Annual Review 2013 - (Page 18)

Overview CHANGING LIVES Protecting wildlife-rich forests, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, improving health and strengthening livelihoods - it's amazing what a simple biogas stove can do It's fair to say biogas has changed Mohan's life. Mohan and his wife Thagiya live in Madhuban, a small village in Nepal's Terai Arc - a landscape of mountains, forests and grasslands, where tigers, elephants and rhinos still roam. Many of the region's 6.7 million inhabitants, like Mohan and Thagiya, rely on natural resources for their livelihoods. But with a growing human population, these are coming under threat. Around Madhuban, much of the once lush woodland has been felled for firewood. Over the last few years, WWF-Nepal has been working in the Terai Arc to develop alternative livelihoods and take the pressure off forests. Biogas digesters, which mix human or animal waste with water to produce methane gas for cooking, are one solution. Working with a local cooperative, WWF has subsidized the construction of 7,500 biogas units - which are connected to a household toilet, helping to improve sanitation. Mohan was one of the first people in his village to install a biogas digester, taking out a loan of 12,000 rupees (around US$160) from the local cooperative to pay for it. He was able to pay back the loan much sooner than he thought. Instead of spending hours a day collecting firewood, he can devote his time to more productive activities, like vegetable farming. The residue from the biogas unit makes an excellent organic fertilizer, helping Mohan earn 135,000 rupees a year selling cauliflower, cabbage and potatoes. His income has doubled - allowing him to install a water filter and solar lighting in his home, and pay for his grandchildren's schooling. Thagiya's life has been transformed too. Traditional rural houses like hers have no chimneys, and cooking with firewood can cause chronic respiratory diseases. Now she has a smoke-free home, and food cooks much quicker. No longer tied to the kitchen, Thagiya and other women are more involved in community life: she chairs two women's savings and loan groups, which enable women to set up their own businesses. EACH BIOGAS UNIT SAVES NEARLY 4.5 TONNES OF FIREWOOD AND REDUCES CO2 EMISSIONS BY 4.06 TONNES A YEAR Each biogas unit like Mohan and Thagiya's saves nearly 4.5 tonnes of firewood and reduces CO2 emissions by 4.06 tonnes a year. Selling carbon credits from the first seven years of the project has helped raise more than US$1 million, which has been channelled back into the communities so they can install more biogas units. This year, WWF-Nepal signed an agreement with the Nepal government's Alternative Energy Promotion Centre to install another 20,000 biogas units in 81 villages across the Terai Arc. Each one will mean more forest spared, more emissions avoided, and more lives transformed. WWF-INT Annual Review 2013 page 18

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Annual Review 2013