§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid he gives to schemes designed to substitute empty shells of coconut and other palm, fast-growing trees and other materials for mangrove, as fuel in coastal areas of developing countries. [26332]
§ Mr. BaldryResearch carried out by the Natural Resources Institute into the use of coconut shells as fuel, based on carbonisation with waste heat recovery, helped to develop technologies which are being used commercially in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. In addition, the 507W Overseas Development Administration continues to fund research into fast-growing tree species, to provide fuel and other products, through its forestry research programme managed by the Oxford Forestry Institute.
We have helped several developing countries in Asia and central America to carry out tree inventories of coastal zones, including mangrove forests. Most recently, the ODA has offered United Kingdom expertise to South Africa to help prepare strategies for managing its coast line and hopes to agree a coastal zone project shortly in Ghana.