One of Timor-Leste's first environmental NGOs is using local materials and appropriate technology to ease the pressure on the country's fragile steep-slope forests and help keep the air clean. Specialist trainers from Haburas Foundation are teaching the residents of three villages in Lautem and Alieu districts how to make energy-efficient clay cooking stoves.

Timor-Leste's separation from Indonesia five years ago brought independence, but it also meant an end to heavily subsidized fuel prices. Many residents in Southeast Asia's poorest country cannot afford to pay world market prices for liquid petroleum gas now charged in Timor-Leste, so they use firewood for cooking. This sudden increase in demand for firewood threatens forested areas near settlements across the nation, and increasing levels of wood smoke translate into an added burden on already limited health services.

Haburas Foundation is addressing these problems with its simple, energy-efficient clay stove design. After the three-day training sessions, residents in the three pilot villages know how to collect and prepare the clay, craft the stoves, and fire them. All materials are available locally. The stoves still need firewood, but much less than open pits, and residents of highland areas can use dried coffee husks for fuel. The husks are plentiful and free after the end of the coffee harvest in August.

Under the Haburas pilot project, the Mua Puhu ("stoves from the land") group in Asalaino village, Lautem district, has produced more than 180 stoves. Members want to form a cooperative to continue making the stoves and sell them in neighboring villages. "We are interested in increasing our business opportunities," explained group coordinator Lucinda Mota, who thinks the stoves won't be hard to sell. "We want to tell other communities about the stoves because they are very cheap and efficient. It is also a good way to teach our children to protect their environment." She added, "And besides, the stoves use less firewood and cook food faster."

USAID supports the environmental work of the Haburas Foundation with grants totaling $29,000. Its efforts boost environmental awareness, generate employment, and mitigate negative economic and health impacts from pollution and environmental degradation.