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Final Report, Fuelwood Resource Survey of Sri Lanka, 2016 - Kurunegala 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

Kurunegala District



Table of Contents

No Title Page No

Table of content 2

List of Figures 3

List of Tables 4

Abbreviations 5

RESULTS- KURUNEGALA DISTRICT

1.0 Background of Kurunegala District 06

1.1 Geographical Location 06

1.2 Demographic Characteristics of Kurunegala District 08

1.3 Land use and Land cover in Kurunegala District 11

1.4 Demographic profile of the study area 12

1.5 Energy use and energy related characteristics of the study area 14

1.6 Sources of fuelwood

15

1.7 Production of fuelwood 18

1.8 Management of different source of fuelwood 19

1.9 Purchasing fuelwood by households 23

1.10 Resources of fuelwood 26

1.11 Knowledge and attitude on fuelwood 28

1.12 Willingness to grow of fuelwood 31

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 – Kurunegala District 39

1.19 Fuelwood potential of the study area 40

1.20 Land availability 44

List of Figures

No Title Page No

1.1 Location map of Kurunegala District 07

1.2 Population Distribution by DS Division in Kurunegala District 09

1.3 Spatial distribution of the household level production of production of

fuelwood in Kurunegala District

17

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

25

1.6 Availability of different fuelwood resources for buying in different

sources

25

1.7 Cost of different types of fuelwood available for purchasing 26

1.8 Degree of access to fuelwood by households in Kurunegala District 29

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

land use types apparent in Kurunegala District

29

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

family sizes in Kurunegala District

31

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 Kurunegala District

32

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 Kurunegala 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 Kurunegala District 08

1.2 Population by DS Division in Kurunegala District 10

1.3 Land use and Land cover in Kurunegala District 11

1.4 Age composition by male and female population of the sample

population in Kurunegala District

12

1.5 Distribution of Sample by Level of Education 13

1.6 Distribution of Home garden by Size 13

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

Kurunegala 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 Kurunegala District

16

1.9 Average production of fuelwood and proportion of households engaged

in collection of fuelwood by different land use types in Kurunegala

District

18

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 20

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

household

21

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

23

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 Kurunegala

District

26

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

gardens in the study area

27



1.19 Preferred fuelwood species by the uses of fuelwood in Kurunegala

District

28

1.20 Perception of fuelwood collectors on the access to fuelwood 30

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 Kurunegala District

33

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

1.24 Fuel wood potential in Kurunegala District 41

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

Kurunegala 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 Kurunegala District

Kurunegala district been located in North Western Province of Sri Lanka is one of the largest

districts in the country. Kurunegala district consists with 30 DS Divisions and 1610 Grama

Niladhari Divisions. It also has 14 electoral divisions, 02 municipal councils and 19 urban

councils.

Historical Background

Kurunegala district has a proud history of been host for the four kingdoms of

Panduwasnuwara, Kurunegala, Yapahuwa and Danbadeniya. All these four kingdoms have

contributed towards the uplifting economic and cultural development through the eras.

Kurunegala had a citadel during 13th

century and it was considered as the capital of Sri Lanka

during 12th

century in Yapahuwa kingdom. Early times the sacred tooth relic which was

located in the Yapahuwa kingdom was stolen by Aryachakravarthi to the pandyan country

during the tenure of king Buwenekabahu. Then again it was regain by the king

Parackckramabahu the third who was the king during Kurunegala kingdom in 1287 to 1293.

From that period nearly a half a century the capital city and the governing center of three

kingdoms was Kurunegala. After the kingship of Buvanekabahu the third the newly crowned

king Vijayabahu the fifth, ruled from Dambadeniya and Yapahuwa during the period of 1335

to 1341. After that period the kingdom of Sri Lanka again shifted to Gampola.

1.1 Geographical Location

Kurunegala district is bounded by the districts of Anuradhapura, Matale, Kandy, Gampaha,

Kegalle and Puttalam. By North, Anuradhapura, by South Gampaha and Kegalle, by East

Matale and Kandy and by West Puttalam District (Figure 1.1).



Figure 1.1: Geographical Location of Kurunegala District

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

Climate

Accroding to Koppen‟s climate classification, Kurunegala district falls under tropical

rainforest climate. Kurunegala district belongs to both Intermediate and dry zones of Sri

Lanka. Considerably a large area falls on intermediate zone and small area of the upper part



of the district belongs to the dry zone. Since the climate of the district is tropical high

temperature level without significant fluctuations can be seen during the year. Main rock

formation of Kurunegala also has an impact on its weather since it helps to increase and

retain the heat during the day time. During the month of April the temperature can be rise up

to 35 0C during the day time.

Table 1.1: Climate data for Kurunegala District

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr Ma

y

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Daily mean °C 25.

7

27 28.

4

28.

6

28.3 27.

6

27.

3

27.

4

27.

5

27 26.

5

25.

9

(°F) 78.

3

80.

6

83.

1

83.

5

82.9 81.

7

81.

1

81.

3

81.

5

80.

6

79.

7

78.

6

Precipitation mm 62 92 138 262 194 156 114 93 159 359 327 139

(inches) 2.4

4

3.6

2

5.4

3

10.

3

7.64 6.1

4

4.4

9

3.6

6

6.2

6

14.

1

12.

9

5.4

7

Relative

humidity %

65 59 60 69 73 74 73 71 71 74 74 72

Source: - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Heavy rains can be expected for Kurunegala during the months of May to September which

is the South West Monsoon period and October to September which is convectional rain is

prominent. During January and February, Kurunegala experience considerably a dry period,

but the average precipitation in above 60 mm in both months. Therefore it not counted as a

true dry period. Highest precipitation can be seen during the months of October and

November and the least is in January and February.

