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Final Report, Fuelwood Resource Survey of Sri Lanka, 2016 - Kegalle District

Hydrodynamics and Geophysical Survey (Pvt.) Limited

Final report

Fuelwood Resource Survey

Project Contract Agreement Nr. 074/15/048/GFF

Starting date: 27 JULY, 2015

Date of the report: 28.03. 2016

Prepared for

The food and agriculture organization of the United Nations

Prepared by


March, 2016

Kegalle District



Table of Contents

No Title Page No

Table of content 2

List of Figures 3

List of Tables 4

Abbreviations 5

RESULTS- KEGALLE DISTRICT

1.0 Background of Kegalle District 06

1.1 Geographical Location 07

1.2 Demographic Characteristics of Kegalle District 08

1.3 Lnad use and Land cover in Kegalle District 10

1.4 Demographic profile of the study area 11

1.5 Energy use and energy related characteristics of the study area 13

1.6 Sources of fuelwood

14

1.7 Production of fuelwood 17

1.8 Management of different source of fuelwood 18

1.9 Purchasing fuelwood by households 23

1.10 Resources of fuelwood 25

1.11 Knowledge and attitude on fuelwood 27

1.12 Willingness to grow of fuelwood 30

Enterprise Survey Results

1.13 Types of enterprises 35

1.14 Use of energy, Prices, and Supply Chain 35

1.15 Issues and challenges 36

Results of Key Informant and Focus Group Discussion

1.16 Main production source/system 37

1.17 Barriers and strategies for promoting fuelwood growing 38

1.18 Issues arising from commercial supply and Industrial applications

Projections of fuelwood potential – Kegalle District 39



1.19 Fuelwood potential of the study area 39

1.20 Land availability 44

List of Figures

No Title Page No

1.1 Location map of Kegalle District 07

1.2 Population Distribution of Kegalle District 09

1.3 Spatial distribution of the household level production of production of

fuelwood in Kegalle District

16

1.4 Percentage households that use different materials of fuelwood 22

1.5 Types of fuelwood available for purchasing and the person who is

engaged in purchasing

24

1.6 Availability of different fuelwood resources for buying in different

sources

25

1.7 Cost of different types of fuelwood available for purchasing 25

1.8 Degree of access to fuelwood by households in Kegalle District 28

1.9 Degree of access to fuelwood during last two years in some selected

land use types apparent in Kegalle District

28

1.10 The wiliness to grow fuelwood at different levels of educations and

family sizes in Kegalle District

30

1.11 Preferred clones by those who willing to grow fuelwood in Kalutata

District

31

1.12 Distribution of those who are willing to grow fuelwood by different

land use type in Kegalle District

31

1.13 Different aspect on which training is needed by those who willing to

grow fuelwood plantations

34

1.14 Spatial distribution of the projections of potential for fuelwood under

different land use patterns in Kegalle District

43

1.15 Spatial distribution of the available land that has a potential for

growing fuelwood species

45



List of Tables

No Title Page No

1.1 Climate data for Kegalle District 07

1.2 Population by DS Division in Kegalle District 10

1.3 Land use and Land cover in Kegalle District 10

1.4 Age composition by male and female population of the sample

population in Kegalle District

11

1.5 Distribution of Sample by Level of Education 12

1.6 Distribution of Home garden by Size 13

1.7 Household energy use by the source of energy and the purpose in

Kegalle District

14

1.8 Different fuelwood sources, monthly average fuelwood collection per

household and the proportion of households that utilize different source

of fuelwood in Kegalle District

15

1.9 Average production of fuelwood and proportion of households engaged

in collection of fuelwood by different land use types in Kegalle District

17

1.10 Frequency of collection of fuelwood from different sources and gender

involvement

19

1.11 Average distance from household to different sources of fuelwood 19

1.12 Time (min) taken to transport fuelwood from various sources to the

household

20

1.13 Fuelwood harvesting method practiced by collectors for different sources

of fuelwood

21

1.14 Purpose of using fuelwood collected by households from different

sources of fuelwood

22

1.15 Percentage of households who purchase fuelwood, per capita household

level monthly consumption and monthly expenditure for purchasing


23

1.16 Frequency and the source of buying fuelwood in area with different land

use patterns

24

1.17 Composition of tree types available in home gardens in Kegalle District 26

1.18 Composition of the tree species available in the fence of the home

gardens in the study area

26

1.19 Preferred fuelwood species by the uses of fuelwood in Kegalle District 27



1.20 Perception of fuelwood collectors on the access to fuelwood 29

1.21 Comments expressed by the respondents for and against growing

fuelwood

30

1.22 Type of land used for planting, expected extent for planting, needs for

growing, expected benefits and person who will engage in fuelwood

plantation in Kegalle District

33

1.23 Reasons for those who are not willing to grow fuelwood plantations 34

1.24 Fuel wood potential in Kegalle District 41

1.25 Available extents of lands (ha) by land use and DS divisions in Kegalle

District for growing fuelwood species

44

Abbreviations

CDB Coconut Development Board

CRI Coconut Research Institute

CSD Census and Statistic Department

DO Development Officers

DOF Department of Forest

DSD Divisional Secretarial Division

EDB Export Development Board

FW Fuelwood

GCP Ground Control Points

GND Grama Niladhari Division

HH Households

LU/LC Land use and land cover

LUPPD Land Use Policy Planning Division

RDD Rubber Development Department

RRI Rubber Research Institute

TRI Tea Research Institute

TSHA Tea Smallholder Authority



1.0 Background of Kegalle district

Kegalle is one of the districts belong to Sabaragamuwa province, Sri Lanka. Kegalle district

has an area extend of 1,693 Km2 along with 837,179 population according to 2012 Census

which is approximately 4.0% of the population of Sri Lanka. Kegalle district has eleven

Divisional Secretariats. They are, Mawanella, Galigamuwa, Ruwanwella, Dehiowita,

Daraniyagala, Aranayaka, Yatiyanthota, Kegalle,Rambukkana,Warakapola and

Bulathkohupitiya .

Kegalle district has been an evidenced encouragement for many local and folklores and the

art. Therefore it has been a successive hand to open the gallery of the arts for many talented

artists to be rewarded. The origin of the “Kohomba Kankariya” is a significant heirloom of

the district. Traditional dancing and the “Thovil” ceremony were promoted through the

“Kohomba Kankariya”. Besides this artistry has brought several traditional generations to the

theater.

The generations of Deewela, Udagama, Makura, Muddanawa, Dewanagala, Dehimaduwa,

Halmassa, Herathgama, Agama, Elamaldeniya, Kotawella, Baddawaththa and Higgoda take

the priorities in these practices of dancing. Kegalle district is also famous for their art and

craft. Dewanagala, Wakirigala, Danakirigala, Dadigama, Ambulluwawa, Kela Dambulla,

Salawa, Yatahalena, Karadulena and Lenagala of art and craft are also remarkable places to

identify these artistries and their talents.

History

The proud history of Kegalle district dated back to the stone age of Sri Lanka. It is an

assortment of proven evidences of the present day city formation. There had been a

prosperous civilization in Kegalle district in 28000 years ago.The caves of Beli lena,

Dorawaka lena, Alu lena, Asmadala, Padavigampola, Batalegala,Lenagala, Ambala Kanda,

Halamada, Heenatipana, Uthuwankanda, Beligala,Salawa, Yahalena, Salgala and Kela

Dambulla endow with the evidences for that.

Kegalle district belongs to Maya Rata of the three divisions of Sri Lanka. In the In the latter

half of the Sinhalese kingdom and also by the ruling period of the British, it was noticed.in

that time Kegalle district had been divided in to three parts.They are “Sathara Koralaya”,

“thun Koralaya” and “Patha Bulathgama”.

The great historian Mr. H.C.P.Bell puts in writing the etymological name of the city in his

writing of „Kagalu Record‟ as follows,”King Walagamba was assembling the worrier cadres

to win over the Tamil enemies.In this mission one day the king was en route from Dambulla

to Salgala passing Danagirigala and Akiriyagala and waited to have a respiration in one of the

rock-strewn there.The king enjoyed a quid there and forgot the golden quid lid there. Later

by, as with the proceeding of the journey the king looked for the quid for another time and

remembered that it was there forgotten on the rock–strewn where he enjoyed the refreshment.

So the king proclaimed that identified spot as „Ke -Gala‟, which means to us in English as

the rock-strewn where he ate the quid , to remind the place and that gradually followed its

evolutionary name as „Kegalle‟ to the modern-day name.” (http://www.kegalle.dist.gov.lk)



Kegalle district is consists with many natural resources which contribute towards the

betterment of mankind. Among them Water resource has the highest value with consists of

enriching discharge and recharge areas of water. District recharge it‟s catchments from both

Monsoon rains and the cyclones. The city is mainly nourishing with Kalani River and Ma

Oya. Both the Gurugoda Oya and Seethawaka stream to Kalani River and Higul Oya and

Rabukan Oya stream to Ma Oya from Kegalle District.

