By Serge K. Soiret, GAP correspondent in West Africa, from Ivory Coast

From July to August 2010, Virginia Echavarria and me carried out a pilot project on the production of combustible briquette. This pilot project was sponsored by the Spanish Organization Proyecto Gran Simio and the Natural Foundation and Man.  It proceeded in two villages – Djouroutou and Beoué – located close to Taï National Park.

Twenty four local people were trained on the technique of combustible briquettes production. Then we have distributed 6 presses and some accessories for these people, with no cost.

What are briquettes? The combustible briquettes are a renewable alternative of energy to replace the use of coal or wood.  The briquettes are obtained using the agricultural residues, like dry sheets of the trees and sawdust, with a small percentage of paper pulp (mixed beforehand with water), which that allows binding them.  The briquettes take approximately three days to dry.

The women living in the villages around the park face everyday a true problem in the cooking of the family meals.  They must walk kilometers to find wood in the village plantations located near the park.

This project should make it possible to reduce the energy dependence of the bordering populations for the wood of heating and for coal and, therefore, contribute to reduce the entropic pressure on the forests. That would, we hope, contribute to protect the habitat from the Chimpanzees and other animals.

¶That would, we hope, contribute to protect the habitat from the Chimpanzees and other animals.