Fuelwood Use by Rural Households in the Brazilian
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FUELWOOD USE BY RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN THE BRAZILIAN ATLANTIC FOREST A Thesis by KELLIE JOAN WILCOX-MOORE Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE May 2010 Major Subject: Geography iii FUELWOOD USE BY RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN THE BRAZILIAN ATLANTIC FOREST A Thesis by KELLIE JOAN WILCOX-MOORE Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Approved by: Chair of Committee, Christian Brannstrom Committee Members, Andrew Millington Urs Kreuter Amanda Stronza Head of Department, Douglas Sherman May 2010 Major Subject: Geography iv iii ABSTRACT Fuelwood Use by Rural Households in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. (May 2010) Kellie Joan Wilcox-Moore, B.A., Austin College Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Christian Brannstrom Fuelwood is an important source of domestic energy in rural regions of Brazil. In the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais, native species from the Atlantic Forest are an important source of fuelwood, supplemented by wood from eucalyptus and coffee plantations. The use of native species is complicated by their increasing scarcity and the recent enforcement of forest policies that prohibit the felling of even dead natives trees without a permit. In this study, the factors contributing to the use of fuelwood in this region, despite the simultaneous use of liquid petroleum gas in most households, are explored by examining fuelwood use patterns in four small rural communities in the Zona da Mata Mineira using household surveys and semi-structured interviews. Two hypotheses were tested using a Jacknife regression. The first hypothesis, based on the energy ladder model, tested the predictive power of socioeconomic status in relation to fuelwood use. Two dependent variables were used to represent the importance of fuelwood to a household: the amount of time a household spent collecting fuelwood (Effort) and the number of purposes a household used fuelwood for (Class of Fuelwood Use). Socioeconomic status did explain a statistically significant percentage of the variance in Effort, but not in Class of Fuelwood Use. The second hypothesis tested for a moderating effect of the availability of fuelwood on the relationship between the socioeconomic status of a household and the dependent variables. The interaction between access to fuelwood and socioeconomic status was shown to explain a significant percentage of the variance in Effort, thereby indicating that the effect of socioeconomic status on time spent collecting fuelwood depends on access to fuelwood. However, there was no statistically significant iii iv interaction found between Class of Fuelwood Use and fuelwood availability. The Atlantic Forest Policy was found to have little influence on domestic energy decisions made by surveyed households. Few research subjects had a good understanding of the basic tenets of this policy and the Forest Police do not have adequate resources to enforce the policy at this level. iv v DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to the residents of the villages in Rosario de Limeira who participated in this study. This study would not have been possible without the help of each person who took time out of his or her busy day to talk with me and trust me enough to share personal information regarding their livelihoods. v vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Brannstrom, and my committee members, Dr. Millington, Dr. Kreuter, and Dr. Stronza, for their assistance in planning, conducting and analyzing this research. I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues as well as the department faculty and staff for contributing to my positive experience at Texas A&M University. Special thanks go to Michael Sorice for his invaluable assistance with the statistical analysis of my data. I also want to extend my gratitude to Iracambi Atlantic Rainforest Research and Conservation Center, which provided my accommodation during the fieldwork and assisted with arranging access to the communities surveyed. Additionally, I would like to thank all of the survey and interview participants for taking the time to contribute to this study. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their support, without which I would not have been able to complete this thesis. Thanks to my father for his encouragement and guidance in pursuing this degree, and to my mother for supporting me and my family throughout my studies, particularly during our time in the field. Thanks also to my husband for his unwavering support and particularly for his help making the fieldwork in Brazil possible. Special thanks goes to my oldest son for his assistance with my field research. vi vii NOMENCLATURE AF Atlantic Forest AWC Advanced Wood Combustion IBAMA Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Natural Resources IBDF Brazilian Institute of Forestry Development IBGE Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics IEA International Energy Agency IEF State Institute of Forests (Minas Gerais, Brazil) LPG Liquid Petroleum Gas LR Legal Reserve MME Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy NGO Non-governmental Organization PPA Permanent Protection Area vii viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... vi NOMENCLATURE.................................................................................................. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ............................................................................... 1 1.2 The Energy Ladder in Developing Countries ........................... 3 1.3 The Fuelwood Crisis Reviewed ................................................ 7 1.4 Fuelwood Consumption in Brazil ........................................... 11 1.5 Atlantic Forest Policy.............................................................. 17 II STUDY SITE DESCRIPTION AND SURVEY METHODS ............. 23 2.1 Study Area and Site Selection.................................................. 23 2.2 Methods and Survey Design .................................................. 30 III DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF FUELWOOD USE............................................................................... 42 3.1 Household Vignettes ................................................................ 43 3.2 Descriptive Statistics ………………………………………… 53 3.3 Hypothesis-testing Regression Analysis .................................. 68 3.4 Discussion of Quantitative Results .......................................... 84 viii ix CHAPTER Page 3.5 Conclusion from Quantitative Data ......................................... 86 IV BEYOND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS: EXPLORING OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING FUELWOOD USE..................................... 87 4.1 Type of Fuelwood ...................................................................... 90 4.2 Environmental Awareness........................................................ 101 4.3 Women Working Outside the Home........................................ 104 4.4 Tradition and Fuel Preference .................................................. 105 4.5 Conclusions from Qualitative Data ......................................... 106 V PRINCIPAL FINDINGS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY.... 108 5.1 Principal Findings ..................................................................... 108 5.2 The Future of Fuelwood in the Zona da Mata Mineira ............ 113 5.3 Limitations of the Study............................................................ 115 5.4 Potential for Future Research ................................................... 117 VI CONCLUSION .................................................................................... 119 REFERENCES.......................................................................................................... 120 APPENDIX A ........................................................................................................... 125 APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................... 126 APPENDIX C ........................................................................................................... 136 APPENDIX D ........................................................................................................... 147 VITA ......................................................................................................................... 162 ix x LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page 1 End uses and fuel choices faced by households at different income levels. Modified from World Energy Outlook (2002), International Energy Agency (IEA)……………………………………………………. 4 2 Rosário da Limeira, Minas Gerais, and surrounding areas (Watson and Achinelli, 2008, reprinted with