1.2 Demographic Characteristics

Kurunegala district is host for 7.3% of the total population of Sri Lanka. Majority of the

population composite with Sinhalese and other ethnic minorities include the Sri Lankan

Moors, Sri Lankan Tamils, Burghers and Malays are also live in all parts of the District. As a

percentage more than 90% of the total population is Sinhalese. Buddhism is the main and

widely spread religion in the district.



Figure 1.2: Population Distribution by DS Division – Kurunegala District

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



Table 1.2: - Population by DSDs by census years of 2001 and 2012

DSDs 2001 2012 Change

Alawwa 59,082 63,667 4,585

Ambanpola 19,964 22,878 2,914

Bamunakotuwa 20,702 36,217 15,515

Bingiriya 55,763 62,349 6,586

Ehetuwewa 23,076 25,781 2,705

Galgamuwa 47,844 55,078 7,234

Ganewatta 36,812 40,137 3,325

Giribawa 28,093 31,412 3,319

Ibbagamuwa 76,344 85,309 8,965

Kobeigane 32,230 35,975 3,745

Kotavehera 19,273 21,263 1,990

Kuliyapitiya East 46,966 54,062 7,096

Kuliyapitiya West 71,483 77,316 5,833

Kurunegala 88,944 80,755 -8,189

Mahawa 50,576 57,485 6,909

Mallawapitiya 46,575 52,634 6,059

Maspotha 18,850 34,262 15,412

Mawathagama 56,820 64,904 8,084

Narammala 51,244 56,279 5,035

Nikaweratiya 36,370 40,452 4,082

Panduwasnuwara 69,888 63,742 -6,146

Panduwasnuwara East (Katupotha) 27,575 32,386 4,811

Pannala 114,438 124,225 9,787

Polgahawela 58,762 65,156 6,394

Polpithigama 67,263 76,139 8,876

Rasnayakapura 18,814 21,893 3,079

Rideegama 80,473 88,714 8,241

Udubaddawa 48,800 52,231 3,431

Wariyapola 56,880 61,425 4,545

Weerambugedara 30,311 34,339 4,028

Source: Department of Census and Statistics

When consider the population characteristics of the district, Pannala stands for the highest

number of the population in both 2001 and 2012 whereas Rasnayakapura stands for the

lowest in 2001 and Kotavehera stands for the lowest number of population in 2012. All the

Divisional Secretariats show a change in the population and twenty nine out of thirty DSDs

show an increasing population when two out of thirty DSDs show a declining population.

The highest population increase of 15,412 people is shown by Maspotha and an increase of

15,515 people is shown by Bamunakotuwa. The two Divisional Secretariats which show a



declining population is Kurunagala with a -8,189 people and Panduwasnuwara with a -6,146

people.

1.3 Land use and Land cover in Kurunegala District

When consider the Agricultural land use of the District most of the land is used for home

grading and its percentage is 30.14. The second most land usage is for coconut cultivation

and its percentage is 23.14. Also a land area of 22.02 is allocated for paddy cultivation. Then

a percentage of 3.02 are used in Chena cultivation. A land area of 0.74 is used for rubber and

a very small land area is used for 0.02 for tea where as a land area of 1.03 is used for other

field crops. The total built up land area is comparatively small and it an area of 0.16 %.

When consider the total forest land an area of 2.15 is for forests, 1.90 is for forest plantation

and 5.75 is used for scrub. Totally an area of 10.15 of the land is used for the above types, of

forest land. 9.05 of the of the land is used as water bodies and other types of land such as

(Marsh, Mangroves, Roads, Rivers .

Table 1.3: - Land use and Land cover in Kurunegala District – 2014

Land use Extent (Ha.) Percentage

Non-Agricultural

Lands

Built up areas 751.12 0.16

Agricultural Lands Home gardens 151544.66 30.41

Tea 104.00 0.02

Rubber 3552.36 0.74

Coconut 107657.74 23.41

Paddy 106056.10 22.02

Other field crops 4941.52 1.03

Chena 14531.00 3.02

Forest Lands Forest 12022.00 2.50

Forest Plantation 9154.40 1.90

Scrub 27709.00 5.75

Water bodies 23729.00 4.93

Other (Marsh, Mangroves, Roads, Rivers Etc.) 19847.10 4.12

Total 481600.00 100.00

Source: Land Use Policy Planning Department

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 Kurunegala 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 Kurunegala District

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 Kurunagala

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 Kurunagala district covers around 1,845 people in

selected GN divisions and household heads accounts for 26 per cent of the total persons. Both

males and females are almost equally distributed in the sample (Table 1.4). In terms of age

profile, nearly 26 per cent of the total population is below 19 years while 71 per cent of the

total is below 50 years indicating Kurunagala district is yet experienced demographic

transition which is similar to the situation in Kalutara and Galle Districts (Table 1.4).

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

Kurunegala District

Age Group Male Female Total

No % No % No %

0-9 108 12 119 13 227 12

10-19 129 14 115 12 244 13

20-29 140 15 122 13 262 14

30-39 146 16 158 17 304 16

40-49 127 14 132 14 259 14

50-59 114 13 140 15 254 14

60> 145 16 150 16 295 16

Total 909 936 1,845

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 at an average level. For instance,

nobody was found in the sample who has not studied at all while 13% percent of the sample

left schooling without pursuing beyond grade five. Over 68 percent of the total sample

population has passed GCE O/L and only about 5% passed GCE A/L. Hence, over 73 per

cent of the total have either GCE O/L or A/L has passed. There are around 4 persons (nearly

0.3%) who have completed a degree (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 - - - Grade 1 - 5 182 13.08 13.08

Grade 6 - 10 173 12.44 25.52

O/L Passed 957 68.8 94.32

A/L Passed 75 5.39 99.71

Degree and above 4 0.29 100

Total 1,391 100


In terms of labour market status, nearly 28 per cent of persons work as employees while

around 25 percent remains economically inactive. Unemployed population accounts for 14

percent of the total persons surveyed which is rather high figure that should be further

investigated before come to a firm conclusion. One of the reasons for high economically

inactive people may be that a greater number of working age people pursues higher studies in

full time. Unpaid family workers and own account workers accounts for 14 percent and 16

percent respectively.

