Estimation of Amount of Firewood Consumption and Forest Resource in Hilly and Mountainous Areas in Central Laos

Abstract

The common fuel in rural communities in Laos is firewood, and it is harvested from forests. In order to plan for sustainable forest use and to clarify the use of forests by local residents, we clarified the daily consumption of firewood and the amount of forest resources used as estimated from firewood consumption. The results show that two types of tree, Cratoxylum sp. and Peltophorum dasyrachis account for 60% of total use. On average each household consumes about 2,000kg per year, and the consumption of an entire village was 271,000 kg. This corresponded to forest resources equivalent to 16 ha of the village's fallow forest.