Protect the Rainforest & Indigenous Health, Mexico

Protect the Rainforest & Indigenous Health, Mexico Photo Gallery

A Mayan Demonstrates Her Wood-Burning Stove

Mayan families have requested training and a small, interest-free loan to buy the materials to install a woodsaving stove in their homes. Each stove drastically reduces the wood needed to heat the home and cook, protecting the forest and saving the women hours of daily labor. The stoves channel smoke through a chimney, improving health of adults and children. As the families repay the loan, more families can join the project, improve their living conditions and decrease the need for wood.

Commercial Logging

The biggest impact on forests comes from major logging, mining, cattle-grazing and road-building projects. But local communities also contribute to deforestation from economic necessity. Mayan families use open pit fires inside the home for cooking and heating. Women spend hours each day gathering firewood. Burning this wood contributes to global-warming, and high concentrations of carbon monoxide and particulate matter within the home, leading to respiratory damage and loss of sight.