1.2 Geographical Location

Kegalle district is situated in between the central highlands and western southern plains of Sri

Lanka with tropical climate consisting with rich bio diversity. The absolute location of the

Kegalle district lies in the North of the equator in between the North Longitudes of 6 50” and

7 20”and between the East latitudes of 80 10”and 80 35”. It bounds by Kurunagala district in

North, Rathnapura district in South, Gampaha and Colombo districts in West, and Kandy and

Nuwara Eliya districts in East ends. Eastern region of the district is located closer to the

central highlands and the average height exceeds 1,800 m while the western region is less

than 100 m above the sea level. There is a 48 Km from North to South and 32 Km from East

to west extend which demarcate the territory of Kegalle district.

Figure 1.1: - Geographical Location of Kegalle District

Source: - Department of Survey, Department of Census and Statistics



Climate

Kegalle district consist with tropical climatic features. The rainfall in Kegalle is significant

with precipitation and even during the driest month precipitation can be seen. The annual

rainfall is between 2500 mm to 3000 mm. The least amount of rainfall occurs in January and

in October the precipitation goes high. The deviation of rainfall is 69 mm to 391 mm. The

temperature varies from 25.1 0C to 27.6

0C. January is the coldest month of the year. The

temperatures are highest on average in April.

Table1.1: Average annual Temperature and Precipitation

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Average 0C 25.1 26.1 27.3 27.6 27.3 26.6 26.3 26.4 26.3 26.1 25.7 25.3

Average 0F 77.2 79 81.1 81.7 81.1 79.9 79.3 79.5 79.3 79 78.3 77.5

Precipitation mm 69 76 136 276 290 212 204 145 234 391 305 155

Source: - http://en.climate-data.org

1.2 Demographic characteristics

Majority of the population are Sinhalese. Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils make a

significant minority. Other ethics including Muslims are a part of the population of Kegalle

district. Buddhism is the main religion of Kegalle district. Hindu and Islam religions can

observe in the district also. Majority of the population belongs to 30-34 years of age group

when considering the age composition.

Warakapola DSD has the highest population in Kegalle district. But Mawanella DSD is the

second highest with a very slight difference from Warakapola. Therefore both Warakapola

and Mawanella can be identifies as the DSDs with highest population more than 100,000.

Compared to Warakapola Mawanella DSD indicates a rapid increase in population during the

decade. Mawanella, Warakapola, Rambukkana and Dehiovita are the DSDs which indicate

more increase in population where as other DSDs has comparatively low population increase.

There are no any DSD in Kegalle district with a declining trend of population. When

compared the population density Kegalle and Mawanella DSDs have the highest with more

than 800 people per sqkm and Rambukkana the second highest.



Figure 1.2: Population Distribution by DS Divisions in Kegalle District

Source: - Department of Survey, Department of Census and Statistics



Table 1.2: - Population by DSDs in 2001 and 2011 Census year

DS Division 2001 2011 Deference

Aranayaka 65606 68,147 2,541

Bulathkohupitiya 45429 46,813 1,384

Dehiovita 73602 81,441 7,839

Deraniyagala 44370 45,479 1,109

Galigamuwa 68737 73,942 5,205

Kegalle 85946 90,494 4,548

Mawanella 100280 111,307 11,027

Rambukkana 74858 82,373 7,515

Ruwanwella 58231 63,313 5,082

Warakapola 105279 112,583 7,304

Yatiyanthota 56838 60,711 3,873

Grand Total 779176 836,603 57,427

Source: - Department of Census and Statistics

1.3 Land use and Land Cover in Kegalle District

According to the table 1.3, the highest percentage of land use is for home gardens. The

percentage is 34.97. Among the land use in Kegalle district 30.62% is use for rubber

cultivation. Rubber is the main cultivation in Kegalle district. Other agricultural cultivations

are tea, coconut and paddy. Among them Paddy fields cover 10717.50 Ha, and it is 6.33%

from the total land use. Tea and coconut take 2.48% and 3.93% from the whole land area

respectively. Except these crops, some other field crops can observe in Kegalle district. The

percentage is 1.12.Chena cultivation covers 0.02% of the total land use. It is the lowest

percentage of land use in Kegalle district. And also built up areas cover 29.0 Ha from the

land, and the percentage is 0.02 of total land use.

Table 1.3: Land use of Kegalle District - 2014

Land use Extent (Ha.) Percentage

Non-Agricultural Lands Built up areas 29.00 0.02

Agricultural Lands Home gardens 59200.57 34.97

Tea 4201.88 2.48

Rubber 51839.40 30.62

Coconut 6655.75 3.93

Paddy 10717.50 6.33

Other field crops 1894.49 1.12

Chena 40.78 0.02

Forest Lands Forest 6908.28 4.08

Forest Plantation 3272.32 1.93

Scrub 4694.49 2.77

Water bodies 860.24 0.51

Other (Marsh, Mangroves, Roads, Rivers Etc.) 18984.30 11.21

Total 169300.00 100.00

Source: Land Use Policy Planning Department



Forests cover 6908.28 Ha area from the total area of the district. Forest plantation can be seen

in the district and the percentage of it is 2.27. There can be seen a quiet high percentage in

land use for scrub. Water bodies cover 860.24 Ha of the land in district. As a percentage it is

0.51 from the total land use. The rest of land of Kegalle district is use in marsh, mangroves,

roads and rivers. It takes 11.21% from the whole land use.

This part of the report basically covers the survey results extracted/generated from different

tools and techniques implemented in the study area. These tools were formulated and

designed based on the Terms of Reference (TOR) and the project objectives. This report

provides the data and information collected from Kegalle district and comprises five sub

sections relating to the study area; Demographic profile, Energy use and energy related

characteristics, Energy users and Enterprises, Potentials for fuelwood and Land availability

for fuelwood production.

1.4 Demographic Profile of the study area

The demographic aspects/composition of any region is directly influenced for any sort of

development activities, especially labour intensive rural area based projects. The proposed

fuelwood enrichment project basically targeted on rural areas of the country. Therefore, this

section of the report has drawn the attention for the demographic composition of Kegalle

district under four sub sections which are very relevant to the project objectives. They are

respectively; i). male/female dichotomy of the population, ii). age composition iii). level of

education, iv). home gardens and plot sizes.

The household survey conducted in Kegalle district covers around 1,698 people in selected

GN divisions and household heads accounts for 26 percent of the total persons. In the sample,

the male to female ratio is apparently observed as one to one (See Table 1.4). In terms of age

composition, 24 percent of the total population is below 19 years while about 69 percent of

the sample is below 50 years.

Table 1.4: Age composition by male and female population of the sample population in

Kegalle District

Age Group Male Female Total

No % No % No %

0-9 100 51% 95 49% 195 10%

10-19 163 59% 115 41% 278 14%

20-29 141 50% 142 50% 283 15%

30-39 160 51% 152 49% 312 16%

40-49 128 49% 135 51% 263 14%

50-59 102 43% 134 57% 236 12%

60> 175 47% 200 53% 375 19%

Total 969 50% 973 50% 1,942 100%

Source: Fuelwood Resource Survey, 2015

This reflects the fact that the sample consists of relatively young people which can accept the

innovative ideas and can be contributed for labour requirement of the area. In terms of marital

status, married persons account for over 56 percent of the sample population. The sample



consists of people whose educational achievements remain on an average level. However,

about 8.8% of the sample hasn‟t got school education. It can be observed that those who have

entered into the school have however continued their studies beyond grade five. Over 75%

per cent of the total sample population has passed GCE O/L while about 7% percent of the

sample has passed GCE A/L. However, no one found in the sample who has perceived higher

studies beyond GCE (A/L) (Table 1.5).

Relatively a higher level of education has few implications relating to fuelwood growing.

Firstly, it indicates that it is relatively easy for policy makers to educate people on the

benefits of fuelwood growing. Secondly, it could be relatively difficult to pursue people to

engage in fuelwood growing type agricultural activity since they may have higher expectation

with regards to employment. Finally, they may expect higher returns given the level of

education and most part of the district being semi-urbanized.

Table 1.5: Distribution of Sample by Level of Education

Level of Education Number Percentage Cumulative Percentage

No Schooling 131 8.82 8.82

Grade 1 - 5 - - -

Grade 6 – 10 107 7.20 16.02

O/L Passed 1,146 77.12 93.14

A/L Passed 102 6.86 100.00

Degree and above - - -

Total 1,486 100.00


In terms of labour market status, nearly 26 percent of persons work as employees while

around 34 percent remains economically inactive. It can be seen that economically inactive

people in the study area is 8 percent higher than those who are employed. One of the reasons

for high economically inactive people is that a greater number of working age people pursues

higher studies in full time. Unemployed population accounts for 9 percent of the total persons

surveyed which is rather a high figure and reasons behind this should be further investigated.

Unpaid family workers and own account workers accounts for 8 percent and 15 percent

respectively.

The comfort at the house is reflected through no or rooms, construction materials, and

ownership status. Average room number of a house in the area under study is about 4.7. For

instance over 80 percent of houses cover more than 250 square feet of floor area. Similarly,

nearly an 80 percent of houses are constructed using either bricks, or cement block. Nearly 69

percent of the total houses either constructed by owners or inherited. Implication of these

characteristics is that demand for fuelwood may dropped gradually at household level thereby

having a greater excess of fuelwood for industrial use. Hence, it is possible to collect a

sizable amount of fuelwood at household level if a proper mechanism for collection is

introduced.



