EARTH SUMMIT+5 Special Session of the General Assembly to Review and Appraise the Implementation of Agenda 21 New York, 23-27 June 1997 SUCCESS STORIES FROM ZIMBABWE

	Mozambican refugee camps in Zimbabwe
	Location	Zimbabwe
	Responsible Organization(s)	Fuelwood Crisis Consortium (established by the local NGO Help Age) later replaced by the organization Southern Alliance for Indigenous Resources (SAFIRE).
	Description	Reduce the environmental degradation and deforestation due to firewood collection in the Mozambican refugees camps and vicinities by creating and using fuel-saving stoves and rehabilitate the refugee-impacted areas in Zimbabwe
	Issues addressed	Combat deforestation around the camps and reduce firewood consumption. Afforestation and regeneration of remaining woodlands
	Objectives	Introduce locally available fuel-saving stoves Begin afforestation and regeneration of remaining woodlands Provide environmental education
	Results achieved	A portable stove called the Tsotso was chosen by refugee participants after field trials, and 17,000 stoves were distributed within the camp to individual households and institutional cooking centres. Distribution was complemented by training refugee women as stove monitors to train others and encourage the use of the stove, while a dance and drama group gave regular performances about the stove. Regeneration of remaining woodlands with the participation of both refugees and locals. For the locals, this brings long-term benefits because they can continue to care for the trees after the refugees have left. The refugees, despite their lack of long-term motivation to be involved, felt they could benefit from the training provided. 120 refugees were trained and camp nurseries produced more than 200,000 seedlings. Local communities managed the remaining woodlands, designating some areas as regeneration sites and working on various techniques to encourage regrowth. Drama, poetry, music, story-telling and other traditional methods have been used as tools to make refugees aware of the long-term effects of environmental degradation.
	Lessons learned	Early action in a refugee situation is imperative, not only for a sustainable environment but also for the sustainable future of both the local and refugee communities. It was noted that refugees were more receptive to tree planting within the camp (especially near their homes), and to planting quick-growing fruit trees. On a related point, because locals are usually more interested in tree planting for commercial reasons, environmental management must try to bring together both income-generation and environmental rehabilitation.
	Financing	Support for the programme came from various sources including SIDA, Stichting Vluchteling (the Netherlands), FAO, EEC, the Oak Zimbabwe Foundation, as well as UNHCR. While UNHCR has provided a modest contribution to the efforts of the FCC and now to SAFIRE, the credit for fuelwood consumption reduction in the camps and the creation of a more permanent organization to deal with environmental rehabilitation belongs to the NGO that initiated the fuel-saving stove project, and later to FCC and SAFIRE for their contributions to sustainable development in Zimbabwe.
	Contact	Mr. Y Mori, Senior Coordinator on Environmental Affairs, UNHCR, Case Postale 2500, 1211 Geneva 2 Depot, Switzerland. Mr. Gus Le Breton, (programme manager of FCC and later programme coordinator of SAFIRE) SAFIRE P.O. Box 398 Belvedere, Harare ZIMBABWE e-mail safire@mango.zw fax: 2634 790470