4.9 Woodfuel supply sources and species

The woodfuel flow in Kundasale area exhibits 3 main features. The first is the local consumption of locally produced woodfuel. The second feature is that all local consumers depend on a range of supply sources, so trees in agricultural and non-agricultural areas, and grown and self-regenerated ones are of immense importance. The third feature is the lack of linkages between these rural areas and Kandy urban area. As a result, the woodfuel trade in the rural areas is separated from the urban trade. The trade is not organised, so individuals arrange their own supplies.

Tree planting practices are widespread in the area and almost all the households interviewed in this study grow trees that contribute to meeting their fuelwood needs. In fact, homegardens across the country are more accurately described as tree gardens. The wide use of coconut in food preparation also provide them with coconut shells which are burnt with wood sticks, husks, twigs etc. These traditional practices are important aspects to be understood because the flow patterns and the users' dependence on woodfuel trade partly depends on what is needed and available.

Although, consumption and supply are not quantified, the nature of woodfuel supply sources were investigated during the interviews. A general pattern is associated with the production systems owned by the households. Supplies are primarily from the homegardens and fences and hedges. Homegardens and live fences are widespread in the whole area. The isolated trees in farmlands, reservations etc., are supplementary sources of supply.

A noteworthy feature is that no households heavily depend on traders. Nor do households tend to buy stacked wood. Locally purchased woodfuel types are produced in homegardens. In about 63 percent of the reported purchases, coconut branches, fronds and husks have been noted, while in the remaining cases the purchases are from saw mills. The saw mill owners interviewed in this study revealed that the saw logs primarily come from homegardens. So the wood shavings purchased for domestic cooking and other industries are produced in homegardens although the saw mills act as intermediaries.

The fuelwood used in rural industries is mainly locally produced. The pattern noted here is that stacked wood is sold in bulk to industries, whereas unstacked wood is sold for domestic cooking. This difference is also noted in transportation. Transportation for industries takes place in relatively larger quantities in carts and tractors, while headloading is for self-consumption.

Another noteworthy feature is that no one mentioned that they grow or utilize species solely for fuelwood in the study area. Fuelwood is one of the main outputs, but often reported as a by-product of trees. The people involved in the community forestry project in Digana mentioned that only the branchwood of eucalyptus is used for fuelwood and trees are primarily grown for timber. This means that most of the wood is obtained at times of coppicing and branch pruning.

A wide range of species are used. According to the respondents, all species, except ficus which has some religious significance among Buddhists, are used as fuelwood, but actual use depends on availability. Field enumerations showed that nearly 39 species have been listed by the households and at least 15 species have been recorded from each village. The most widely recorded species include gliricidia with 96 recordings, jak with 83 recordings, coconut with 44 recordings, sapu with 43, coffee with 42 recordings, and kududaula with 38 recordings (see Table 28). This pattern is a reflection of the importance of species with coppicing and branch pruning potential to meet fuelwood needs. Gliricidia, which is the most common fast growing species available in the area, is the most widely used. While coconut provides dead branches and other parts as well as husks and shells, all products of other species are available at pruning or coppicing times. In fact, when excess is obtained these species supply some stocks for the market.

The ownership of supply sources has no impact on the use patterns. With regard to all three types of household land: homegardens, fences and hedges, and other farm lands, women own comparatively fewer units (see Table 29). Women have access and rights to gather fuelwood from all these units, irrespective of men's legal ownership rights. The men's greater ownership rights means power in making decisions regarding the marketable wood, and trade. The interviews conducted at 15 households revealed a quite striking segregation in the selling of fuelwood. In all cases the primary responsibility of procuring fuelwood for cooking is borne by women. Yet, when fuelwood is harvested or larger stocks are derived at tree felling, better round wood segments are separated from twigs. The twigs are retained as fuelwood for women for domestic cooking, while the better segments crosscut by men go for sale, as a source of cash income. This is a clear gender specific segregation in the woodfuel business in the rural areas.

TABLE 29: SOURCE OWNERSHIP BY GENDER