TREE PLANTATION AND FUEL DISTRIBUTION

More than 2,000 hectares of forest have been lost due to the expansion of campsites after the arrival of over 750,000 Rohingya since August 2017. According to the Bangladesh Forest Department, tens of thousands of trees have been cut down to set up camps, make furniture and cook food. Increasing temperatures and severity of monsoons in Bangladesh threaten sustainable reforestation and make it difficult to search for wood. The financial cost of this destruction is over $220 million USD (Tk 1,865 crore), and the long-term environmental consequences are even more dire. Additionally, firewood scarcity means that Rohingya – largely women – spent hours searching for firewood in dangerous conditions. In crowded shelters, smoke inhalation and open flames presented further hazards to refugee health.  

To mitigate increased carbon output and recover from the economic, environmental and health costs of firewood collection, FIVDB is an implementing partner for Fuel Distribution and Tree Plantation Programs under the Strengthening Humanitarian Preparedness Response (SHPR) project funded by UKaid, in Camp 14, Ukhiya, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

To date, Rohingya community members receiving stipends from FIVDB have planted over 2,000 trees in Camp 14. We provide pre- and post-plantation training on agricultural maintenance to participating community members.

We also distribute compressed rice husk (CRH), clean cooking fuel (liquified petroleum gas, or LPG) and stoves for refugee shelters to reduce dependence on wood-based energy. Our program has supported over 7,000 beneficiaries since 2018:

• 3,997 Liquified Petroleum Gas Packages (Stove, LPG Cylinder and 4-5 Refills)

• 2,581 Environmentally-Friendly Cooking Stoves

• 2,331 Compressed Rice Husk

FIVDB supports the installation of cooking fuel in beneficiary households through training, refills and infrastructure support. LPG and CRH fuel are a cleaner, greener and safer replacement to firewood. The switch to cooking stoves is an important step towards food security, climate change mitigation and improved health in the Rohingya camps.