Environmental Implications of Charcoal Production and Supply to Bonga Town: The Case of Kefa Zone, Southwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Charcoal production is one of the major challenges for sustainability management of natural forest in Ethiopia. The study aimed to quantify the amount of charcoal produced and supplied from Bonga town surrounding districts and estimate its implications on the environment. Field surveys, household surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were done to collect charcoal production and supply data in the study area. The result revealed that on average a total of about 499 and 60728 bags of charcoal supplied to Bonga town every day and annually from the five major inlet sites, respectively. On average, 15 tons/day and 5448.8 tons/year of charcoals supplied to Bonga from five inlet sites of Gimbo and Decha districts. The tops three preferred wood tree species for charcoal production are Millettia ferruginea (Hochst.) Baker, Ehretum cymosa Thonn and Vepris daniellii (pichi-SerrnolIi) Kokwaro, of which two are endemic to Ethiopia. About 1,716,372 m3 of green wood, 1,492,497.4 m3 of dry wood and 71,071 trees were required on yearly basis from forest to produce and supply to Bonga town. Furthermore, 14,166.9 tons of CO2 equivalents emitted to the atmosphere per year due to charcoal production and supply in the study area. Thus, the high dependencies of the local community on the charcoal production and supply in the study area have negative effects on Kefa Biosphere reserve forest of Ethiopia and emit huge amount of greenhouse gas (CO2) into atmosphere. Hence, it is important to develop and implement an eco-friendly strategy that can simultaneously sustain the livelihoods of rural community, energy needs of urban dwellers and forest ecosystem of the region.