Managing fuelwood resources

Description

Managing fuelwood resources involves implementing sustainable harvesting, reforestation, and efficient utilization practices to address deforestation, habitat loss, and fuel scarcity. This strategy ensures a continuous supply of fuelwood while protecting ecosystems by promoting community-based management, introducing alternative energy sources, and improving stove technologies. The core intent is to balance human energy needs with environmental conservation, reducing pressure on forests and enhancing local livelihoods through responsible resource stewardship and regeneration initiatives.

Implementation

Trees are used on a day-to-day basis by farmers in the X-uilub Maya community in the eastern part of the state of Yucatan. Sixty-eight species of trees and shrubs are usable as fuel, the majority of which belongs to the family Leguminosae. Fourteen principal species were identified, among them Neomillspaughia emarginata, Lysiloma latisiliquum and Caesalpinia gaumeri. Three important sources of fuel exist: forest or hubche (secondary vegetation), the milpa (field where corn is produced) and the homegardens. The collection of firewood is determined by the collector, the gathering area, and the final destination of the wood. The annual consumption of firewood per family was discovered to be about 4 tons. The principal factors that affect the aspects as well. One of the most important strategies for sustainable management is the selective utilization of secondary vegetation which is integrated into a shifting cultivation system of the forest for the growth of the milpa.