CIFOR briefs provide concise, accurate, scientific information on current topics in forest research No. 7, November 2011 www.cifor.org Woodfuel for urban centres in the Democratic Republic of Congo The number one energy and forest product returns to the policy agenda Jolien Schure, Verina Ingram, Jean-Noël Marien, Robert Nasi and Emilien Dubiez many local people to gain an income from woodfuel Key points production and trade. • Policymakers should recognise the size and value of the woodfuel sector and its importance to The woodfuel sector in the Congo Basin is mainly many people. informal and few data are available. The DR Congo, • Harvesters and producers need better access to where abundant forest resources cover roughly 155.5 trees and land to promote better management and million hectares (Eba’a Atyi and Bayol 2009), is among the reduce conflicts. poorest countries in the world. It ranks 168th out of 169 • The tax system for woodfuel should be revised to on the 2010 Human Development Index (UNDP 2011). be transparent and pragmatic. The Makala Project 2 aims to enhance understanding and • Woodfuel from plantation forests and agroforestry management of the woodfuel sector for urban centres in should be favoured over woodfuel from valuable or the DR Congo. It contrasts woodfuel supply zones from threatened tree species. savannahs and degraded forests near Kinshasa with a • More attention should be paid to energy-efficient charcoal kilns and cooking stoves, as well as 5 000 activities to promote their use. 4 500 • Management options that combine agroforestry, plantations and improving energy efficiency need 4 000 3 3 500 collaboration from different sectors: energy, forest, m land-use planning and agriculture. 3 000 000s 2 500 in ‘ 2 000 The diverse woodfuel sector 1 500 1 000 For tropical humid forests, such as those of the Congo Basin, it has long been assumed that woodfuel 1 is 500 abundant and merely a by-product of timber exploitation 0 Kinshasa KisanganiNational timber or agriculture. However, recent observations in DR production Congo, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Fuelwood Charcoal Cameroon show diverse production patterns, as well as an increase in urban demand and a shift from consumption Figure 1. Woodfuel traded in Kinshasa and Kisangani and official national timber production 3(m in 2010) of fuelwood to charcoal. Growing demand for urban woodfuel has increased pressure on the region’s forest Note: This is the official timber production figure from the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) 2011. However, resources, which is especially problematic in the absence statistics about formal wood production vary largely from one of incentives to restore or manage these resources source to the other and the larger informal timber sector has not sustainably. However, it has also created possibilities for yet been taken into account. No. 7 November 2011 region copiously endowed with still undisturbed tropical capital of Orientale, is supplied via six main routes (river and humid forest near Kisangani. This brief 3 provides key data on road) from an average distance of 25 km for fuelwood and the woodfuel sector and recommendations for improved 37 km for charcoal (Figure 3). management. The woodfuel sector provides a significant number of jobs in the informal sector. While 15 000 are employed in the Growing demand in urban centres formal forestry sector (Eba’a Atyi and Bayol 2009), more than Woodfuel consumption in DR Congo’s urban centres is 300 000 are involved in informal woodfuel production for increasing thanks to a growing population and a lack of Kinshasa alone. Most cash-generating opportunities exist at alternative energy sources. Households depend largely the level of production where woodfuel income contributes on woodfuel for daily cooking (87% in Kinshasa and 95% considerably to average household income (ranging from in Kisangani). Businesses, such as bakeries, breweries, 12% for fuelwood harvesters around Kisangani to 75% for restaurants, brick makers and aluminium forgers, also charcoal producers around Kinshasa). Woodfuel income depend upon fuelwood or charcoal for their daily provides households with capital to invest in other activities operations. The volume of the woodfuel market to the (mainly in agriculture and some in petty trade, livestock and cities of Kinshasa and Kisangani alone (4.9 million m3) fishing). Overall, however, the income of producers remains exceeds the volume of official national timber production low with over half earning less than US $50 a month, (400 000 m3 (ITTO 2011)) by more than 12 times. In Kinshasa, reflecting the country’s high poverty levels. the country’s capital city with around 6 million inhabitants 4, the total charcoal market