Household level information reveals that the majority of people live with reasonable level of

comfort at houses. The comfort at the house is reflected through no or rooms, construction

materials, and ownership status. For instance over 85 per cent of houses cover more than 250

square feet of floor area. Similarly, nearly 98 per cents of houses are constructed using either

bricks, or cement block. Nearly 72 per cent 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 per cents of the households

are less than one-fourth of acreage while nearly 18 per cent of the households owning more

than half an acre. Very few (only six households) own home garden sizing over two acres

(Table 1.6). Comparative to other districts, Kurunagala District has relatively larger size of

home gardens.

Table 1.6: Distribution of Home garden by Size

Plot size (Acreage) Number Percentage Cumulative Frequency

Less than 0.25 288 59.5 59.5 0.25 – 0.5 108 22.31 81.82

0.5 – 0.75 21 4.34 86.16

0.75 – 1.0 40 8.26 94.42

1.0 – 2.0 21 4.34 98.76

Over 2.0 6 1.24 100

Total 484 100.0




It was further observed that size of the home garden was apparently higher in the DS

divisions where urbanization was seemingly low. By ownership, it is evident that in most

household, male own the home garden though women engage in home garden related

cleaning and production activities. Home gardens are in most cases legally owned (97%) by

the household owners while there some number of homewards with permit and encroached.

The tree composition in most homewards categorized as timber, timber and food and food

which were respectively 74%, 22% and 4%. Out of the total households, 42 household own a

paddy land while 40 household own either a tree-crop land or other high land

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 Kurunegala District is given in the

Table 1.7. 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

and producing hot water followed by Agricultural residues and forest residues. About 32%

and 25% of the households use Gas and Electricity for cocking while their use for producing

hot water was less. High usage of fuelwood for cooking and hot water producing can be

considered as accepted hypotheses as Kurunegala district is a predominantly a rural area

except several medium and big townships. Moreover, being one of the major agricultural

districts, use of a considerable amount of agricultural residues and forest residues for cocking

and hot water by households is also acceptable. Use of electricity was mainly for lighting and

operating various home appliances. About 3% of the house is still using kerosene for lighting

purposes.

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

Energy Source Purpose/Usage (Values are in percentage)

Cooking Commercial

Cooking

Heating/

Drying

Hot

water

Lighting Appliances

Agric. Residues 30% 1% 2% 29% 0% 0% Electricity 25% 1% 4% 6% 86% 83%

Gas 32% 1% 1% 6% 0% 0%

Fuelwood 95% 4% 11% 55% 2% 0%

Forest Residues 30% 0% 1% 28% 0% 0%

Kerosene 1% 1% 0% 0% 3% 1%

Solar power 0% 0% 3% 0% 0% 0%

Other 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 1%


Note: As there are some combine usages total exceed hundred

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”.

It has been identified through the field survey that there are eight (08) fuelwood sources in

Kurunegala district and two of them are very prominent throughout the district. In terms of

proportion of fuelwood collecting households, the main source of the fuelwood used at

households is from home gardens (84%) followed by tree crop (mainly coconut) plantations

(32%). Though other sources are in the second position, it has not been considered as second

as that is mixed of different sources. Use of reserved lands, fallowed fields, sawmills and

state forests were respectively 4.4%, 3.8%, 3.8% and 1.6% respectively. Forest plantations

and mixed farms have insignificant proportions (Table 1.8).

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.

In the other hand, in terms of total amount of fuelwood collection (kg/month), sawmills are

very prominent whilst reserved lands becoming the second important category which is due

to some extreme uses of these sources (i.e. presence of extreme values in the sample). As far

as trimmed means of fuelwood collections are concerned, rate of exploitation of different

source is not extra ordinal (Table 1.5).



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

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

Kurunegala District

Source Mean

(kg/month)

SEM Trimmed

mean

Proportion

(p)

SD of p

Home garden 94.5 9.7 48.1 0.842 0.018

Tree crop plantations 165.4 15.8 96.0 0.319 0.037

Reserved land 300.2 133.6 111.5 0.044 0.044

Fallowed fields 180.5 25.2 123.3 0.038 0.044

Saw mills 1065.3 358.7 117.5 0.038 0.044

State forest 109.6 18.9 103.9 0.016 0.044

Mixed farms 105.0 - 105.0 0.002 0.045

Forest plantations 60.0 - 60.0 0.002 0.045

Other 1025.9 787.5 74.0 0.076 0.043 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 in Kurunagala

District (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 in part 1.3. Based on the sample survey, 26% of the households in Kurunagala

tend to collect fuelwood. However, more than 75% of the households collect fuelwood in

areas where coconut, homesteads and paddy can be identifies as the prominent land use.

Moreover, monthly exploitation of fuelwood can be seen at a high rate which indicate either

high volumes of fuelwood is used at households or they are collected for selling.

Proportion of those who collect fuelwood is less than or equal to 25 in area where

homesteads, paddy and coconut are recognized as main land uses which accounts for more

than 50% of both the total land area and total number of households in the district. The rates

of exploitation of fuelwood also remain at high figures in these areas. This eventually

indicates that production potentials of fuelwood in Kurunagala District seem to be at a high

level.

