USING Sustainable Charcoal We seem to be in a damn if you do, damn if you don’t situation when it comes to the question of whether we should use charcoal for cooking, or not, especially for barbecues. If we do, we could be contributing to the depletion of our forest cover. If we don’t, we could be depriving many forest dwellers and indigenous peoples of their means of livelihood. Over the years, slash and burn farmers (kaingeros) have become unpopular because of the destruction that they bring to our forests and mountains. Many people do not even consider them as “farmers”, because they do not really plant the trees that they cut down. Sad to say, many of them are simply just hunter-gatherers, just like their ancestors. All told, the bottom line here is their means of livelihood, more like their means of survival, really. If they continue with their destructive ways, the forest will die. If we stop them from what they are doing, they could possibly die, from hunger and disease. So, what should we do? My solution is very simple. Teach them how to make charcoal from sustainable tree species, including mangroves and bamboo. We could also teach them to make charcoal by using only the leaves and branches of any tree, without cutting them down of course. Aside from that, they could also add rice straws, sawdust and dried grasses. IKE SENERES/5-20-24