A project in Rwanda, similar to one the Kibale Community Fuel Wood project, is attempting to reduce reliance on forest wood collected for cooking. This project, coordinated by Partners In Conservation, focuses on the Nyungwe National Park, also inhabited by chimpanzees.  Most people in the surrounding villages depend to some degree on wood collection.

A study by Nsengiyunva Barakabuye, Director of the Nyungwe Forest Conservation Project, (PCFN) and colleagues shows that actual collecting is done primarily by women and children, and can occupy substantial portions of the day. The forest has decreased by about 15 percent in the past 40 years, which results in less chimpanzee habitat.

Traditional household stoves, made of three large stones set in a circle, are very inefficient; they burn a lot of wood relative to the amount of heat they produce. But there are new designs for more fuel-efficient stoves, made of clay and straw collected locally. People are eager to have the stoves, but there is a lack of clay and of expertise to make them.  

Partners In Conservation provides materials to make the new stoves while expertise is provided by PCFN. The result is a handmade, energy-saving stove for $3 (USD). The energy-saving stoves enable women to cook the same amount of food with 75 percent less wood than with traditional stoves.  There are minor complaints the new stoves don’t burn as hot and thus can’t fry potatoes, and they don’t give off enough light. The energy saving stove project is benefiting the rain forest since less wood is collected each day for cooking; with more rain forest intact, the chimpanzees also benefit.  Additionally, women have more time each day to care for their families.  Great Ape Trust provided $5,000 to fund more than 1,500 stoves in 2007. This will equip about one-fourth of the households in three vulnerable villages adjacent to Nyungwe National Park with a new energy saving stove.