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

collection of fuelwood by different land use types in Kurunegala District

Land Use Mean (kg/month) SEM p SD of p

Plantations 1061 405.85 0.034 0.047

Homesteads 432 271.81 0.249 0.041

Coconut 303 51.31 0.258 0.041

Forests 264 52.85 0.043 0.047

Scrub 180 51.70 0.075 0.046

Paddy 168 35.32 0.253 0.041

Rubber 105 14.58 0.034 0.047

Other 289 120.88 0.054 0.046

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 as

well as the harvesting methods. In forest and other lands, amount of availability is quite

heavy compared to other sources but there may some restrictions to access especially into



forests which are protected by law. Similarly, collection methods in coconut growing area are

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, given the frequency of visiting as

well as the availability of species. 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 Kurunegala, females‟ involvement in collection of fuelwood is about

71% while that of in males‟ is rather low (47%). Moreover it can be inferred that when it

comes to difficult sources of fuelwood, the frequency of fuelwood collection has reduced viz.

once in a month, once in two or more months. It was found very difficult to get information

from the informant regarding fuelwood collection in legally protected area such as state

forests, forest plantations and reserved lands.

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 3.6 2.5 0.3 0.5 0.5 34.9 23.1 3.6 1.6 5.2 12.1 6.3 2.5 0.5 2.7

State forests - 6.3 - - - 6.3 6.3 43.8 - 12.5 - 6.3 6.3 6.3 6.3

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

Tree crop plantations 17.4 16.7 9.7 6.3 31.9 0.7 1.4 3.5 1.4 6.3 - - 2.1 1.4 1.4

Fallowed fields - 7.1 7.1 28.6 14.3 - - 28.6 14.3 - - - - - -

Reserved lands - - - - - - 20.0 40.0 40.0 - - - - - -

Mixed farms - - - 100 - - - - - - - - - - -

saw mills - 7.1 7.1 14.3 7.1 - 7.1 - - 7.1 - 7.1 - 28.6 14.3

Other sources - 16.1 3.2 12.9 3.2 - 6.5 3.2 16.1 38.7 - - - - -

Overall 6.5 7.0 3.1 3.7 8.8 21.9 15.4 5.4 2.9 7.3 7.5 4.2 2.2 1.5 2.5

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

Note: Cell values are in percentages




As understandable and expected, the lowest distance can be seen to home garden. However

longest distance recorded to the saw mills followed by tree crop plantations, state forests and

fallowed fields. It has been observed by the researchers in the saw mills in Kurunegala

district, male involvement of collecting fuelwood was relatively high as there is about two

kilometers distance between source and the destination (Table 1.11). 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

Kurunegala 47 1208 1236 - 1117 69 500 1777 1203

(12.5) (247.2) (612.9) - (297.7) (66.7) - (448.4) (244.9)

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 time; about 5 hour taken to transport fuelwood is reported for

reserved lands which are not much distantly located form respective households. This may be

due to some long waiting times to avoid some issues, especially some legal barrios for

extraction of fuelwood from reserved lands. Time taken to transport fuelwood from sawmills

and mixed farms is comparatively low while people spend about one hour to transport

fuelwood from state forests and tree crop plantations. 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

Kurunegala 33 50 61 - 64 355 22 30 -

(1.9) (31.5) (18.7) - (9.5) (66.5) (12.9) (12.5) -

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

mean (SEM)


Fuelwood harvesting methods used by the collector for different sources of fuelwood

appeared in the study are given in Table 1.13. Regardless of the source, commonly practiced

harvesting method is collection of dried and fallen parts of the trees (residues), which is 87%

of the population of fuelwood collectors. However, compared to the other sources pruning is

prominently used in fallowed fields and reserved lands. In tree crop plantations fuelwood is

totally collected as residues. Cutting trees for fuelwood is limitedly practiced by collectors in

the study area which about 1% of the total collectors of fuelwood (Table 1.13).

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

fuelwood

Source Harvesting method

Residues1

Pruning Cutting Off cuts

Home gardens 90.0% 9.6% 0.3% -

State forests 94.5% 5.5% 0% -

Tree crop plantations 90.3% 6.7% 3.0% -

Forest plantations 100.0% 0% 0% -

Fallowed fields 73.7% 26.3% 0% -

Reserved lands 74.0% 21.0% 5.0% -

Mixed farms 100% 0% 0% -

saw mills - - - 100%

Other sources 85.4% 14.6% 0% -

Overall 87% 7% 1% 5%- 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 these 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 86% of the households while branches and tree logs are collected respectively by

60% and 30% of the households. Respectively a 26%, 9.4% and 3.6% households use twigs,

branches and logs exclusively. It is quite obvious 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. 97% out of the

89% of fuelwood collectors, use their fuelwood for cocking. 1% of them collect fuelwood

for selling while about 2% 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 forests and mixed farms are used for only cocking.

15% 26.0%

3.6%

9.4%

10.1%

34.7%

1.2%

Twigs

Branches

Logs



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 84% 99% 1% 0% State forests 2% 100% 0% 0%

Tree crop plantations 32% 96% 3% 2%

Forest plantations - - - -

Fallowed fields 4% 100% 0% 0%

Reserved lands 4% 86% 5% 10%

Mixed farms 0% 100% 0% 0%

Saw mills 4% 67% 0% 33%

Other sources 8% 100% 0% 0%

Overall 89% 97% 1% 2%


Note: Cell values are given in percentages

As discussed, it is quite obvious from the data presented in table 1.15 that a larger fraction of

households collect fuelwood for the purpose of cooking. Thus it can be inferred that

household level fuelwood collectors mainly used to produce noncommercial fuelwood rather

than production of commercial fuelwood. In recent years, according to field notes and

observations, many household-based industries switched into Electricity and Gas due to

higher opportunity costs of using fuelwood. It is expected that, other than in few rural

households, remaining household-based industrial gradually replacing electricity and/or gas.

