Fuelwood
and other biomass energy are the main sources of energy
in Cambodia, representing 96.3% of national fuel consumption
(National  Institute
of Statistics, 1999). Approximately 84% of households
and small enterprises (such as brick kilns, bakeries,
and food processing...) use fuel-wood and charcoal as
their main fuel for firing/cooking. Fuel-wood and charcoal
consumption add to deforestation, effecting the environment,
whilst also having a detrimental effect on human health
(acute and chronic respiratory diseases, eye diseases
and infant mortality...). Firewood and other biomass
remain very important fuel for Cambodians..
Cooking Energy |
% |
|
Fuelwood |
|
Charcoal |
|
Kerosene |
|
Electricity |
|
Other |
|
| National Institue of Statistics, 2000. |
Firewood is mostly taken from
natural forest. In the past Cambodia had abundant natural
forests. Unfortunately since 1973, it's forest resources
have significantly declined from 13 million ha to 10.6
million ha due to the civil war, illegal logging or
over cutting, population growth, etc. The population
growth has been increasing pressure on wood supply with
annual demand for fuelwood increasing from 1.8 million
m³ for the period 1961-71 to 6 million m³
for 1991-94 (World Bank et al. 1996). In 1997, it is
estimated that around 58% of Cambodia's land area was
forest, almost entirely natural forest (Department of
Forestry and Wildlife, 1997.)
Deforestation has economic
and environmental consequences. It leads to firewood
shortages, and adversely effects living conditions,
especially of those in the rural area. Since
Cambodia faces the problem of forest degradation, the
government has made an effort to strictly ban forest
cutting. Meanwhile, reforestation and alternative programs
including Improved cookstove (ICS) were launched to
address those issues.
|