In terms of land ownership, size of the home gardens of nearly 59 percent of the households

are less than one-fourth of acreage while about 23 percent of the households owning a half an

acre. Nearly 3 percent of households own home garden sizing over two acres (Table 1.6).

Table 1.6: Distribution of Home garden by Size

Plot size (Acreage) Number Percentage Cumulative Frequency

Less than 0.25 290 58.7 58.7 0.25 – 0.5 112 22.67 81.38

0.5 – 0.75 21 4.25 85.63

0.75 – 1.0 40 8.10 93.72

1.0 – 2.0 15 3.04 96.76

Over 2.0 16 3.24 100.00

Total 494 100.00


By ownership, it is evident that in most household, male own the home garden (64%) though

women engage in home garden related cleaning and production activities. Female ownership

of home gardens was 25% while 10% of the cases were joint ownerships. Home gardens are

in most cases legally owned by the household owners (91%) while there some number of

homewards with permit and encroached. The composition of trees in most homewards

consists of timber and food, accounting nearly 79 percent of home gardens. A 1% of home

gardens exclusively owned food trees while there ware another 20% of home gardens having

only timber trees. Apart from the home garden, 10% of households own a paddy land while

20% of households own another highland.

Owning relatively a smaller home garden poses challenges to promote fuelwood growing in

home garden in several ways. First, relatively smaller home gardens may already occupied

with some species intending to provide food and/or timber. Second, it is also possible that

owners may have abandoned live fence, rather having man-made fence. Finally, possibility is

high for further land segmentation.

1.5 Energy use and energy related characteristics of the study area

Different source of energy and their uses at households in Kegalle District is given in the

Table 1.4. It can be clearly noticed that energy use at households mainly depends on three

sources viz. Electricity, Gas and Fuelwood. However, fuelwood plays a vital role in cooking

producing hot water and drying purpose being respectively used by 93%, 57% and 17% of

the sample. High usage of fuelwood for cooking and hot water producing can be considered

as accepted hypotheses as Kegalle district which is predominantly a rural area except several

semi urbanized arias and large townships located in Valleys of Sabaragamuwa Province.

Electricity is used mostly for lighting (82%) and operating appliances (81%) in households of

the area while very few (5%) use other energy sources (kerosene and solar power) for the

same purpose. Further it can be observed that 38% of the sample use electricity either

exclusively or alternatively for cocking purposes. However, the results in Table 1.7 indicate

that there could be maximum of 18% in the sample who do not have electricity yet which

should be further investigated before a firm conclusion. Use of gas for cocking (41%) is

somewhat higher than use of electricity in the households in Kegalle. Compared to use of



electricity, less number of incidences are observed using gas for heating and producing hot

water.

Table 1.7: Household energy uses by the source of energy and the purpose

Energy Source Purpose/Usage (Values are in percentage)

Cooking Commercial

Cooking

Heating/

Drying

Hot

water

water

Lighting Appliances

Agric. Residues 8% - 0% - - -

Electricity 38% 0% 10% 16% 82% 81%

Gas 41% 0% 5% 12% - 0%

Fuelwood 93% 1% 17% 57% - 0%

Forest Residues 0% - - 1% - -

Kerosene 1% 0% 0% 0% 2% -

Solar power 1% - 0% 0% 2% 2%

Charcoal 0% - - - - 0%


Note: As there are some combine usages total exceed hundred

Similarly in other Districts under investigation, during the field survey, it was observed that

most households, even in remote areas, possess a gas cylinder and/or electric appliances

showing their readiness to use alternative energy sources if required. Hence, it could be

expected that households gradually switching into Electricity and Gas due to increasing

opportunity cost and scarcity in fuelwood supply. However, it is quite difficult at this stage to

understand what drive alternative energy uses and the rate of substitution among alternative

energy sources. A Multinomial Logistic regression framework could shed valuable insight

into those information areas. Such information is imperative in determining policy

alternatives. Hence, it is recommended to conduct detailed and rigorous analysis before

making policy recommendations.

1.6 Sources of fuelwood

The sources of fuelwood have defined as “Fuelwood sources are in general are the places

where fuelwood is generated. In the local context, potential for fuelwood could be variable

due to many reasons which should be clearly understood especially during the planning and

management purposes pertaining to sustainable use of fuelwood as an energy source”.

In Kegalle district, it has been identified through the field survey that about 83% of the

households used to collect fuelwood from eight (08) sources depicted in Table 1.8. Majority

of collectors, 65% and 35% respectively use home gardens and tree crop plantations for their

fuelwood needs. Compared to other districts, it is not trivial to observe an intensive use of

tree crop plantations as a source of fuelwood in Kegall being one of the majour rubber

growing districts of the country. About 7% of the population use saw mills for their fuelwood

needs while 1% of households collect fuelwood respectively from state forests and mixed

farms. However, use of forest plantations, scrub lands and fallowed fields for extraction of

fuelwood is minimum. This suggests that fuelwood available in home gardens and tree crop

plantations may be rather adequate to satisfy the household demand for fuelwood in the

district.



Relatively a large collection from Natural Forest indicates potential challenges to create a

market for fuelwood. It may be possible that households increase the use of forest for

fuelwood collection, whenever it is feasible, for selling and home consumption provided

there is a good price for fuelwood. However, it might be interesting to know what determine

the use of different sources for fuelwood collection as well as how household keep switching

to different sources for fuelwood. It is required to conduct a rigorous regression analysis in

identifying such information and it is beyond the scope of the present study. Such analysis

could shed lights on determinants of rate of utilization of alternative sources under changing

socio-economic-demographic conditions. Similarly, such analysis provides valuable insight

to identify right policy mix either to encourage or discourage the use of any source for

fuelwood collection.

On the other hand, in terms of the volume of monthly fuelwood collection (kg/month), state

forests and mixed farms are very prominent whilst home gardens have become into second

place which is being used by the majority of collectors. Not only the use but also the volume

of fuelwood collected from scrub lands, forest plantations and fallowed fields are quite low.

However, regardless the source, average monthly fuelwood collation in Kegalle District is

estimated as 221 Kg with a standard deviation of 22.3Kg.

Table 1.8: Different fuelwood sources, monthly average fuelwood collection per

household and the proportion of households that utilize different source of fuelwood in

Kegalle District

Source Mean

(kg/month)

SEM Trimmed

mean

Proportion

(p)

SD of p

Home garden 285.2 33.8 33.6 0.651 0.477

Tree crop plantations 130.3 31.1 43.8 0.317 0.465

Saw mills 109.3 44.2 41.9 0.068 0.252

State forest 614.0 284.4 35.0 0.010 0.099

Mixed farms 694.0 474.1 56.7 0.010 0.099

Fallowed fields 38.3 10.9 38.3 0.006 0.077

Reserved lands 20.0 0.0 20.0 0.004 0.063

Forest plantation 50.0 - 50.0 0.002 0.045

Other land 47.5 9.3 41.0 0.064 0.245 SEM-Standard Error of Mean, P – proportion of Fuelwood collecting households, SD- Standard

Deviation;

Note: Data has been sorted in ascending order based on proportion values.


It is also important to know what determine the amount of collection in forecasting future

demand patterns with respect to fuelwood use. There may be several factors that determine

the amount collected ranging from socio-economic to rate of substitution between work and

leisure. The traditional labour supply model often shows how household members allocate

time among alternative purposes such as farming, water collection, fuelwood collection,

attending social event, and leisure. Such decisions are often taken after considering the

marginal utility/benefit and marginal costs of engaging in tasks. Further, amount collected is

also influenced by the technical substitution of energy use at household level – consumption



and production, as well as in the general economic environment. A rigorous analysis on

amount collected and method of collection may provide valuable information on estimating

future fuelwood extraction so that it is possible to calculate to what extend fuelwood

availability will be used at household level.

Spatial variation of fuelwood collection by household at Grama Niladhari level is given in

Figure 1.3. However these are estimated (Interpolated) values based on the sample data

collected though the household survey.

Figure 1.3: Spatial distribution of the household level production of production of




Spatial distribution of fuelwood collection may be driven by several factors. Among them,

the availability of sources and resources as well as socio-economic condition in a given

geography may play key roles. However, it is imperative to know to what extend these and

other factors affect the variation in fuelwood collection by GN division. A decomposition

analysis may help in identifying „endowment effect‟ and „price effect‟ of spatial variation in

fuelwood collection. It might also be important to know how people keep changing the

sources of collection against the amount of collection, however, such analysis is beyond the

scope of the present study.

1.7 Production of Fuelwood

This section examines fuelwood production by type of land uses categories (Table 1.9). Some

of the aspects viz. production by different sources and spatial distribution of total amount of

fuelwood collected in a month by a unit of household have been discussed.

