Most people don't realize it, but almost half of the world's population prepare their food over indoor wood fires. The smoke from these fires kills 1.6 million women and children a year — one woman or child every 20 seconds.
Also, tree harvest for cooking fires is a leading cause of global deforestation, watershed loss, and increased carbon emissions. Current rates of fuel-related tree harvest are unsustainable.
These two problems are interconnected.
VIDEO: Concise overview of ECOLIFE FOUNDATION 2008 Focus Outreach program.
CREDITS: CONACULTA-INAH-MEX Reproduccion Autorizada por el Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia — thanks for allowing us to film on location. Several scenes extracted from Lighthawk Reconnaissance, Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, February-March 2006 with permission of Lincoln Brower, Sweet Briar College. Special thanks to AXA Equitable, Chuck & Judy Wheatley and Shultz Steel.
HOW WE ARE HELPING
1. Building stoves to conserve wood | Inefficient cooking fires account for most trees cut by poor local communities. With an estimated 900,000 human inhabitants in the region, efficient fuelwood use is an important goal for forest conservation. The most common cooking method in this region is to cook over an open fire, primarily inside the dwelling structure. This method is not only dangerously unhealthy because of smoke inhalation, but is also very inefficient. Simple concrete stoves we install are 70% more efficient, dramatically slowing resource impact without destroying cultural identity. In the summer of 2007 we built another 100 stoves, as ECOLIFE FOUNDATION partners with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to train 14 members of five different communities with the technical expertise to build fuel-efficient stoves in their communities.
2. Overflights for village leaders in Michoacan, central Mexico | None of these men had ever been in an airplane before. We took them flying and pointed out logging devastation from the air, which caused immediate concern, in a way words never could have. This is a good example of empowering and offering educational opportunities to both the avecindado community, as well as to high level decision makers.
3. www.morethanmonarchs.org | We created this website to provide a forum for exchanging information about the situation in the MBBR. Stakeholders from local communities and around the world can now link to each other to help stop forest destruction. More Than Monarchs, and its Spanish version, Mas Que Monarcas, allow users to create the content. The concept of the website was developed from a need — repeatedly heard from local community members — to be able to explain to others their constant struggle with illegal logging and to ask for help. The website allows users to write emails directly to government officials to deliver their information and concerns immediately. These letters are stored in a searchable database for other users to see, both to increase accountability for officials, and to allow others to improve their understanding of the plight of these communities. Unfortunately, fear of reprisal causes some communities to not tell their stories. ECOLIFE FOUNDATION continues to work with communities encouraging them to use this novel tool and shift the balance of power away from those who benefit from illegal logging and corruption.
4. Direct action | We prefer to make investments in conservation efforts that will have a lasting impact. But sometimes, help is needed immediately and those efforts do not fit neatly into a specific category. When a community needs $300 to hire equipment to dig a ditch to stop illegal logging trucks...we act. There are literally hundreds of roads in the region that can be used by illegal loggers. We may not be able to close them all, but if a community is willing to work to close a few to protect their forest, we support them.
5. Support | We meet with government officials, work with conservation and scientist colleagues, and communities: giving advice, technical expertise, leveraging funding, applying political pressure, and doing whatever is necessary to improve the situation for monarchs, communities, and forests both depend upon.
ECOLIFE FOUNDATION
Endangered Monarch Butterflies
Outreach Project Coordinator
Attn: Lee Pagni
PO Box 462845
PHONE (760) 535-6556
FAX (760) 737-6736
EMAIL
Your tax deductible donation makes this outreach project possible.
