BIOENERGY PROJECT SAVES CHEETAH HABITATS AND WINS 2008 INTEL AWARD

The Biomass Energy Project of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) (a Namibia-based international NGO with charity status) was awarded the 2008 Intel Environment Award. In an attempt to develop an “ecologically sound and economically viable habitat improvement program”, the CCF looked into the viability of an income generating initiative which utilizes an invasive African thorn bush as a resource. It came up with a biomass project which uses a technology to convert this invasive African thorn bush into clean biomass fuel. In so doing, the habitats of cheetahs and other wildlife species that have been threatened by the bush are saved. The biomass processing plant of the “Bush Project” uses a “high-pressure extrusion process” to convert the bush into a clean and economically viable alternative to firewood and charcoal. Aside from ensuring the survival of the cheetah and its ecosystem, the project provides income-generating opportunities for self-employed entrepreneurs in Namibia.