It has taken four hours to assemble the wood, and there is a tangible aura of fatigue surrounding the group as they turn toward the fearsome sun and begin their long journey home. Firstly, pilot studies have shown that the consumption of fuelwood can be reduced very significantly through the introduction of fuel-efficient stoves. In this case, the stove it plans to use is a low mass, portable stove, commonly found in the rural areas of Zimbabwe, that has been shown to reduce the consumption of firewood for cooking by as much as 60 percent. The scrub land is untouched. The beaches are pristine.
Elephants graze in tall reeds.
Shy game animals such as red forest duiker and grey reedbuck bounce through the brush. They are the surprising survivors of 15 years of civil war and drought that decimated wildlife in the rest of the south-east African nation. The unusual blend of wildlife and environmental features gained the area designation as one of the world's 200 special bio-diversity sites by the 1992 UN Earth Summit. Now an American businessman wants to build a huge game park and resort complex in the 232000ha territory complete with a five-star hotel, floating casinos and bush lodges with access to the tropical coast and wild interior. The government-approved project would bring badly needed investment and tourism to one of the world's poorest countries, struggling to recover from the war that ended in 1992.