A Comparative Study on Biomass Fuel Consumption, Collection and Preference Patterns by Rural Households of Forest and Non-Forest Areas in Northern Bangladesh

Biomass fuel is the most important form of renewable energy in many parts of the world including Bangladesh. Its extraction is considered as a leading cause of forest degradation of developing countries like Bangladesh. Its consumption, collection and preference patterns are thus very important indicators of overexploitation of forest. On the other hand, forests are meager in mainly northern region of Bangladesh. Reliable data and information are scanty on biomass fuel in Bangladesh, particularly in formulating its proper management plan. The aim of this study was to conduct a comparative study on the aforesaid patterns in forest and non-forest areas of northern region of Bangladesh. The study was carried out by adaptive multistage random sampling technique. A total of 90 households (45 from forest area, 45 from non-forest area) were selected randomly and based on the monthly income the households were categorized into rich, medium, poor groups. The consumption of biomass fuel was found to be differed significantly between forest (2.10 kg/capita/day) and non-forest (1.71 kg/capita/day) area. Forest, market, agriculture, homestead and roadside plantation were identified as sources of biomass fuel, and the contribution of each sources varied significantly between the areas except market. In forest area, maximum amount of biomass fuel was collected from nearby forests (44%) and poor households collected 78% of biomass fuels from the same sources. In non-forest area, roadside plantation (31%) and homesteads (24%) were the major sources of biomass fuel, and poor households collected biomass fuel mainly from roadside plantations (75%). Stems, branches, leaves, agricultural residues and cow dung were used as biomass fuel in both areas but the consumption of each biomass fuel types varied significantly except leaves. Women were identified as major biomass fuel collector and most of the biomass fuel was found to be collected during morning to noon in both areas. Most commonly used fuelwood species was Shorea robusta in forest area and Eucalyptus camaldulensis in non-forest area. The findings of this study will help policymakers to take steps in halting deforestation as well as meeting the villager’s needs for biomass fuel.   Keywords: Bangladesh, biomass fuel, forest degradation, fuelwood, homesteads, natural forests