A TLUD is a simple gasifier that is composed of a vertical tube that is filled with small pieces of wood, or densified biomass like pellets, balls or small briquettes. This is called a 'fuel bed.' It is ignited at the top, and underfed with primary air from a grate at the bottom. The ignition front travels down through the fuel by radiating heat into the raw fuel, drying it, and initiating pyrolysis. Released volatiles are ignited by the flame. The reaction is sometimes called a “migratory flaming pyrolytic front” (MFPF). Residual char is left on top of the fuel bed as the MFPF moves down.   

The burning volatiles create an orange gas flame for cooking.  Once pyrolysis is completed, the orange flame goes out, and the left-over char is colleded and smothered, or quenched with water.

We needed the "Akha," a culturally-appropriate TLUD for Bangladesh.  It had to be made locally, study, and made with with as little (imported) metal as possible.  Because of its heavy construction, it has a hinged grate for removing the char.  To protect the Akha for free use, an there is an open-access patent.  The current version of the Akha is a prototype being evaluated for acceptance, and obvious improvements can be made.

Environmental education: raised environmental awareness among community members and helped them better understand the balance between ecology and development through environmental education workshops.

Volunteer opportunities: the promotion of dry farming has led thousands of farmers in the surrounding communities to participate in the project, to be engaged throughout the process of trial planting, adaptation & adjustment as seen fit, and harvesting. They did not need to test out the effects in their own fields.

Skill trainings: improved the ability of the community to apply new technologies and new models to farming and herding methods. Assisted the community to set up new cooperatives.

Cooperating with Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, the project implemented "smart grassland management” on 200 hectares (3000 mu) of grassland in Helinge’er county, in combination with vegetation growth monitoring and use of meteorological data to determine the right time to start spring grazing. Herder were able to dynamically determine grazing time and intensity, as well as tailor the grazing plan with balanced grass and livestock. After 3 years of pilot work, the project has spearheaded the model of "grazing in warm seasons and feeding in cold seasons", suitable for the local area and other sites with similar conditions in the grassland of northern China.

The project helped the local farmers cope better with the accelerating water shortage, exacerbated by a changing climate. The farmers were embracing, the integrated technologies and practices of high-yield dry-farming, ecological dry-farming and soil testing formula fertilization, selected drought-resistant crop varieties, enhanced film mulching, and innovative irrigation to make full use natural precipitation. The approach—combining accessible data tools and new land management practices—has led to multiple benefits of water and fertilizer efficiency, and increased production and income.

In order to restore the degraded land, to increase the vegetation coverage and biodiversity, and to recover the ecosystem functions of windbreak and sand-fixation, the project employs the tertiary structure of "trees, shrubs and grass." Native species of trees, shrubs, and grass were selected for maximum ecological service function, including carbon sequestration and habitat potential. Since 2010, we have restored a priority area of 2,585 hectares of degraded land, as identified by the Helinge’er County Ecological Restoration Plan. Restoration activities included planting nearly 3 million trees that is estimated to capture more than 160,000 tons of CO2 over the next 30 years.

Aiming at gully areas with serious water and soil erosion, the project incorporated engineering and biological approaches, introduced new technologies such as a "biological blanket"(It is a high strength ecological slope protection tool made of a variety of naturally degradable materials. Biological blanket helps reduce soil erosion on the slope) and successfully restored nearly 600 hectare (9,000 mu) of soil and water loss areas in 14 gullies.

The environment is a continuum that is not bound by political-administrative boundaries. Unilateral measures that a country can take to protect a shared resource are generally ineffective and the unregulated use of the resource usually ends in its overexploitation and destruction.

Based on this, biodiversity conservation in areas of high ecological value in border areas should be done on the basis of cooperation and understanding between countries. However, these areas, far from the centers of decision making, are often not a priority for foreign ministries.

In these cases, civil society organizations play an important role, since they can move and articulate with a freedom that governments at different levels do not have.

