1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

The cooking stoves protecting Rwanda's golden monkeys

Cornelia Borrmann
March 5, 2019

Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda is home to unique plants and animals but the hunger for firewood threatens the forest. Can more efficient stoves help people and preserve nature in the densely populated African country?

https://p.dw.com/p/3EG9z
Golden monkey
Image: DW/Cornelia Borrmann

Rwanda – Golden monkeys under threat

Project goal: Reducing deforestation pressure by the steadily growing population around Volcanoes National Park

Project Implementation: Locally produced, efficient cooking stoves will be distributed in up to 50,000 households. They only require one third of the firewood used by traditional stoves

Project size: The area around Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, where more than 100,000 families live. More than 9,000 stoves have already been delivered since the project launch

Project partners: LIKANO, myclimate  foundation, International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP),Fondation Artisans de la Paix et du Développment au Rwanda (FAPDR) 

Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa and as it continues to grow, one of the consequences is rapid deforestation. Volcanoes National Park, which is home to some unique flora and fauna, is under threat from local residents looking for firewood. That, in turn, puts the habitat of the golden monkey and other rare animals at risk. More efficient cooking stoves could offer a solution.

A film by Cornelia Borrmann