Mangrove Best Practices: Energy Efficient Cookstoves
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Coastal resilience
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Coastal wetland conservation
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Community resilience
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Mangrove Capital Africa
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Coasts & Deltas
Fuelwood collection from mangrove forests has long been essential for communities in Lamu, Kenya—but it has also contributed to severe forest degradation. To address this, Wetlands International launched a community-led initiative to introduce energy-efficient cookstoves, dramatically reducing the demand for mangrove wood while improving household health and resilience.
Through a participatory approach involving local artisans, training sessions, and cost-sharing, we helped communities build and maintain affordable, improved cookstoves. These new stoves use significantly less wood, reduce indoor air pollution, lower household costs, and create safer cooking environments. Already benefiting over 3,000 people in Lamu Delta, the initiative has generated strong demand for replication across the region and beyond.
Discover how our best practice approach, grounded in sustainability, capacity-building, and local empowerment, is conserving vital mangrove ecosystems while supporting livelihoods.
Download the leaflet to learn more about our model and how it can be scaled up to safeguard mangroves in other countries.
