Consumption Patterns of Fuelwood in Rural Households of Dolakha District, Nepal: Reflections from Community Forest User Groups

Abstract

Biomass plays a vital role in the energy supply of many developing countries. It is the major energy source for the rural population of Nepal, where 70 % of the total energy is derived from woody plant biomass in the form of fuelwood. The main aim of this study is to describe the fuelwood consumption pattern and the role of community forests and trees on private farmland in biomass supply to rural households in Nepal. The study investigates whether demography and socioeconomic attributes of households affect fuelwood consumption. A household survey was conducted, along with measurements of fuelwood mass for six community forest user groups in Dolakha district of Nepal. Average daily household fuelwood consumption was estimated to be 8.4 kg, giving a mean annual consumption of 3060 kg per household. Per capita fuelwood consumption per day was found to be 1.7 kg. Total fuelwood consumption of households is significantly correlated with household size, ownership of cultivated irrigated terraces and number of livestock per household, and negatively significantly correlated with ownership of cultivated rain-fed terraces. Fuelwood consumption varies significantly between seasons. Among various sources of biomass energy, fuelwood from community forests contributes 23 % and trees on private farmland contribute 12 %. The rest is provided from other biomass sources, including the remains of fodder collected from private farmland vegetation, wood previously used for fences and trellises in private farmland, crop residues, and purchased fuelwood.

Firewood management practice by hoteliers and non-hoteliers in Langtang valley, Nepal Himalayas

“…Household size with less than 3 member consumed 5240 kg firewood, 3-4 household size consume 8440 kg and household size 5 and above consume 9400 kg firewood annually.There is lack of data for comparative analysis of percapita daily firewood consumption from Mountain region. The Forestry Sector Master Plan reported that the annual per capita firewood consumption ranges from 480kg to 600 kg in Hill and Mountain region (MPFSP, 1989;Kandel et al, 2016). However, results of this study shows higher amount (2200kg) of annual per capita consumption.…”

Large anthropogenic impacts on a charismatic small carnivore: Insights from distribution surveys of red panda Ailurus fulgens in Nepal

“…While our data did not show any detectable influence of wood extraction on panda occurrence, we note that fuel wood is still a dominant form of energy use in mid hills of Nepal, including Dhorpatan [62,63]. Small-scale urbanization in the region [64] has led to increased demand for timber for construction [65].…”

Managing Biodiversity: Impacts of Legal Protection in Mountain Forests of the Himalayas

“…This diversity is the very basis for rural livelihoods in the Middle Hills of Nepal, as it provides vital ecosystem services such as fuelwood, timber, livestock fodder, and edible, aromatic and medicinal plants, in addition to harbouring important functions like securing water quality and flow regulation, carbon sequestration, erosion control, and regional climate regulation [10,[14][15][16][17][18]. Traditional sources of energy including fuelwood, agricultural residues, and animal dung dominate the energy sector in Nepal and constitute 84% of the total energy consumption (fuelwood alone contributes 75%) [19,20], as 83% of Nepal's population lives in rural areas where fuelwood is the dominant source of energy [21]. Approximately 40% of the livestock in the Middle Hills is fed with leaf fodder from ca 100 tree species [22], and oak species are the most heavily exploited [15,23,24].Unregulated resource extraction is a major threat faced by many forested areas in Nepal.…”