1.9 Purchasing fuelwood by households

Based on the sample household survey, it can be identified that 10% of the fuelwood users

meet their requirement of fuelwood through purchasing out 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 In

Kurunegala District, more than 50% of the fuelwood users are locate in paddy prominent

areas and coconut growing areas. Highest average amount of fuelwood purchased by a

household (248.9kg) was reported in areas where plantations are the major land use.

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

level monthly consumption and monthly expenditure for purchasing fuelwood

Land use Buyers Amount

(kg/month/household)

Cost

(LKR/month/household) Coconut 28% 121.4 (28.0) 1835 (657.5) Forests 4% 60.0 (0.0) 280 (0.0)

Homesteads 14% 90.0 (28.7) 805 (114.4)

Rubber - - - - -

Paddy 36% 120.6 (27.0) 1088 (345.8)

Plantations 16% 248.9 (70.8) 2270 (606.7)

Scrub - - - - -

Other 2% 300.0 (0.0) 3000 (0.0)

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

households buy fuelwood on monthly basis in all areas except areas where forests are

prominent. A 50% of those who live where main land use is forest compel to buy fuelwood

which is rather controversial and thus need to further investigations before come to a firm

conclusion. It can be noticed that fuelwood is mostly purchased either from the nearby

venders or get delivered into the households. In the surveyed sample, it was found that there

is a mode of delivery for fuelwood to the households in almost all areas under the

investigation which should be subjected to further investigation.

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 0% 0% 10% 90% 44% 31% 25%

Forests 0% 50% 0% 50% 0% 100% 0%

Homesteads 0% 17% 0% 83% 44% 22% 33%

Rubber - - - - - - -

Paddy 0% 7% 0% 93% 79% 11% 11%

Plantations 0% 13% 0% 88% 63% 25% 13%

Scrub 0% 0% 0% 100% 0% 100% 0%

Other 0% 0% 0% 100% 100% 0% 0%


Note: Cell values are given in percentages

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 the male in the household is mostly

engaged in purchasing fuelwood. It can be seen that cut and splits have become most popular

those who purchase fuelwood in Kurunegala District. In this context, large splits and Small

bundles of fuelwood are in the second place among the buyers. Preference on other fuelwood

types such as cut logs, small bundles sawdust and roots were observed minimum.



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

in purchasing

Following figure (Figure 1.6) depicts the availability of different fuelwood resources for

buying in different sources. As depicted in Figure 1.6, it can be noticed that cut logs are not

available to purchase from any sources while small bundles and cuts are not found in the

market. Based on the results of the survey, 80% of the households get fuelwood delivered

while the rest buy fuelwood either from nearby vender of 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. Roots

showed the highest price (Rs. 12.80) in fuelwood market followed by small bundles and

small branches (around Rs 10.00). However the variability of their prices looked rather high.

Lower prices around Rs. 5.00 were observed for cuts, cut & splits and large splits which may

be the reason why cut & splits and large splits were much popular among the users. However,

cuts are not comparatively much popular although its pieces look attractive.

1%

53%

19%

2%

22%

3%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Cut loggs

Cut and Split

Large splits

Cuts

Small branches

Small bundles

Male

Female

63%

90%

44%

63%

98%

37%

80%

38%

6%

24%

20%

1%

63%

11%

4%

32%

17%

1%

9%

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

Cuts

Cut and Split

Large splits

Roots

Small branches

Small bundles

All

Dilivered

Near by wender

Market



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.

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. Being a part of the

coconut triangle, In Kurunegala, 92% of the tree composition consisted of coconut in home

gardens. Teak, Jack, Mango, Cashew, Mahogani and Kohomba found as other mostly

available woody tree types in the home gardens.

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

Tree type RF Tree type RF

Coconut 92.127% Aatha 0.009%

Teak 1.227% Lunumidella 0.009%

Mango 0.870% Kottamba 0.009%

Jack 0.720% Banana 0.008%

Tea 0.657% Murunga 0.007%

Kohoba 0.638% Nadun 0.005%

Cashew 0.606% Kenda 0.005%

Dehi 0.339% Weralu 0.004%

Cloves 0.233% lovi 0.004%

Milla 0.198% Ugurassa 0.004%

Puwak 0.179% Kaluwara 0.004%

Mahogani 0.177% Cinnamen 0.003%

Gliricedia 0.168% Coffee 0.003%

Sadikka 0.145% Rubber 0.001%

Tamarin 0.110% Ambarela 0.001%

Alipera/Pera 0.087% Tabili 0.001%

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

cut cut & split large splits roots small

bundles

small

branches

Fu

el w

ood

pri

ce (

LK

R/K

g)

Types of fuelwood available to purchase



Rabutan 0.053% Acteriya 0.001%

Mara 0.049% Asala 0.001%

Del 0.038% Kubuk 0.001%

Beli 0.014% Mangus 0.001%

Pihibiya 0.013% Madatiya 0.001%

Orange 0.013% Duriyan 0.001%

Jambu 0.011% Other 1.244%



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

given in Table 1.18. Gliricedia (57%) dominates the tree composition in the fence of home

gardens in Kurunegala Districts. Kohomba, Teak, Tamarin, Jack and Kottamba were the

other tree species commonly found among the tree species in fences.

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

the study area

Tree type RF

Gliricedia 57.7

Kohoba 11.0

Teak 3.7

Tamarin 2.4

Jack 1.2

Kottamba 1.2

Coconut 0.6

Cashew 0.6

Kenda 0.6

Murunga 0.6

Other 10.4


Note: Cell value are in percentages

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

41% of respondents indicated Teak as the most preferred species for fuelwood followed by

coconut, Cashew, Mahigani, Kohomba, Rubber and Gliricedia respectively as the other

preferred tree species for fuelwood.



