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

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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.

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Acknowledgments

The data used in this paper are part of the thesis of the first author, submitted in 2012 to Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal for partial fulfillment of the requirement of M.Sc. Degree. The authors would like to acknowledge the Norad’s Programme for Master Studies (NOMA) for providing financial assistance for conducting the research. The authors are grateful to program coordinator Professor Ram Prasad Chaudhary for his valuable support for this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Pratikshya Kandel

  2. Central Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Prem Sagar Chapagain

  3. Department of Geography, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Lila Nath Sharma & Ole Reidar Vetaas

Authors
  1. Pratikshya Kandel
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  2. Prem Sagar Chapagain
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  3. Lila Nath Sharma
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  4. Ole Reidar Vetaas
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Correspondence to Pratikshya Kandel.

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Kandel, P., Chapagain, P.S., Sharma, L.N. et al. Consumption Patterns of Fuelwood in Rural Households of Dolakha District, Nepal: Reflections from Community Forest User Groups. Small-scale Forestry 15, 481–495 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-016-9335-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11842-016-9335-0

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