To be effective, the governance of transboundary protected areas, such as the Tri-national Biological Corridor, requires the involvement of all stakeholders: local, regional and national authorities, entrepreneurs and organized civil society.

The second wave of COVID-19 in April, 2021 left India in deep distress, with rural and remote communities affected severely. These areas have a huge shortage of essential supplies and medicines, with primary health centre (PHC) workers being short staffed and overworked. Due to CWS’ strong on-ground presence and the implementation of Wild Surakshe workshops in rural Karnataka and Goa, we were able to directly observe the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on people in rural India.

The Wild Surakshe program has enabled us to build a network of several hundred people to act on the ground. Thus, our local field staff are well-equipped to provide support and help curtail the rapid spread of COVID-19 and similar zoonotic diseases in these areas.

We are currently using our resources to support over 500 PHCs across Karnataka and Goa by procuring COVID-19 essentials like face shields, PPE kits, oximeters, thermal scanners, gloves, masks, and medicines. Our field staff are also closely monitoring the state of these PHCs to offer any additional immediate assistance they need. By providing such immediate assistance during emergencies in our project areas, we want to ensure people are getting help when they really need it, and strengthen our ties to local communities and stakeholders.  

Key stakeholders such as Department of Wildlife Conservation, Divisional Secretariat & District Secretariats, Ministry of Environment, UNDP, Ocean Resources Conservation Association, University of Wayamba, IUCN, Sri Lanka Navy, Coastal Conservation Department, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency were involved in this project. Together the technical knowledge and experience of experts in the field, demarcation of the Bar Reef, designing of buoys, buoy deployment and allied activities were implemented.

While above named institutions provided the neccessary technical expertise, training and awareness and input for monitoring and evaluation, key local community members, such as members of the 'Tour Boat Society' (a society which was established for tour guides in the area), were also given the opportunity to participate in the demarcation activities to identify the GPS locations of the areas to be protected at Bar reef with the participation of specialists and other stakeholders. An identified team of locals, such as tour boat operators/guides were also involved as local volunteers to assist in monitoring and maintenance of the buoys and the protected zone.

Workshops are conducted in vulnerable villages focusing on public health and safety by trained CWS staff. Participants usually consist of families, frontline workers, government staff, and members of other non-profit and self-help groups. The workshops are conducted using illustrations, videos, and demonstrations. Each workshop has five sessions. The first session titled “ Our Wildlife'' introduces the participants to various wildlife species found in their landscape and their significance. The second session, “Preventing Injuries due to wildlife” teaches the participants how to coexist with wildlife and the do’s and don’ts of wildlife encounters. The third session titled “Responding to Wildlife Encounters” takes participants through the steps one can follow if a conflict incident such as livestock loss or injury takes place. The fourth session “Zoonotic Diseases'' shares important information on seven relevant zoonotic diseases - COVID-19, Nipah, Scrub Typhus, Kyasanur Forest Disease, etc. The fifth and final session “Basic First Aid'' teaches participants various basic first aid techniques through demonstrations. After each workshop, we also distribute safety guidelines and emergency contact information. To obtain feedback and evaluate effectiveness, we conduct pre and post surveys before and after each workshop.

Civil society acts as the driving force and articulator of the biodiversity conservation and nature tourism development proposal.

On the other hand, participation and co-management ensure a broad base of society to implement the proposal.

Local NGOs know the reality and problems of the area and are in horizontal contact with the inhabitants. In addition to identifying the problems, they can and should contribute to their solution.

Planetary health examines the ways in which human health is impacted by human-caused disruptions to the Earth’s natural systems. Within that definition is a feedback loop. Anthropogenic environmental changes affect the health of people. At the same time, the way people interact with the natural environment is influenced by their physical, social, and mental well-being and their economic security. This loop reiterates the interconnectedness of human health and environmental systems. It introduces the possibility of designing win-win planetary health solutions that recognize that a change in one system can trigger positive shifts within another. Ecological levers for public health are interventions in the ecosystem or conservation space that have positive outcomes for human health.