The Dangers of Firewood

From the United Nations:

In displaced persons camps in Darfur, women -- who risk "only" being raped, rather than being killed -- face constant danger whenever they venture out of the camps to collect firewood. As Liv Ullman, honorary chair of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, reminds us, though, sexual violence is not the only threat associated with gathering firewood, and nor are women in Darfur the only ones who are endangered.

Nor is sexual violence the only aspect of the problem. Firewood, burned indoors, produces toxic fumes that threaten the health of children. The need for firewood is frequently a rationale for keeping girls out of school. And its collection -- which often includes cutting down trees on agriculturally marginal land -- is a major factor in irreversible environmental degradation.