Page 26 - CCF

CCF’s Projects Sponsored by You
Biomass Technology Demonstration Centre
Bushblok - Saving the cheetah one block at a time
Guests to CCF’s Cheetah Eco-Lodges will notice a range of landscapes from open savannah
grassland to thornbush savannahs, which is the natural habitat of cheetah. However, most
of north-central Namibia shows areas of densely overgrown thornbush, known as bush
encroachment.
Bush encroachment is a result of overgrazing on land compounded by regular drought
cycles and the loss of large herbivores, like elephants and rhinos. Bush encroachment is a
particular problem for cheetahs as the sharp thorns can injure their eyes and blind them
while hunting.
CCF Bush Ltd. is an innovative woodland management plan to return the local landscape to
is natural state run by CCF’s General Manager, Dr. Bruce Brewer. CCF Bush Ltd. makes use
of encroached thorn bushes to produce an ecologically and environmentally-friendly, high
heat, low emission (smoke-free) briquette called Bushblok. Bushblok is processed on-site at
CCF’s Biomass Technology Demonstration Centre (BTDC).
CCF’s BTDC furthers its commitment to enhance the long-term survival of the cheetah
and other species by returning the ecosystem to its natural state, supplying Namibian and
international markets with low impact fuel, creating local employment and developing best
practice guidelines in biomass research and education in order to ensure that the land is
managed properly by future generations.
Guests at Cheetah View Lodge or Babson Guesthouse will be able to visit the BTDC and see
first-hand how this delicately balanced ecosystem is being returned to its former glory.