A Small But Powerful Blue Flame in Nepal's Terai Arc
Conservation Dollars at Work

In Nepal, a blue flame is a positive and hopeful sign for both overcoming poverty and protecting the environment. The flame, powered by biogas, provides a valuable cooking source as well as light and heat for many homes.

It's life-changing because women are no longer stuck in unhealthy smoke-filled kitchens. And, they no longer have to search for firewood from wood debris or cut down trees or branches in nearby forests. That time can instead be spent on any number of other projects, from advancing an education to starting a business.

Earlier

Instead of burning about 5 pounds of wood each day for cooking, lighting and heating, a biogas stove burns none. Biogas homes are vital for reforestation and forest protection - forests that are home to elephants, rhinos and tigers.

Today there are 7,500 stoves in use in Nepal, saving 617 acres of forest annually-that's 33,000 tons of fuel wood saved. Each stove eliminates four metric tons of CO2 equivalents annually. And, in five years, we'll be well on our way to 40,000 biogas stoves across the Nepalese landscape. The blue flame really is a symbol of hope and success in Nepal and for WWF's work protecting amazing wildlife.

After biogas use