SILVER SPRING, Md.--Through ecologically responsible initiatives that protect and preserve nature, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) continues to promote sustainable development, providing assistance in vulnerable communities threatened by environmental degradation and declining natural resources worldwide.

ADRA's commitment to community development and the environment is allowing people to increase their access to food and water, benefit from higher agricultural productivity, and improve their opportunities for income generation without putting at risk any of their existing resources.

"Long-term development is impossible without the use of environmentally sustainable methods," said Charles Sandefur, president of ADRA International. "It is essential that we recognize our dependence on our planet and gain a deeper appreciation for its fragility."

In Ethiopia, ADRA recently completed a project that provides energy saving stoves to residents in the Oromiya region, improving awareness about environmental preservation and meeting the energy needs of the growing population. The stoves minimize the community's dependence on firewood by as much as 50 percent, producing less smoke than traditional fire stoves and protecting the health of the environment and of the general community as well.

In June 2008, ADRA completed an energy project in rural Nepal, providing 200 man-powered pedal generators to people living in remote regions who lacked access to centralized power systems. By pedaling for thirty minutes, a person can produce enough electricity from one generator to provide minimum light for 200 small rural homes for two weeks.

ADRA's Sustainable Livelihood and Agricultural Project (SLAP) is teaching farmers in northern Thailand sustainable agricultural methods that prevent soil erosion, provide more efficient natural resource management, and improve the quality of crops through organic farming techniques, including natural fertilization and pest management. Farmers also learn new agricultural methods that shift away from harmful slash and burn agricultural practices, which have been used traditionally to clear and fertilize lands, but directly contribute to increased soil erosion and air pollution.

By 2011, more than 40,000 people in the semi-arid Sahel region of Burkina Faso will have benefited from ADRA's N'Gurdam Leydi project, which means "protection of the earth" in the Fula language. Through this project, ADRA is helping farmers in 30 villages fight increasing desertification by using water and soil conservation methods, and increasing soil fertility. An estimated 150 farmers will be educated as trainers, and will then teach others how to protect and manage their natural resources. By the end of the project, ADRA expects to have planted 100,000 trees, dug six watering holes for cattle, and rehabilitated thousands of acres of land for agricultural use.

ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

For additional information, visit www.adra.org.