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

Preferred species Preference

Teak 41.1%

Coconut 26.2%

Cashew 7.1%

Mahogani 3.6%

Kohoba 3.6%

Rubber 2.1%

Gliricedia 2.1%

Mango 1.4%

Rabutan 0.7%

Alipera/Pera 0.7%

Pihibiya 0.7%

Acteriya 0.7%

Kenda 0.7%

Hora 0.7%

Other 7.8%



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 Kurunegala 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, 21% of the

fuelwood collectors have indicated the access to fuelwood is hard while 60% are in favor of

easy access which was more or less equal if the most resent two tears are also concerned.

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.

.



Figure 1.8: Degree of access to fuelwood by households in Kurunegala 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 Kurunegala 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 1.20.

About 22% of the informants have expressed their views in favor of the difficulty of the

access to fuelwood while about 76% of them have expressed their views for the easy access

to fuelwood in Kurunegala District. It is quite clear from the graphs and the table on the

perception towards the difficulty in collecting fuelwood that households have found it less

difficult to access to fuelwood. 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

10

20

30

40

50

60

1 2 3 4 5

Per

cen

tage

Degree of hardness to access

Last 10 Years

Last 2 Years

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

1 2 3 4 5

Per

cen

tage

Degree of hardness to acess

Coconut

Forests

Homesteads

Other

Paddy

Plantations

Scrub



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

Comment Frequency

1. Limited space 22% 22%

2. Find fuelwood at home garden 20%

76%

3. Difficult to find fuelwood 20%

4. Collect fuel from surrounding area 14%

5. Easy to find fuelwood 14%

6. Like to grow pants 8%



Conflicts during fuelwood collection

Evidence for conflicts during the collection of fuelwood has been reported by 3% of the

respondents. Most of the case the issue was elephant attacks and legal issues are the reasons

for the conflicts occurred during collection of fuelwood.

Perception on planting trees for fuelwood

During the survey 24% of the respondents highlighted that the need for growing plants for

fuelwood while 76% was against for planting trees for fuelwood. The ideas expressed by the

respondents for and against growing fuelwood are illustrated in Table 1.21. Lack of

willingness to grow trees might be due to several factors such as lack of lands, lack of

understanding, not valuing the benefits of fuelwood planting properly, and low costs of

alternative energy use.

Further, it was reviled during the study that 3% of the respondents have already grown plants

for fuelwood. Moreover 2% of the respondents earn money for selling fuelwood and their

annual average income from fuelwood was observes as 9,180.00 LKR

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

Comment Percentage respondents

For growing plants for fuelwood

68%

Must grow economical plants 23%

More suitable 23%

Like grow plant 11%

As income source 6%

Easy to find fuel 3%

Reduce expenses 1%

Difficult to find fuel 1%

Against growing plants for fuelwood

32%

Limited Lands 20%

Not need 6%

Unlike grow plant 2%

Due to occupation 1%

No idea 1%

Available in own area 1%

No time 1%

No facilities 1%




. 1.12 Willingness to grow fuelwood

During the survey, it was observed that 35% of the households of Kurunegala District are

willing to grow fuelwood if that business become profitable activity. It is learnt that some

households have previous experience in fuelwood growing. An 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 Kurunegala District

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. However, it is important to carry out detailed study before reaching policy

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

willing to grow Rubber, coconut, tea, cinnamon, rambutan and teak of which the distribution

is given in the figure 1.9. 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 Kurunegala

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

du

ctiv

ity

Leve

l

2%

86%

10% 1% 1% 1% Tea

Rubber

Coconut

Cinnamen

Rambutan

Teak



This indicates that even though they are willing to grow fuelwood, they don‟t have an

adequate awareness on fuelwood species and their primary management aspects. 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 most of those who are willing to grow fuelwood distribute

in coconut growing areas, homesteads, paddy growing areas and scrub prominent areas which

is useful information to understand where to address in fuelwood growing need to be

promoted.

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

use type in Kurunegala District

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 willing to grow fuelwood plantations are planning to accommodate some space in their

home garden with the expectation of self-consumption or/and earning an additional income

by selling. Most of are preferred to grow fuelwood plantations as integrations, and selective

plantations. However, those who willing to grow as a monoculture prepared to allocate more

lands compared to other situations. Basically, most of them highlight that training and some

financial aids are required. As depicted in Figure 1.13, training on management practices and

need of new scientific knowledge were highlighted during the survey as their training needs.

35%

1%

24%

11%

16%

1% 1%

12%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Co

conut

Forests

Ho

mestead

s

Oth

er

Pad

dy

Plan

tations

Ru

bb

er

Scru

b

Pro

po

rtio

n

Land use



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 Kurunegala 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 16% 15% 1% 74.4 1% 21% 0% 18% 4% - 87% 13%

Mixed land 7% 3% - 114.8 - 11% 1% 8% 2% 1% 75% 25%

Monoculture 2% 7% 1% 309.3 - 9% - 9% 1% - 73% 27%

Selective

planting 31% 14% - 195.2 1% 47% 9% 38% 12% 6% 78% 22%

Other - - 1% - - - - - - - - -

All 56% 39% 5% 159.3 2% 88% 12% 73% 19% 7% 79% 21%

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 are given in Table 1.23.

Mostly highlighted reasons by the respondents were lack/limited space for planting, no land

ownership, not understanding the usefulness, labor scarcity and limited time have refrained them

to be willing to grow fuelwood plantation.

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

Reason Percent respondents

Limited land 25%

No land ownership 21%

Useless 16%

Lack of space 11%

Limited workers 8%

Limited time 7%

Available from home garden 3%

Don‟t like 2%

Busy 2%

Due to illness 1%

Not need fuels 1%

Due to Older people 1%

Not idea 1%

Due to children 0%



61%

28%

11%

Need training

Need instructions

Need new scientific

knowledge



Enterprise Survey Results

1.13 Types of enterprises

The enterprise survey was conducted among 16 business enterprises covering 02 fuelwood

sellers, 03 saw mills, 02 roadside eating houses, 02 medium-size hotels, 01 home-based food

supplier, 03 bakeries, 03 small and medium brick factories. 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 08. The majority of owners/managers of the businesses was male who are between 35-50

age group. The tea factories, though in medium sizes, are branches of major tea producing

companies. In terms of employment, except the tea factors, all other business entities employ less

than 15 employees.