Based on the figures given in Table 1.6, 47% of the households live in rubber growing areas

collect fuelwood from various sources at a rate of 64.4Kg/month. In areas where homesteads

are majour land uses, 42% of the households engage in collection of fuelwood. The highest

rate of fuelwood collection by a household, 2222 Kg/Month is reported in areas where paddy

is majour land use and only 6% of households involve in fuelwood collection. Such high rate

of fuelwood collection looks an unusual task by a household who collects fuelwood for own

consumption. This could be possible if the collectors do it for selling purposes and maintain

adequate stocks of fuelwood. An eight percent of fuelwood collectors are found in coconut

prominent areas in Kegalle district at a rate of 623 Kg/month which is only second to that of

in paddy growing areas. Apparently, lower extraction rates of fuelwood are maintained by

the collectors (75% of the total collectors) in areas where rubber, forest and homesteads have

become majour land uses which is an indication that they collect fuelwood mainly for own

consumption. Sometimes they may be alternatively using fuelwood together with other

energy sources such as gas and electricity to satisfy their total energy needs. This brings

evidence for underutilization of the fuelwood sources in these areas where there may be a

good potential for producing commercial fuel wood if people are motivated thorough proper

awareness and a proper mechanism for selling fuelwood.

Table 1.9: Average production of fuelwood and proportion of households engaged in

collection of fuelwood by different land use types in Kegalle District

Land Use Mean

(kg/month)

SEM P SD of p

Coconut 623.2 126.5 0.08 0.05

Forest 48.1 7.4 0.05 0.05

Homestead 78.4 16.4 0.24 0.04

Paddy 2222.2 197.9 0.06 0.05

Rubber 64.4 5.7 0.47 0.04

Scrub 1420.0 153.1 0.03 0.05

Mean- mean amount of fuelwood collected by household (kg/month), SEM-Standard Error of

Mean, p – proportion of Fuelwood collecting households, SD- Standard Deviation

Note: Data has been sorted in ascending order based on mean values




The average production of fuelwood may partly be driven by the availability of resources,

access to different sources as well as the harvesting methods. In forest and other lands,

amount of availability is quite heavy compared to other sources. However there may be some

issues with assess into the forests; especially with respect to the existing law of forest

reserves. Similarly, extraction of fuelwood in coconut and built-up area take place largely

through collection of dried/fallen parts. Compared to those, species available for fuelwood in

paddy, scrub, and barren lands are limited as well as in poor quality. Hence, it is quite natural

that people collect more from Home garden. However, it is imperative to understand the

determinants of fuelwood production at different land use categories in order to encourage

people to use existing sources much more efficient manner. It might be possible that the level

of fuelwood collection may be low at present due to lack of understanding about species as

well as due to use of unsustainable methods in harvesting. There might be possibilities to

increase fuelwood production by making aware or introducing method of harvesting.

1.8 Management of different source of fuelwood

It is very important to understand the current use and the management of different sources of

fuelwood before any intervention going to be made in fuelwood production. In this context,

based on the survey, frequency of fuel wood collection, distance to different sources, time

taken to harvest, harvesting method, materials harvested and purpose of harvesting have been

considered as the aspects of management.

Frequency of collection, distance to the source and transport time

Frequency of fuelwood collection by the gender from different sources is given in Table 1.10

while average distance to the respective sources from their household is given in Table 1.11.

It can be seen that in Kegalle, females‟ involvement in collection of fuelwood is about 83%

while that of in males‟ is rather low (56%). However, when it comes difficult to access

sources of fuelwood such as sawmills, it can be noticed that mans‟ involvement in fuelwood

collection has become higher. Moreover, it can be inferred that greater the difficulty of

fuelwood collection, the lesser the frequency of fuelwood collection viz. once in a month,

once in two or more months. Mostly women tend to collects fuelwood frequently from the

sources with easy access.



Table 1.10: Frequency of collection of fuelwood from different sources and gender

involvement

Source of fuelwood

Frequency of collection*

Male Female Both

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

Home gardens 6 2 2 1 1 15 18 10 2 4 14 9 7 4 3

State forests - - - - - - - - - - 33 - - - 67

Forest plantations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Tree crop plantations 1 5 5 6 2 7 8 13 7 4 6 4 12 10 8

Fallowed fields - - - - - 100 - - - - - - - - -

Reserved lands - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mixed farms - - - - - - - - 50 - 50 - - - -

saw mills 14 - 9 5 27 - 5 - 5 14 - - 5 9 9

Other sources 5 5 - 11 - 5 11 5 - 5 - 16 - 16 21

Overall 5 3 3 3 3 12 14 10 4 5 10 8 8 6 6

* 1 – Daily, 2 – Weekly, 3 – once In two weeks, 4 – monthly, 5 – once in two/more months.

Note: Cell values are in percentages


Based on the survey, home gardens are reported as the closest sources of fuelwood to the

households (Table 1.11). However, time taken to transport fuelwood from home garden to

houses is rather high (1hr and 38min). During the survey it was observed that informants

were reluctant to disclose about the use of fuelwood sources relevant to forests, especially the

sources belongs government and/ or covered by the law. Moreover, their uses by the

households for fuelwood was observed to be minimal which may be a consequence of

restrictions apply in access to these sources, longer distant to travel and more time taken to

transportation of fuelwood. The longest distances recorded respectively to the sawmills,

forest plantations and state forests which is about two kilometer households.

Frequency of visiting to any given source may reflect, in addition to what is mentioned

above, management practices relating to fuelwood collection, storage, as well as the use. A

detailed regression analysis could shed lights on what drive the frequency of use. Frequency

of use certainly increases the opportunity cost of using fuelwood as well as level of resources

extraction. Hence, it is possible to introduce new management practices to household so as to

rationalize the frequency of visiting thereby reducing the unsustainability of some sources.

However, before making policy recommendation on rationalizing the frequency of use, it is

imperative to understand what determine the frequency of visit.

Table 1.11: Average distance from household to different sources of fuelwood

District Distance to different Source of fuelwood (meters)

Home

gardens

State

forests

Tree crop

plantations

Forest

plantations

Fallowed

fields

Reserved

lands

Mixed

farms

saw

mills

Other

sources Kegalle 275.5 1802.0 1008.5 2000.0 1333.3 1000.0 975.0 2344.1 2011.3

(98.1) (955.6) (64.9) - (333.3) - (460.8) (497.2) (1231.8)

Note: All distances are in meters. The values within parentheses are slandered errors of mean

(SEM)




Time (min) taken to transport fuelwood to the household from different sources is given in

Table 1.12. The longest durations taken for transportation of fuelwood were respectively

from reserved lands, mixed farms and state forests which exceeds four hours‟ time, being

they are the most distantly located source of fuelwood in the area. Consequently, its use has

been restricted to about 1% of the sample. Although sawmills are the most distantly located,

the average time taken for transportation is little less than an hour. Hence it is not trivial to

understand that high time taken to transport fuelwood from the source to the house is not only

determined by the distant but also depends on its difficulty to access and mode of

transportation. However time taken to transport fuelwood to houses for its own home garden

looks rather high which may be due to the following reasons.

Mode of transport from home gardens is mainly by foot whilst others use different

modes of transport

Mainly females is involved for transporting fuelwood from the home gardens whilst

transporting fuelwood from other sources by males.

When collecting fuelwood from forest plantations or tree crop plantations collectors

are hurry to move unlike in home gardens.

Time taken for fuelwood transportation and/or the distance indicate a part of cost paid for

fuelwood even if people own them from nature. Most of the people opted to home garden

source for collecting fuelwood, as discussed previously, partly due to the cumbersome

process of transportation. If analyzed in details, it might be possible to estimate the implicit

cost of fuelwood for collectors. Such analysis could shed lights on implicit cost variations

among collectors thereby making them aware on alternative policy options for them relating

to energy use. Such information may rationalize the use of fuelwood thereby encouraging

people to plant fuelwood species at home garden rather than depending on source far away

from the household.

Table 1.12: Time (min) taken to transport fuelwood from various sources to the

household

District Source

Home

gardens

State

forests

Tree crop

plantations

Forest

plantations

Fallowed

fields

Reserved

lands

Mixed

farms

saw

mills

Other

sources

Kegalle 78.41 240.00 151.32 - 120.00 340.00 240.00 55.63 74.31

(4.61) (73.48) (8.36) - (34.64) - (34.64) (15.45) (12.13)

Note: All values are presented in minutes. Values within parenthesis are standard error of the

mean (SEM)


Fuelwood harvesting methods used by the collectors in different sources of fuelwood

appeared in the study are given in Table 1.13. Regardless of the source, about 88% of the

collector harvest dried and fallen parts of the trees (residues) while about 8% use pruning as a

method of fuelwood harvesting. However in Kegalle district cutting trees for fuelwood

reported minute (1%) which is practiced only in home gardens, tree crop plantations and

other sources (Table 1.10). It can be further noticed that people mostly accustom to adhere to



low, being 100% of the users refrain from using either pruning or cutting as a method of

harvesting for extraction of fuelwood from forest plantations and reserved lands which can be

viewed as a positive character in the fuelwood collecting community of Kegalle. However,

some incidences of pruning trees done for fuelwood reported in state forests which is allowed

to by the law.

Table 1.13: Fuelwood harvesting method practiced by collectors for different sources of

fuelwood

Source Harvesting method

Residues1

Pruning Cutting Off cuts

Home gardens 93% 6% 1% -

State forests 80% 20% - -

Tree crop plantations 90% 9% 1% -

Forest plantations 100% - - -

Fallowed fields 60% 40% - -

Reserved lands 100% - - -

Mixed farms 100% - - -

saw mills - - - 100%

Other sources 68% 29% 4% -

Overall 88% 8% 1% 3% 1Residues are defined as the dried wood parts (twigs, branches etc.) generated or either fallen

from the trees the source.



