtrade Firewood?
The Rungwe district of Southwestern Tanzania, where RSTGA is located, is surrounded by mountain ranges on three sides and boasts deep volcanic soils. Its delicate ecosystems are home to rare varieties of flora and fauna, and it is also one of the most highly populated regions in Tanzania.
This delicate ecosystem was under threat from a demand for firewood which resulted in native hardwood from local forests being used for fuel.
Working with Cafédirect, RSTGA has developed a programme to grow and harvest Blue Gum trees to fuel its factory, and reduce domestic consumption of firewood in the district through promotion of more efficient technologies.
In addition, Cafédirect has funded the training of a newly appointed Forestry and Environment Officer at RSTGA, Chamalindi Bugingo, who has created five nurseries housing over 100,000 Blue Gum saplings and planted additional Blue Gum trees among tea plants.
To address household fuel use, Cafédirect have linked RSTGA’s factory with a GTZ funded project called the Promotion of Biomass and Energy Conservation (PROBEC), which has trained 10 factory staff in the construction and use of low energy stoves. Not only are these stoves up to three times as efficient as traditional cooking methods, but they also contain more of the fuel combustion emissions, which means that families breathe in less of the harmful smoke.