1.14 Use of energy, Prices, and Supply Chain

All business entities, which was covered under the Enterprise survey, use fuelwood for meeting

their heating requirements at different degrees. In addition to fuelwood, some of them depend on

other energy sources. For instance, road-side eating houses as well as hotels use fuelwood, gas,

and electricity in preparing foods. It was evident that road-side eating houses and hotels prefer to

use fuelwood when the energy requirement is substantial such as hot water preparation and/or

boiling.

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

business entities in their respective areas. In addition to their own lands, both of them collect

fuelwood from nearby government and private lands. It is revealed that a payment is made when

collecting fuelwood from private lands. One of the seller buy fuelwood from saw mills and from

timber suppliers in maintaining a stable supply. Both seller use the retails shops in selling their

product which vary in weightage from 2Kg to 10Kg. In addition to households, small businesses

as well as home-based producers buy fuelwood from these two sellers. In most cases, sellers

delivered fuelwood to the respective destinations. In terms of species, Coconut (branches) Tekka,

Mahogani, and Gliseria ave become the main resources of fuelwood due to the good demand

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

Ginisapu, Kaju, Maara and Kanda are also traded.

The saw mill owners revealed that they has been experiencing a good demand for off-cuts as

well as for saw-dust. As in other districts, there is a well-established mechanism in collecting

saw-dust and transporting to major industries operating in various parts of the country.

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

such as string-hopper producers. Traditionally, there has been a market for off-cuts, however,

this market get expanded rapidly in recent years. 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 as a major source of 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 Tekka 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 500-600 Kg of fuelwood per month. The other hotel pointed out that

it reduce using fuelwood due to difficulties in handling, dirtiness, as well as rising prices. At

present, the hotel depends largely on Gas and Electricity in food preparation. A detailed

discussion revealed that, out of the reasons pointed out in reducing the use of fuelwood, dirtiness,

emission, and the time taken for preparing food when using fuelwood are main reasons.

The survey also covered 03 bakeries and all three are using fuelwood at different degrees. All

three bakeries buy fuelwood from saw mills operating in respective area. According to them, it

costs around Rs. 4-6 per Kg of fuelwood. On average, a bakery use around 1500-2500 Kg of

fuelwood per month. In terms of species, bakeries prefer to have off-cuts of Jack, Tekka,

Mahogani, Kohoba, and Milla. In addition to Saw Mills, bakeries buy fuelwood from individuals

involving in timber trade as well as households. Households contacted bakeries upon fuelwood

collection either from pruning and/or land clearing.

The three brick producers visited depend entirely on fuelwood for their heating requirements. In

most cases, it is found that they need a large quantity of fuelwood at specific time intervals. This

allow them to obtain the required quantities by connecting with saw mills as well as individuals

involving in timber business. It is revealed that they use various species of fuelwood ranging

from Rubber, Gliricedia, Tekka, Jack, Siyabala, Kohoba, Milla and Mango etc. In addition, there

are occasions where neighboring houses supply fuelwood collected from land clearing and

pruning to factories. The managers of the aforementioned factories prefer to Tekka, Siyabala,

and Kohoba arguing its heat is strong as well as stable. It is argued the stability of the heat is

important determinants of quality the production. Amount of fuelwood consumed depend

entirely on the size of the burner. Hence, it is quite difficult to estimate the monthly requirement.

It was observed that each producer maintain a good fuelwood stock in order to make sure they

access to right amount when need.

The brick producers argued that fuelwood prices have gone up in recent years due to an increase

demand for fuewood emanating from outside the district. Further, it is pointed out that increasing

land segregation has caused in reduction in fuelwood supply thereby putting pressure on prices.

1.15 Issues and Challenges

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

due to limited and decreasing supply and ever increasing demand. In Kurunegala district,

competition is fierce for using most species such as Tekka, Siyabala, Kohoba, Mahogani for

timber and fuelwood. However, these species require considerable time in growing. Kurunagala

district has experienced reduction in home garden tree density due to number of reasons. Hence,

brick producers are of the view that the industry may find it difficult to receive quality fuelwood



since there have been continuous tree felling in home garden without planting. Hence, it was

pointed out that there should be concerted effort in replanting some of the fuelwood species with

a hard stem. Yet, none of the enterprises have a plan to make the fuelwood supply sustainable in

future.

Results of Key Informant and Focus Group Discussion

The team conducted five focus group discussions at Galgamuwa, Katupotha, Kobeigane,

Kuliyapitiya East, and Narammala 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 largely depend on home garden 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, branches of Tekka and Coconut are popular as fuelwood species. The

participants revealed that people living closer to reserved forest and plantation often collect

fuelwood from such sources. According to the participants, households in semi-urban and urban

areas heavily depend on market for fuelwood. As discussed under the Enterprise Survey section,

small fuelwood sellers collect fuelwood from their private lands as well as state forest. With

respect to business, it was revealed that traditional businesses witnessed some shortage of

fuelwood supply with the limited supply due to land segregation. This increase in prices causes

traditional fuelwood users to convert their technology to use electricity and/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 highlighted by key officials that they took decisions to

discourage Gliseria planting due to soil degradation impact. This is due to the fact that both

fuelwood as well as the Gliseria leaves are taken out of the land. This is a case where

misconception and/or poor implementation strategies affected fuelwood growing in the district.

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. In recent years, this is true for the case of rubber as well. 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. As above mentioned, government officials took

steps to discourage growing of Gliseria as an energy crop.