It is required to carry out a detailed study in fuelwood harvesting methods practices at

household level in order to (a) make it sustainable, (b) maximize the production, and (c)

make it environmental friendly. The harvesting method may be determined by several socio-

economic factors such as opportunity costs, type of species, quality of species, land-

ownership, labour availability, and level of difficulty. It is imperative to understand what

influence most in practicing a given method in diffident land use types. A regression

framework could valuable insights in understanding this information. Hence, it is highly

recommended to conduct a detailed analysis in order to identify policy options for

rationalizing harvesting methods at household level under the overall objective of

maximizing fuelwood production for industrial use.

Materials collected as fuelwood

Different plant parts collected by the households are depicted in Figure 1.4. Twigs are

collected by 90% of the households while branches and tree logs are collected respectively by

59% and 25% of the households. About 27.5%, 4.5% and 3.5% households respectively use

twigs, branches and logs exclusively. Here is an 11% who use all three materials of fuelwood.

Further, it is observed that the household sector largely depends on twigs and branches

indicating the potential for industrial sector to use the stem, if not used as timber. Difficulties

in handling stem and large branches may be one of the reasons for not using the stem at



household-level. In addition, opportunity costs may also plays a key role in limiting to twigs

and branches. This reflects the fact that it is quite easier for the industrial sector to use stem

without disrupting the fuelwood use at household level. Further, it is also possible to promote

growing fuelwood for home consumption since twigs and branches could be harvested with

short time span.

Figure 1.4: Percentage households that use different materials of fuelwood

Purpose for fuelwood collection

Purpose of fuelwood collection by different sources is reported in Table 1.14. A 96% out of

the 58% of fuelwood collectors use their fuelwood for cocking. A 3% of them collect

fuelwood for selling while about 1% of them use collected fuelwood for some sort of

household based industry. Based on the sample, some households tend to sell part of the

collected fuelwood from home gardens for cottage industries. As per the sample, 100% of the

fuelwood collected from state forest, forest plantations, fallowed fields, mixed farms and

reserved lands are used only for cocking which indicate that only noncommercial fuelwood

are extracted from these sources. Forest plantations are not allowed for commercial fuelwood

by the law which is abided by the fuelwood collectors in the area. However, there is a

potential for using home gardens, tree crop plantations and fallowed fields for producing

commercial fuelwood.

Table 1.14: Purpose of using fuelwood collected by households from different sources of

fuelwood

Source Proportion of

collectors

Proportion of collectors by purpose of use

Cooking Selling Industry

Home gardens 65.1% 98% 1% 1% State forests 1.0% 100% - -

Tree crop plantations 31.7% 95% 4% 1%

Forest plantations 0.2% 100% - -

Fallowed fields 0.6% 100% - -

Reserved lands 0.4% 100% - -

Mixed farms 1.0% 100% - -

Saw mills 6.8% 95% 3% 3%

Other sources 6.4% 89% 11% -

Overall 83.2% 96% 3% 1%

11.1% 27.5%

3.5%

4.5%

9.4%

42.8%

1.2%

Twigs

Branches

Logs



1.9 Purchasing fuelwood by households

Based on the sample household survey, it can be identified that 18% of the fuelwood users

meet their requirement of fuelwood through purchasing of which percentage of households

who purchase fuelwood, their per capita household level monthly consumption and monthly

expenditure on fuelwood in the surveyed area are given in Table 1.15. There is about 12% of

the users who are exclusively buy fuel wood for the purpose of using at households while the

rest (6%) purchase fuelwood to satisfy their needs over the collected amount for fuelwood.

Moreover, during the survey it was found that 13% of the households subjected to the survey

don‟t use fuelwood at all. More than 70% of households among those who purchase

fuelwood are found in homesteads and rubber growing area. Highest average amount of

fuelwood purchased by a household (792kg) is reported in areas where paddy farming is

prominent and the cost incurred on fuelwood also is the highest. This is somewhat unusual

and should be subjected to further investigation before come into a firm conclusion.

Table 1.15: Percentage of households who purchase fuelwood, per capita household

level monthly consumption and monthly expenditure for purchasing fuelwood in

Kegalle District

Land use Buyers Amount

(kg/month/household)

Cost

(LKR/month/household)

Coconut 11% 792.0 (648.4) 6473.08 (2434.83)

Forest 3% 24.0 (16.0) 1740.00 (614.49)

Homestead 37% 106.2 (53.4) 1125.83 (126.52)

Paddy 11% 2.1 (1.1) 2709.09 (287.13)

Rubber 37% 107.0 (26.7) 1792.97 (269.66)

Scrub - - - - -

Tea 1% 15.0 - 4000.00 2000.00

Values within parenthesis are standard error of the mean (SEM)


Frequency and sources of buying

Frequency and the source of burying fuelwood by households in area with different land uses

in Kegalle District are given in Table 1.16. Based on the survey data, most of the households

buy fuelwood on monthly basis in all areas of which the overall proportion is about 67%.

Compared to the other areas frequency of purchasing is rather high in homesteads and rubber

growing areas. About 4% of the households purchase fuelwood daily in homesteads in which

townships are also included. It can be noticed that fuelwood is mostly either purchased from

the nearby venders or delivered into the houses all areas under investigation. Being used by

50% of buyers, the delivering mechanism looks quite popular in the area which should be

further investigated for more details.



Table 1.16: Frequency and the source of buying fuelwood in area with different land use

patterns

Land use Frequency of buying Source of buying

Daily Twice

a week

Weekly Monthly Delivered Nearby

vender

Market

Coconut - 14.3% - 85.7% 21.4% 71.4% 7.1%

Forest - - - 80.0% 33.3% 66.7% -

Homestead 3.7% 3.7% 44.4% 48.1% 39.3% 57.1% 3.6%

Paddy - - - 100.0% 81.8% 18.2% -

Rubber - 18.2% 13.6% 68.2% 58.6% 34.5% 6.9%

Scrub - - - - - - -

Tea - - - - - - -

Overall 1.5% 9.0% 23.9% 65.7% 50.0% 45.5% 4.5%


Types of fuelwood available for purchasing

Types of fuelwood available for purchasing and the person who is engaged in purchasing are

illustrated in Figure 1.5. Based on the survey results 25% of females is used to purchase

fuelwood while 75% of males engage in buying fuelwood. Cut & splits, Large splits, Small

bundles of fuelwood and small branches are the most commonly available resources of

fuelwood for purchasing which are popular among 81% of fuelwood buyers. Large wood and

cut logs accounted for 13% of the purchases. Availability of roots and sawdust as fuelwood in

the market is minimal (6%).

Figure 1.5: Types of fuelwood available for purchasing and the person who is engaged

in purchasing

Following figure (Figure 1.6) depicts distribution of various fuelwood resources available for

purchasing at different sources. It can be noticed in Kegall, that all types of fuelwood can be

either get delivered into houses or purchased from nearby vendors. However roots, cut logs,

large splits and small bundles are not available to purchase from marker. Based on the results

of the survey, 93% of the households get fuelwood either from nearby vendors or through

delivery while rest of them gets fuelwood from the market. Less popularity of market as a

14%

21%

20%

26%

5%

8%

4%

2%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Small branches

Small bundle

Large splits

Cut & splits

Large wood

Cut log

Roots

saw mill dust

Male

Female



source of buying fuelwood can be viewed as consequence of unavailability of most preferred

fuelwood types in the market.

Figure 1.6: Availability of different fuelwood resources for buying in different sources

Cost of different types of fuelwood available for purchasing is given in Figure 1.7. Cut logs

and cut and splits recorded the lowest prices among the other types of fuelwood. Small

branches showed the highest price among the other fuelwood types available to purchase.

However roots, small bundles and large splits showed a price around Rs 5.00/Kg which is

comparatively a reasonable figure

Figure 1.7: Cost of different types of fuelwood available for purchasing

1.10 Resources of fuelwood

In this context, mainly refer to the species from which fuel wood can be extracted.

Composition of the available tree species in the home gardens and its fennecs and tree species

preferred for fuelwood were examined during the survey.

62%

68%

39%

48%

56%

25%

33%

51%

31%

32%

61%

34%

44%

75%

33%

42%

8%

17%

33%

7%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Small branches

Small bundle

Large splits

Cut & splits

Large wood

Cut log

Roots

saw mill dust

All

Delivered

Nearby vendor

Market

0.00

3.00

6.00

9.00

12.00

15.00

Small

branches

Small

bundle

Large

splits

Cut &

splits

Large

wood

Cut log Roots saw mill

dust

Fu

el w

ood

pri

ce (

LK

R/

Kg)

Types of fuelwood available to purchase



Composition of tree types available in home gardens in the area under investigation is given

in Table 1.17 which potentially can be used as resources for fuelwood. Tea, Gliricedia,

Coconut, Rubber Mahogani, Aricanut and Jack were prominent in home gardens which

accounts for 96% of the tree composition apparent in gardens found in Kegalle district.

