JIKO RESCUE - FINALIST
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

The endangered Mountain Gorilla population is getting a helping hand from a fuel-efficient 'Jiko' stove.

"Charcoal is a commodity that everybody needs, especially poor households, because there's nothing else, and unfortunately 90% of Charcoal being used in Goma and Rwanda comes from Virunga National Park" Emmanuel de Merode, Virunga National Park

There are only 380 the Mountain Gorillas left in Central Africa, and their habitat is shrinking fast: one of their last refuges is Virunga National Park, but the Park and surrounding areas are rapidly losing their forest cover. The wood is used to supply towns like Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo - swelled by a refugee population - with charcoal for cooking. To lessen the demand for charcoal, fuel efficient stoves are being manufactured locally and given to the people. It's all part of a new approach to conservation which aims to show that conservation can benefit the poor as much as wildlife.