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 convey 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 Kurunegala

district given the socio-economic conditions of the district.

1.18 Issues arising from Commercial supply and Industrial applications

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

within a short period of time. Such increase in demand could endanger the surrounding

environment having far reaching consequences. It is reported that Kurunegala 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 – Kurunegala 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 Kurunegala 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 Kurunegala District is given in Figure 1.15.

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 Kurunegala District

Fuel Wood Presently Extractable (tonnes/y) Additional Fuel Wood Extractable (tonnes/y) DS Division Cashew Coconut Homestead Other Rubber Tea Total Scrub Sparely

used

Crop

Land

Total Alawwa Total 0 1,839.48 6,276.34 543.61 374.127 21.539 9,055.10 92,209.37 31.383 92,240.75 Ambanpola Total 0 460.533 4,931.77 1,035.95 0 0 6,428.26 105,394.55 0 105,394.55 Bamunukotuwa Total 0 1,659.19 2,652.55 255.705 0 0 4,567.45 26,741.85 0 26,741.85 Bingiriya Total 0 7,055.52 9,682.68 348.823 0.011 0 17,087.04 28,284.12 0 28,284.12 Ehetuwewa Total 0 119.136 4,480.56 1,029.76 0 0 5,629.46 78,680.34 0 78,680.34 Galgamuwa Total 0 413.177 9,349.12 1,177.67 0 0 10,939.97 282,372.15 0 282,372.15 Ganewatta Total 0 3,435.03 6,482.88 367.242 0 0 10,285.15 97,387.66 0 97,387.66 Giribawa Total 0 224.632 6,722.25 631.637 3.602 0 7,582.13 252,486.11 0 252,486.11 Ibbagamuwa Total 0 5,002.97 7,186.39 1,073.51 98.682 0 13,361.55 143,794.69 0 143,794.69 Katupotha Total 0 2,806.56 5,861.48 332.895 0.605 0 9,001.54 14,896.69 0 14,896.69 Kobeigane Total 0 4,063.84 5,540.04 1,727.62 0 0 11,331.50 24,012.02 0 24,012.02 Kotawehera Total 0 696.535 4,326.25 1,244.03 0 0 6,266.82 212,214.94 0 212,214.94 Kotawehera East 0 4,125.84 5,033.95 458.043 31.324 0 9,649.16 15,133.90 0 15,133.90 Kuliyapitiya West Total 0 5,772.76 9,435.18 118.209 0 0 15,326.15 3,302.22 0 3,302.22 Kurunegala Total 0 3,168.73 5,530.12 275.727 118.91 142.662 9,236.15 15,370.33 0 15,370.33 Mahawa Total 0 1,584.27 9,949.62 769.255 5.052 0 12,308.19 230,610.78 0 230,610.78 Mallawapitiya Total 0 3,221.70 2,997.73 187.09 138.76 67.172 6,612.46 19,764.07 0 19,764.07 Maspotha Total 0 1,621.41 2,142.19 79.249 0 0 3,842.85 10,233.06 0 10,233.06 Mawathagama Total 0 2,445.94 4,870.92 445.631 947.192 184.07 8,893.75 24,338.69 0 24,338.69 Narammala Total 0 2,435.36 7,152.77 330.102 45.924 0 9,964.17 27,039.56 0 27,039.56 Nikaweratiya Total 3.781 973.584 6,423.51 435.174 0.782 0 7,836.83 118,159.23 0 118,159.23 Panduwasnuwara Total 0 9,797.77 5,554.01 134.965 0 0 15,486.74 19,269.64 0 19,269.64 Pannala Total 0 10,880.94 15,276.65 221.215 0 0 26,378.81 12,679.96 0 12,679.96 Polgahawela Total 0 3,249.08 4,036.79 446.22 182.061 0 7,914.14 13,210.61 0 13,210.61 Polpithigama Total 0 4,633.03 14,701.67 2,913.45 7.162 0 22,255.31 179,285.68 0 179,285.68 Rasnayakapura Total 0 2,375.38 5,308.60 1,190.73 0 0 8,874.70 71,078.33 0 71,078.33 Rideegama Total 0 6,434.45 7,570.39 1,039.53 611.784 329.597 15,985.75 146,507.01 0 146,507.01 Udubaddawa Total 0 5,588.42 5,716.00 55.744 2.16 0 11,362.33 2,329.74 0 2,329.74 Wariyapola Total 0 7,826.86 8,623.54 562.995 24.001 0 17,037.40 29,148.28 0 29,148.28 Weerambugedara Total 0 3,290.15 2,793.40 675.717 0 0 6,759.27 36,894.63 0 36,894.63 Total 3.781 107202.282 196609.352 20107.49 2592.139 745.04 327260.086 2332830.203 31.383 2332861.586



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

Kurunegala District is about 19625ha 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 Kurunegala 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 Kurunegala

District for growing fuelwood species

DS Division Land Availability (ha)

ALAWWA 270.040 AMBANPOLA 286.748

BAMUNAKOTUWA 57.524

BINGIRIYA 8.423

EHETUWEWA 3572.970

GALGAMUWA 1702.037

GANEWATTA 434.727

GIRIBAWA 2491.787

IBBAGAMUWA 397.991

KOBEIGANE 207.792

KOTAWEHERA 1275.349

KULI/EAST 53.875

MAHO 2665.089

MASPOTHA 4.556

NARAMMALA 27.745

NIAWERAIYA 455.616

PADU EAST 85.703

PADU WEST 159.153

PANNALA 55.774

POLPITHIGAMA 3765.605

RASNAYAKAPURA 1007.898

RIDEEGAMA 409.236

UDUBADDAWA 41.162

WARIYAPOLA 40.773

WARYAPOLA 82.385

WERABUGEDARA 65.461

Grand Total 19625.419

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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