value was estimated at US $143 million in 2010; this represented 3.1 times the value of Less supply, less access the country’s national timber export ($46 million in 2010 For the DR Congo, unsustainable practices and deforestation (FAO 2011)). are mainly observed in peri-urban areas, savannah zones and around protected areas (Schure et al. in press). Two- The woodfuel supply zone of Kinshasa stretches to the thirds of the woodfuel produced for Kinshasa and Kisangani southwest and northeast over an average distance of 102 originates from slash-and-burn agriculture, while around km for fuelwood and 135 km for charcoal (Figure 2). The one-third comes from forests (generally degraded forest provinces of Kinshasa and Bas-Congo provide most of the along rivers in the regions of Kinshasa and primary forests woodfuel (43% and 34% respectively) and the rest (23%) around Kisangani). Environmental costs are not internalised enters via the Congo River from the provinces of Bandundu, and producers rarely replant trees. Demand is surpassing Equateur and Orientale up to 1000 km away. Kisangani, the supply for Kinshasa’s rapidly depleting peri-urban forests. r e v i Fuelwood R Fuelwood o n g Charcoal 23% Co Charcoal Flow Flow Axe Plateau Baté ké 43% Kinshasa Kisangani e Bas Congo 34% Ax 0 30km 0 10 km © CIFOR/Makala Project 2011 © CIFOR/Makala Project 2011 Figure 2. Woodfuel flow in the Kinshasa supply zone Figure 3. Woodfuel flow in the Kisangani supply zone No. 7 November 2011 Distances to the resource are increasing and accompanied from the landowner or village chief. Any intervention problems, such as conflicts about access to trees, in the woodfuel sector needs to take the strong role of are common. Unlike Kinshasa, where every available traditional local authorities into account. tree is used, there tends to be more selection around Kisangani, which leads to degradation of preferred tree Recommendations sources. Among the various species used for woodfuel production, major timber and non-timber forest products Given increasing demand for woodfuel and a lack of are commonly used. There is little information on the alternative energies in the short term, the Congolese conservation status of most of these species. For example, government needs to immediately improve management the International Union for Conservation of Nature of the sector, in collaboration with stakeholders. The (IUCN) Red List, a comprehensive inventory of the global national Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and conservation status of plant and animal species, has Degradation (REDD) programme creates momentum only assessed a few woodfuel species (IUCN 2011). Of for this, as its recently endorsed Forest Investment these, some face risk of becoming endangered in the Programme (FIP) 7 grant an important place to potential future such as Milicia excelsa, Pterocarpus angolensis and production and consumption benefits to be gained in the Irvingia gabonensis, while two species – Millettia laurentii woodfuel sector. Future interventions need to consider and Autranella congolensis – have been assessed as the dependence of many people on woodfuel production endangered and critically endangered respectively. and the importance of sales as a cash-generating activity. These activities are mostly still in the informal sphere Regulatory frameworks for the woodfuel sector exist and collaboration among different sectors – energy, in the forestry code and land tenure law. Possible legal forest, land-use planning and agriculture – is necessary options for managing woodfuel production are: (1) public to professionalise and formalise, without harming the plantations; (2) private plantations; (3) reforestation of livelihoods of those involved. New management options agricultural parcels; (4) woodfuel exploitation with a that combine agroforestry, plantations and improving permit for woodfuel cutting and carbonisation; and energy efficiency at producer and consumer levels (5) rural community forests. can provide opportunities to guarantee sustainable future energy supplies, while maintaining the natural In practice, most wood is sourced from (newly slashed) resource base. agriculture land and (degraded) forests; the few woodfuel plantations that exist include the Mampu Project at the At the level of production: plateau Batéké with production of charcoal from 8000 ha 1. Recognise the importance of the sector in providing of acacia trees (Acacia auriculiformis), the neighbouring revenues to a large number of people. reforestation project village Ibi with related charcoal 2. Improve the energy efficiency of charcoal kilns (both production under the Clean Development Mechanism production skills and technology). and the EcoMakala Project in North Kivu. Reforestation 3. Raise