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Our Correspondent
Imphal, Jan. 17 (EMN): In an effort to provide sustainable alternative livelihoods to local community and to reduce dependency on forests resources, 50 eco-cylindrical stoves were provided to the villagers of Azuram and Dailong in Manipur’s Tamenglong district.
The eco-cylindrical stoves which is one of the eco-friendliest stoves in Manipur, to be used in both rural and urban areas, were provided under a yearlong initiative called Systematic Rejuvenation of Indigenous Jungles and Nature (SRIJAN) of The Corbett Foundation(TCF), with the support from the Axis Bank Foundation.
TCF Program Officer Mordecai Panmei told Eastern Mirror that the 50 eco-friendly stoves were provided to 50 households in Azuram and Dailong villages.
Besides awareness programme on forest and wildlife conservation in schools and villages, the organisation also provided 40 bee-boxes in October the previous year, he informed.
A member of the organisation said that since eco-stove saves more than 50% of firewood, the dependency on forest firewood could be reduced to more than 50%.
The project will assess the impact of the stoves on the reduction of wood consumption, he said adding that hundred families is currently in the process to use the new stoves.
According to the recently released the Indian State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019, Manipur suffered the highest loss of 499 square kilometre (sq km) of forest cover in entire Northeast. Among the districts of the state, Tamenglong district (108.5sq km) has the maximum loss of forest cover after Churachandpur (250 sq km). Otherwise, out of the state’s total lost area, 491 sq km is in the hill districts while the rest in other areas.
On the other hand, according to the forest department, Manipur had lost 784 sq km bamboo cover between 2017 and 2019.