For cooking in the Great Lakes Region (Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda), the population uses charcoal and firewood, as biogas is scarce and expensive in this region.
Due to population pressure, private trees (charcoal and firewood sellers) alone cannot meet the demand for charcoal and firewood.
To supply this demand, charcoal sellers illegally exploit protected areas at night. Under resourced and underprepared, agents tasked with protecting the forest often don't; they are easily bribed by the carpenters or charcoal sellers to let them cut trees in the forests.