Another 36 tree species were randomly found in another 1.4% of home gardens in the district.

However about 2.6% the tree species were unable to be specified by the informants.

Table 1.17: Composition of tree types available in home gardens in Kegalle District

Tree type RF Tree type RF

Tea 50.88% Kenda 0.05%

Gliricedia 17.22% Cashew 0.04%

Coconut 9.28% Jambu 0.03%

Rubber 8.12% Sadikka 0.02%

Mahogani 3.53% Mangus 0.01%

Puwak 2.57% Pihibiya 0.01%

Jack 2.33% Tabili 0.01%

Mango 0.83% Hora 0.01%

Sapu 0.55% Tamarin 0.01%

Rabutan 0.48% Cinnamon 0.01%

Cloves 0.38% Ambarela 0.01%

Acteriya 0.18% Aatha 0.01%

Pepper 0.12% Lunumidella 0.01%

Alipera/Pera 0.10% Nadun 0.01%

Banana 0.10% Daslabu 0.01%

Duriyan 0.08% Mannokka 0.01%

Albeesiya 0.07% Kubuk 0.01%

Del 0.06% Dadun 0.01%

Coffee 0.05% Beli 0.01%

Mara 0.05% Weralu 0.01%

Milla 0.05% kithul 0.01%

Teak 0.05% Other 2.65%


Composition of the tree species available in fences of home gardens in the study are is given

in Table 1.18. It can be noticed that gliricedia dominates in the fences (34%) while mara,

Mahogani, Aricanut and Atteriya are also apparent in the fences. However, 28% of the tree

species in the fences of home gardens were not recognized by the informants.

Table 1.18: Composition of the tree species available in the fence of the home gardens in

the study area

Tree type RF

Gliricedia 34%

Mara 19%

Mahogani 9%

Aricanut 6%

Atteriya 3%

Other 28%




Survey reveals that the species listed in Table 1.19 as most preferred tree types for fuelwood.

76.6% of respondents indicated Rubber as the most preferred species for fuelwood followed

by Mahogani, Gliricedia, Sapu, Coconut, Mara and Albesia good tree species for fuelwood

respectively. The high preference on rubber may be a consequence of being Kegalle one of

the major rubber growing districts in the country.

Table 1.19: Preferred fuelwood species by the uses in Kegalle District

Preferred species Preference

Rubber 76.6%

Mahogani 8.7%

Gliricedia 6.6%

Sapu 3.8%

Coconut 1.0%

Mara 0.7%

Tea 0.7%

Albeesiya 0.3%

Other 1.4%


1.11 Knowledge and attitude on fuelwood

During the survey attention has been given for household level awareness and attitudes on

various aspects related to fuelwood viz. access to sources and resources of fuelwood,

perceptions on fuelwood collection, and conflicts during fuelwood collection and attitudes on

planting fuelwood tree species.

Access to fuelwood sources and resources

The degree of access to fuelwood in Kegalle District is depicted in the following Figure

(Figure 1.8) which indicates regardless the land use type; the access to fuelwood by the

households doesn‟t looks rather hard. As far as last ten years are concerned, 63% of the

fuelwood collectors have indicated the access to fuelwood is hard while 24% are in favor of

easy access. Rest of the informants kept neutral regarding the access to fuelwood. As

depicted in Figure 1.9, there is no significant change with respect to thee access to fuelwood

apparent in recent years compared to that of in last decade. However access to forests for

fuelwood seems to be bit difficult.



Figure 1.8: Degree of access to fuelwood by households in Kegalle District (1=much

easier, 2=easier, 3=no change, 4=difficult, 5=more difficult)

Figure 1.9: Degree of access to fuelwood during last two years in some selected land use

types apparent in Kegalle District (1=much easier, 2=easier, 3=no change, 4=difficult,

5=more difficult)

Perceptions on the access expressed by informants of the survey are illustrated in Table 1.19.

About 12% of the informants have expressed their views in favor of the difficulty of the

access to fuelwood while about 88% of them have expressed their views on easy access to

fuelwood in Kegalle District. About 75% of informants say that fuelwood can be easily found

in home gardens and other sources in the surrounding. Table 1.20 brings more evidence in

favor of easy access to fuelwood in the area which is apparently depicted by Figures 1.7 and

1.21 However, it is imperative to find out what causes the difficulty, within a sectoral or

macro-level study, since possibility is quite high that the industrial sector also experiences the

same if present status quo continue without policy intervention.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

1 2 3 4 5

Per

cen

tag

e

Degree of hardness to acess

Last 2 year

Last 10 year

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

1 2 3 4 5

Per

cen

tage

Degree of hardness to acess

Coconut

Forest

Homestead

Paddy

Rubber

Scrub

Tea



Table 1.20: Perception of fuelwood collectors on the access to fuelwood

Comment Frequency

Difficult to find fuelwood 6%

12%

Limited space 4%

Wood transport difficult 1%

limited land 1%

Find fuelwood at home garden 47%

88%

Easy to find fuelwood 28%

Collect fuelwood in surrounding 7%

Easy to buy from the market 3%

Reduce the cost 1%

Collect fuel from Protected area 1%



Conflicts during fuelwood collection

An 83% of respondents said that they have not experience any conflict during collection of

fuelwood while 14% did not respond to the question. However, evidence for conflicts during

the collection of fuelwood has been reported by 3% of the respondents who didn‟t reveal the

exact reason and the nature of the conflicts.

Perception on planting trees for fuelwood

About 24% of highlighted the need of planting trees for fuelwood while 65% of the

informants expressed that there is no need to plant trees dedicated for fuelwood. There were

another 12% of respondents who had a neutral idea on planting trees for fuelwood. About

22% of the sample further revealed their perceptions on planting fuelwood tree species out of

which 55% highlighted why growing plants for fuelwood is necessary while 45% them

reason out the difficulties in planting trees for fuelwood (Table 1.21). Based on the survey

results, most of the respondents reluctant to grow fuelwood since land have become a

limiting factor. 24% of the respondents like to grow plants although there are under some

limitations in favor of growing fuelwood species.

Further, it was reviled during the study that 2% of the respondents have already grown plants

for fuelwood. However, information on extra income gained from grown fuelwood plants

were not disclosed properly during the survey.



Table 1.21: Comments expressed by the respondents for and against growing fuelwood

Comment Percentage respondents

Against growing plants for fuelwood

55%

Limited Lands 40.4%

Unlike grow plant 3.7%

No one at home to cultivate 3.7%

Due to health reasons 1.8%

Unnecessary to plant 0.9%

Due to occupation 0.9%

No idea 0.9%

Available in own area 0.9%

No time 0.9%

No facilities 0.9%

For growing plants for fuelwood

45%

Like to grow plant 23.9%

More suitable 10.1%

Must grow economical plants 4.6%

Easy to find fuel 2.8%

As income source 1.8%

Land availability 1.8%


1.12 Willingness to grow fuelwood

During the survey, it was observed that 16% of the households of Kegalle District are willing

to grow fuelwood if it becomes a profitable business. Based on the analysis based on a binary

logistic function it was found that level of education and household size has a statistically

significant impact on the willingness to grow fuelwood in the District. The wiliness to grow

fuelwood at different levels of educations and family sizes are depicted in Figure 1.10.

Figure 1.10: The wiliness to grow fuelwood at different levels of educations and family

sizes in Kegalle District

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Primary Gr 5-9 GCE O/L GCE A/L & above

Family Size

Pro

bab

ility

Lev

el



It can be notices that with the education there is a high potential to be willing to grow

fuelwood plantations which is an important piece of information in planning fuelwood

growing programs. Out of those who are willing to grow fuelwood have mentioned that they

are willing to grow Coconut, Gliricedia, Rubber, Sapu, Mahogani, Tea, Cinnamon and Mara

of which the distribution is given in the Figure 1.11. About 73% of the respondents prefer to

grow tree species of which the primary benefit is not producing fuelwood. However, 24% of

the respondents prefer to grow gliricedia which has been recognized as a major energy crop.

These determinants highlights that it is possible to promote fuelwood growing only if it is a

lucrative business.

Figure 1.11: Preferred clones by those who willing to grow fuelwood in Kegalle District

The distribution of those who are willing to grow fuelwood by different land use type is given

in Figure 1.12. It can be noticed that those who expressed their interest in growing fuelwood

distribute in all areas except where coconut is the major land uses. Most of the persons

willing to grow fuelwood (51%) can be found in homesteads where home hardens are

apparent.

Figure 1.12: Distribution of those who are willing to grow fuelwood by different land

use type in Kegalle District

24%

24%

9% 9%

6%

6%

3%

3%

18%

Coconut

Gliricedia

Rubber

Sapu

Mahogani

Tea

Cinnamon

Mara

Other

1%

51%

10% 10% 12% 16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Co

conu

t

Forest

Hom

estead

Pad

dy

Rubber

Scru

b

Tea

Pro

po

rtio

n

Land use



Expectations of those who willing to grow plants for fuelwood

Type of land for planting, expected extent for planting, needs for growing, expected benefits

and person who will engage in fuelwood plantation are given in Table 1.22. Most of those

who are willing to grow fuelwood plantations (15%) plan to accommodate some space in

their home garden with the expectation of either using for own consumption or earning an

extra income. About 73% of the prospective growers prefer to choose selective planting as

the fuelwood growing system. Another 24% of them prefer to plant fuelwood planting in

either in mixed land or any other system apart from monoculture and integration. A four

percent of the potential growers prefer to monoculture while no one liked integration.

