World Centric: Stoves, Cisterns & Trees for San Jose De Comayagua, Honduras

World Centric + Trees, Water & People

$45,077.09 from profits from fiscal year 2017
Carbon Offsets Project

Honduras is one of the most ecologically diverse countries in the hemisphere. However, the country is facing some of the toughest environmental challenges in its history. Communities in the buffer zone of the Montecillos Biological Reserve in northeastern Honduras have suffered drought (now in its eighth year), a pine-beetle infestation, and government neglect. Together, these forces have deforested much of the remaining, protected cloud forest in the Reserve. This threatens shade-grown crop viability and put further pressure upon the ecosystem and indigenous communities who depend upon them.

Trees, Water & People began its work in Honduras after Hurricane Mitch devastated the country in late 1998. Today they focus on building tree nurseries, clean cookstoves, and rainwater catchment cisterns in an effort to reforest the landscape while improving living standards for indigenous communities.

The Impact

72 cookstoves
40 Cisterns
36,000 trees

Indirect Impact:

Provide new skills to dozens of farmers and community leaders.
Increase diversification of the shade canopy (250 new trees per hectare)
Increase household savings from new income streams (citrus, bananas, plantains, mangos, etc..) that reduce dependence on coffee income.
286 tons of fuel wood saved each year by using more efficient cookstoves
18,000 gallons of new capacity from rainwater harvesting will reduce pressure on aquifers by 180,000 gallons per year.

The Approach

Trees, Water & People partners with the Center for Education in Sustainable Agriculture (CEASO) in Honduras to train communities in agroecology and sustainable technologies. CEASO’s educational approach combines classroom education (30%) with practical application (70%) to create a learning experience suited to rural adult learners

Each cookstove is manufactured in-country, using locally sourced materials. These stoves decrease the amount of firewood fuel needed for each family for 50-70%.
Ferrocement rainwater cisterns are a very simple technology. This allows an incredible teaching opportunity for even moderately handy campesinos (rural people), and allows them to participate in every step of their manufacturing, installation and application. All cisterns are fitted with gutter systems, a drain plug, and an outflow pipe.
The tree nurseries will allow for the diversification of the shade canopy while creating new income streams from fruit bearing trees: citrus, bananas, plantains, mangos, etc.

In July-August 2018, the stoves and cisterns will be installed on the south side of the reserve. The south side will be completed between September 2018 - April 2019. Tree nursery maintenance is ongoing.