Designing Ecological Habitats - Gaia Education

trees, water anD people : rebuilDing family anD environmental HealtH 207
from pine trees and sawmill remnants. While the wood burns easily it
doesn’t hold a good flame, so Doña Gabriela has to feed her barrel stove
continuously. The smoke released by this resin-heavy pine is black and toxic.
It fills the room and lungs and irritates the eyes of the women working and
the small children tugging at their skirts.
Introduction
Latin America and the Caribbean are tropical climates with exotic animals,
lush rainforests, volcanoes, and fertile lands. However, there is an unromantic
reality to this part of the world that is only now becoming evident. Guatemala,
El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Haiti are all facing grave ecological
challenges, afflicting community wellbeing and development. Vital forest
cover and watersheds have been degraded extensively to satisfy growing
demands for firewood and charcoal for cooking, timber for building, and
precious hardwoods for export.
Most rural families living in the five nations in which Trees, Water
& People has been working for the past decade are highly dependent on
forests for income and survival. Natural resources are abundant in the
tropics, but replenishing what is harvested is not a common practice.
There is insufficient government involvement in promoting environmental
awareness, education, and stewardship to help communities take
responsibility and ownership of natural resource management. Instead,
government efforts are generally concentrated in the crowded urban
centers where rural folk have migrated in search of economic gain.
Neglecting the needs and traditions of rural populations has led to the
severe overcrowding of urban centers. Encouraging rural families to revive
their traditional way of life is the first step to rebuilding the communities
and landscapes, as well as curbing urban migration.
Trees, Water & People (TWP) collaborates with local partners to protect
and manage the natural resources upon which a community’s long-term
wellbeing depends. Our international projects revolve around the protection
of forests and watersheds in five Central American nations and Haiti. They
help marginalized communities learn about environmental stewardship to
improve economic livelihoods while protecting natural resources. TWP
introduces eco-friendly technology, such as fuel-efficient cookstoves,
to reduce the demand for wood from native forests. Primary benefits from
TWP reforestation and stove programs include:
1. Improved indoor air quality by removing toxic smoke and
particulates from the kitchen
2. Reduction of time and/or money spent collecting firewood
3. Increase in forest cover through tree planting and lower demand for
wood fuel
4. Climate change mitigation