However, those who willing to grow as mix lands (12%) prepared to allocate more lands

compared to other instances. Basically, most of them (78%) highlight that training and some

financial aids are required if fuelwood growing should be promoted. However another 22%

are willing to grow with a support from training only. As depicted in Figure 1.13, training on

management practices and need of new scientific knowledge were highlighted as their

training needs during the survey.



Table 1.22: Type of land used for planting, expected extent for planting, needs for growing, expected benefits and person who will

engage in fuelwood plantation in Kegalle District

Approach Type of land 1Average

Land

extent

Need Expected benefit Who engage in

Home

gardens

Other

lands

Upland Training Training

+ Funds

Training

+ Funds

+ Other

Income consumption Both Male Female

Integration - - - 42.5 - 2% 6% - 1% 7% 6% 6%

Mixed land 4% 4% 4% 336.0 6% 2% - - 6% - 4% -

Monoculture 4% - - 67.0 2% 5% 2% 4% 1% 1% 6% 2%

Selective

planting 42% 31% - 212.5 14% 13% 31% 11% 25% 26% 44% 24%

Other 12% - - 10.0 - 5% 14% 7% 3% 7% 6% 4%

All 62% 35% 4% 192.3 22% 25% 53% 22% 36% 42% 63% 37%

1 Average land extent allocated for planting by a household that is willing to grow fuelwood plantations (area given in “Purchas”)




Figure 1.13: Different aspect on which training is needed by those who willing to grow

fuelwood plantations

The reasons for those who are not willing to grow fuelwood plantations (74% of the sample) are

given in Table 1.23 Most of the respondents (54%) highlighted either land is limited or existing

lands are already occupied with some economic activity which refrain them to engage in growing

fuelwood. Another 19% of them highlighted the sparsity of labor as an issue. About 5% of

respondents are reluctant to grow fuelwood since they have no land ownership, because

fuelwood plantation is a long term venture. About 14% of the population shows a less inters in

growing fuelwood species since they are busy and time is limited.

Table 1.23: Reasons for those who are not willing to grow fuelwood plantations

Reason Percent respondents

Limited land 36%

Limited workers 19%

Lack of space 18%

Busy 8%

Limited time 6%

No land ownership 5%

Due to Older people 3%

Available from home garden 3%

Lack of money 2%

Don‟t like 1%


57%

38%

5%

Need training

Need instruction

Need new scientific

knowledge



Enterprise Survey Results

1.13 Types of enterprises

The enterprise survey was conducted among 10 business enterprises covering 01 fuelwood seller,

01 saw mills, 02 roadside eating houses, 02 medium-size hotels, 01 home-based food supplier,

03 bakeries. The survey was conducted during the month of December 2015 and in most cases,

the owner or the manager of the enterprise happened to be the respondent to the questionnaire

and the most of them at least studied up to Grade 07. The majority of owners/managers of the

businesses was male who are between 35-50 age group. In terms of employment, each business

entity employs less than 5 employees.

1.14 Use of energy, Prices, and Supply Chain

All business entities (fuelwood users), except 01 hotel and 01 bakery, use fuelwood for meeting

their heating requirements. The non-users also have the experience of using fuelwood in the past

and they switched to other sources of energy, such as Gas and Electricity, due to various

difficulties. The hotel that does not use fuelwood maintained that it is quite difficult to access

and to handle fuelwood thereby forcing them to use alternative sources of energy. Further, the

hotel is of the view that there is no comparative advantage in using fuelwood as price of gas has

come down in recent months.

The fuelwood seller disclosed that they supply fuelwood to both houses as well as small business

entities. In addition to selling fuelwood at his yard, seller also has a network of retailors. There

are few sources through which seller collect fuelwood. Among them, the collection from his own

land is promitant. According to him, in most cases, payment is made when fuelwood is collected

from private lands. In terms of species, rubber has become the main source due to the good

demand from both households as well as from business entities. In addition, various other species

such as Ginisapu, Gliriria, Maara and Kanda are also traded. The saw mill owner revealed that he

has been experiencing that the market for fuelwood as well as for saw-dust keep growing over

the last decade. According to him, up to some four to five years ago, saw-dust disposal had

become a major challenge for saw mill owners, however, selling saw-dust has currently a

thriving business due to major industries keeping buying at a reasonable price per kilogram.

Moreover, the owner highlighted that saw-dust has a good demand from home-based industries

such as string-hopper producers. The nearby bakeries, hotels, road-side eating houses, and

households buy off-cuts at the mill consist of various fuelwood species.

Out of the 02 hotels interviewed, only one is using fuelwood currently for its heating

requirement. It uses fuelwood, all most all the species available at saw-mills and/or suppliers,

however, the owner of the hotel revealed that he prefer to have rubber branches or stem as

fuelwood species since it is convenient to handle and heating is good. It is also revealed the

business entity buys around 700-800 Kg of fuelwood per month. The other hotel pointed out that

it stop using fuelwood due to difficulties in handling, dirtiness, as well as rising prices. More



importantly, the hotel pointed out that there is not comparative advantage in using fuelwood

given the time taken for handling fuelwood and parparing foods. At present, the hotel depends on

Gas and Electricity in food preparation. A detailed discussion revealed that, out of the reasons

pointed out in not using fuelwood, dirtiness, emission, and the time taken for preparing food

when using fuelwood are main reasons.

The survey also covered 03 bakeries and two of them are using fuelwood while the other use

electricity. It was revealed that they pay up to Rs. 1,200 per load of 250-300 Kg. The two

bakeries heavily depend on saw mills. In terms of species, Rabbur, Sapu, Tekka, Maara, Jack and

Gliseria are preferred by the bakeries and often found in saw mills. In addition, the bakeries

receive fuelwood from suppliers operating in the neighborhood on irregular basis, from land

clearing and pruning of trees in home garden and other lands. Main roots of rubber trees are

preferred by bakeries even if handling is quite difficult.

The discussion with owners/managers of business enterprises revealed that one of the main

reason for using fuelwood is the price factor.. They are of the view that any relative price

increase (fuelwood price relative to gas price) could force some number of existing fuelwood

users to switch to other energy sources, mainly Gas and Electricity. Fuelwood collecting

business highlighted the fact that a considerable amount of fuelwood (roots, branches, upper

parts of stem, twigs) in areas having difficulties in transporting are left without collecting.

Although non-users of fuelwood mentioned about the difficulties in accessing to fuelwood, it is

learnt that users do not recognize reduction in fuelwood supply. They are of the view that

untapped fuelwood resources are in abundance in Kegalle district.

1.15 Issues and Challenges

One of the main concerns of the fuelwood users (Enterprise using fuelwood) is the rise of price

due to ever increasing demand within and outside the region. In Kegalle district, competition is

fierce for using most species such as Rubber and Ginisapu for timber and fuelwood. As in

Kalutara and some other districts, main trunks of rubber tree is mainly used as timber. A number

of companies use Rubber and other species for timber related production. In this context,

traditional users of fuelwood face difficulties in maintaining a stable supply of fuelwood. On the

other hand during the last decades many Rubber lands have been converted to Tea plantation

resulting reduction in Rubber cover.

It is witnessed that owners/manager of business enterprises use fuelwood in efficient manner

recognizing the fact that it is becoming a scarce resource. Yet, none of the enterprises have a

plan to make the fuelwood supply sustainable in future. In most cases, it is found that firms are

not ready pay more for fuelwood due to enormous economic hardship faced at present.

Moreover, many are of the view that it would be comparative cheaper to use other sources of

energy in an event of further fuelwood price increase.



Results of Key Informant and Focus Group Discussion

The team conducted five focus group discussions at Aranayaka, Dehiovita, and Deraniyagala,

DS offices. In addition, key informant discussions are held covering Divisional Secretary,

Additional Divisional Secretary, selected fuelwood suppliers, and knowledgeable people (shop

owners). Focus group discussions consist of Grama Niladaris, Development Officer, Land Use

and Policy Planning Officer and some general public who involve with fuelwood businesses.

Using a unique format, each key informant discussions as well as focus group discussions were

carried out.

Each discussion started with an opening speech delivered by a member of the research team.

This opening speech mainly focuses on explaining the objective of the project, information

planning to gather, and the purpose of the focus group and key informant discussion. At each

focus group discussion, each participant was given a chance to explain his/her experience with

fuelwood. Next, a general discussion is initiated to understand the geography and economy of the

DS division followed with fuelwood use, supply, and availability. The discussion is further

deepened by letting participants to discuss about the availability of lands for possible fuelwood

growing and people‟ willingness to engage in such activities. The latter part of the discussion

focuses on issues/barriers for fuelwood growing and identifying strategies for promoting

fuelwood planting in a sustainable manner. In key informant discussions, it was attempted to

understand the potential for promoting fuelwood growing, land availability, legal and

institutional barriers in fuelwood harvesting, and possible strategies for promoting fuelwood

growing.

1.16 Main Production Source/System

It was revealed that, households depend heavily on homegarden and tree crop plantation in

collecting fuelwood in all the aforementioned DS division. It is also mentioned that household

use coconut shell, coconut husks, and coconut branches along with other fuelwood species. At

household level, Rubber, Ginisapu, Cinnamon are popular as fuelwood species. People live

closer to reserved forest and plantation often collect fuelwood from such sources. Even in remote

areas, people. With respect to business, it was revealed that traditional businesses witnessed

some shortage of fuelwood supply with the advent of some timber producing firms. As a result, it

is said, a number of traditional fuelwood users convert their technology to use electricity or Gas.

The participants also highlighted the emerging trend of small and medium size producers, who

traditionally used fuelwood, switching from fuelwood to electricity and Gas. This is largely due

to the loss of comparative advantage due to increase in relative price of fuelwood and volatility

in supply. According to the participants, available stock of fuelwood in respective DS division as

well as in the district has drastically declined due to land segmentation and conversion.

Moreover land cover drastically declined due to rapid urbanization.



In all the DS divisions, unutilized and/or underutilized lands are available at different

proportions. However, whether such lands could be used for fuelwood growing need to be

investigated properly with environmental consideration as well as ownership issues. It is pointed

out that a considerable amount of lands in rural area are unutilized/underutilized due to lack of

clear-cut land ownership.

It was revealed that timber production and fuelwood production closely connect each other and

in most cases, these two activities are carried out together. Off-cuts from the timber production

are supplied as fuelwood. However, participants highlighted the fact that there are legal barriers

in transporting some of the left-over from timber production. However, in remote areas, off-cuts

from timber production do not get into market since profitability is relatively low. Hence, either

households collect such left-overs or naturally digest to the soil. The team did not come across

any single case where fuelwood production is carried out on commercial basis. As revealed by

many in the focus groups, lack of commercial growing is due to number of reasons. These

include, but not confine to, low profitability, other competing crops, lack of awareness, and some

failures in the past.

1.17 Barriers and Strategies for Promoting Fuelwood Growing

A number of barriers were identified with respect to promoting fuelwood growing. Among them

is the lack of price for fuelwood. Fuelwood prices at present is only sufficient to cover the labour

needed for collecting and transporting. In effect, land owners receive very low price or in some

cases they do not receive at all. Hence, growing trees for fuelwood is not only unpopular but also

presume as unwise. Hence, it is very important to set-up a market for fuelwood with necessary

arms.

It is also important to notice that political patronage is important to promote fuelwood growing.

It is imperative to take into account political economy consideration because political leadership,

be it national, provincial, and/or local, plays a key role in promoting or demoting of any

economic activity in developing countries such as ours. Until today, government has not spoken

about the use of fuelwood as an alternative energy source. Hence, the participants to focus group

discussion as well as key informant highlighted the fact that success and the sustainability greatly

depend of political patronage.

Lack of understanding on fuelwood as an alternative energy source is quite clear among both

public and public officials. Moreover, they do not have information about present level industrial

applications. Hence, it is imperative to address this information gap. It is important to provide

information on different fuelwood growing models, potential species available, prices, and

market expansion in future. It is heard that many previous attempts in promoting Gliricedia have

failed and as a result, it would be very difficult to convass for fuelwood growing unless

comprehensive awareness campaign is launched. A fresh attempt is viewed with some suspicion,

hence, it is highlighted that either government or respected private planation

companies/industries should come forward and give the necessary confidence to planters. Some



even suggest to have a guaranteed price and other subsidies so that people tend to view that such

plantation is important.

It is important to note the people consider relative price level before venturing into fuelwood

growth. It would be difficult to promote fuelwood growing among small holders unless system is

created to guarantee the growers that they receive considerable level of income on regular basis

as well as sufficient final income. These conditions may be very restrictive highlighting the fact

that promotion of fuelwood growing among small-holder farmers become difficult. Hence, it is

important to consider multi-level growing model; where many fuelwood growers with different

sizes. It might be quite illogical to promote fuelwood growing at household level in Kegalle

district given the socio-economic conditions of the district.

1.18 Issues arising from Commercial supply and Industrial applications

It was highlighted that an irreparable damage could incur if industrial applications increased

within a short period of time. Some government officers of the view that illegal felling is taken

place reserved lands and state forest for fuelwood. Such increase in demand could endanger the

surrounding environment having far reaching consequences. It is reported that Kegalle district

witnessed some drop in canopy coverage due to heaving demand for timber (even small and

medium size trees). Hence, it is imperative that government come up with necessary regulations

to before promoting factories to meet their energy requirement through fuelwood.

It is reported that some of the existing rules and regulations prevent the emergence of a fuelwood

market. This especially true due to difficulties in transporting cut-offs from timber production. A

system should be introduced to create a market which only exists for certified and legal species

of fuelwood.

Projections of fuelwood potential – Kegalle district

1.19 Fuel wood Potential of the study area

The source and resources of fuel wood associated with the production of fuelwood at household

level was covered in the questionnaire survey of which accurate information is not available in

any secondary data source presently available. However many sources add to the national

fuelwood production which can be estimated using secondary data available. Consequently,

based on the given methodology in Part I of this report, the potential for fuelwood was estimated

for different sources based on the land use in the specified locations.

Estimations have been given two categories: (a) fuel wood which could be extracted at present

and (b) additional potential quantities if the unutilized lands are suitably developed as agro-

energy plantations. The following points should be noted:

“Forest Lands” are considered as Forest Plantations, where trees are extracted for timber

once the trees reach maturity. Off-cuts (pita palu) and branch woods are taken as fuel

wood.



The following categories of lands are considered for future developments as Agro-Energy

Plantations: Grass lands, Barren Lands, Chena Lands and Sand.

The quantities of fuel wood presently extractable or extractable in future are considered

as nil (zero) for the following categories of lands: Abandoned paddy lands, Marshy lands,

Parks, Playgrounds, “Scrubs” and unclassified lands.

The values have been estimated at DS level for Kegalle district base on the existing land use and

land cover which are given in Table 1.24.

The spatial distribution of the fuel wood potential in Kegalle District is given in Figure 1.12.

There are very clear Geospatial variations and relationships with the spatial distribution of the

prominent land use pattern.



Table 1.24: Fuel wood potential of Kegalle District

DS Division Fuel Wood Presently Extractable (tonnes/y) Additional Fuel Wood Extractable

(tonnes/y)

Coconut Homestead Other Rubber Tea Total Scrub Total

Aranayaka 4.162101 6526.998 966.2604 956.6426 7107.008 15561.07 97353.93 97353.93

Bulathkohupitiya 70.61611 4869.729 543.4051 3224.823 12049.33 20757.9 18216.94 18216.94

Dehiovita 227.2141 6149.812 318.1943 5594.353 3736.046 16025.62 134706.2 134706.2

Deraniyagala 57.08579 5349.826 376.7568 2440.509 4439.558 12663.73 261816 261816

Galigamuwa 206.2446 6841.23 187.4713 2393.865 487.025 10115.84 90042.6 90042.6

Kegalle 60.23003 5226.094 227.7493 727.6145 1554.01 7795.698 140370.9 140370.9

Mawanella 20.03546 8286.004 144.0463 231.3859 964.8736 9646.346 129586.8 129586.8

Rambukkana 59.97381 7924.235 73.74732 15.97363 494.032 8567.962 180105.8 180105.8

Ruwanwella 504.2774 5169.629 692.8991 4922.435 675.8629 11965.1 19711.9 19711.9

Warakapola 990.8526 11159.81 527.3461 3297.022 629.8039 16604.83 106703.6 106703.6

Yatiyanthota 62.8696 6013.816 106.8692 3646.053 9373.652 19203.26 53218.67 53218.67



1.14: Spatial distribution of the projection of potential for fuelwood under different land use patterns in Kegalle district



1.20 Land Availability

Land availability has been assessed using the GIS system developed during the study. Based

on the analysis, total available lands which have a potential for planting fuelwood species in

Kegalle District is about 266.30ha. If a woody tree cover could be established in these areas

the advantage is not only from fuel wood generation but also there is a possibility for carbon

trading as well which would be much more economically benefitted. However, feasibility

studies are further needed before come to a firm conclusion regarding the establishment of

fuelwood species in these areas.

Available extents of lands (ha) by land use and DS divisions in Kegalle District are given in

Table 1.25 which has a potential for growing fuelwood species. These were estimated at DS

level and the spatial distribution is given in Figure 1.15

Table 1.25: Available extents of lands (ha) by land use and DS divisions in Kegalle

District for growing fuelwood species

DS Division Land Availability (ha)

Aranayaka 118.85

Bulathkohupitiya 0.00

Dehiovita 74.15

Deraniyagala 0.00

Galigamuwa 0.00

Kegalle 0.00

Mawanella 0.00

Rambukkana 0.00

Ruwanwella 73.30

Warakapola 0.00

Yatiyanthota 0.00

Total 266.30

Source: Extraction from GI System used for fuelwood resource survey 2015



Figure 1.15: Spatial distribution of the available land that has a potential for growing

fuelwood species

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