• Firewood is hard to find and impractical in urban high-rise homes  
• Health risks of firewood use, particularly for women, a concern: CEJ
• Uptick in firewood use may adversely affect forests   

  By Maneesha Dullewe  With ongoing supply and pricing issues surrounding Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders, their usage has become somewhat of a conundrum for Sri Lankans, with many resorting to wood, electric cookers, and kerosene as alternative sources of energy. However, these alternatives, especially firewood, come with their own risks and concerns. Wildlife officials also expressed concern about the increased demand for firewood impacting forests. While firewood has long been a low-cost energy alternative for cooking, its accessibility is hardly universal. Among others, people residing in urban areas, such as apartment dwellers, face significant difficulties in sourcing and using firewood for their domestic activities in the absence of LPG cylinders. Moreover, increased usage of firewood also gives rise to questions of environmental sustainability. Accordingly, The Sunday Morning spoke to Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) Executive Director Hemantha Withanage to identify the potential repercussions of an LPG crisis driving up the use of firewood.  Withanage noted that while the primary problem with firewood use is that it contributes to forest destruction, in turn leading to long-term climate change, the immediate repercussions were on a domestic scale. “Using firewood in homes designed for gas cookers will make us regress to the indoor air pollution caused during the ’90s due to firewood usage and cause health issues,” he claimed. According to him, the risks of air pollution due to carbon emissions from burning firewood will lead to health complications as the urban setting is unsuited to adapt to firewood use. “We have been lobbying for about 25-30 years regarding the diseases caused by using firewood, especially for women. Burning firewood causes cancers due to the release of smoke containing a combination of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. In the past we had outdoor kitchens so smoke was dispersed effectively to a certain extent. However, now when people use firewood stoves in their kitchens, lung diseases such as asthma, wheeze, and cancers are possible. Moreover, children will also be afflicted with lung diseases due to frequenting these kitchens. This is why we should move to clean energy. One clean energy source is electricity, although it causes massive environmental damage. At domestic level, it reduces pollution. “Another more affordable clean energy source is gas. However, now there is also a fear of using it. Modern houses have been built to use gas. Unfortunately, people have been compelled to resort to firewood. Considering all this, I think there will be an increase in health problems due to the use of firewood.” The Sunday Morning also spoke to the Movement for the Protection of Public Rights Convenor Asela Sampath, who asserted that the prevailing situation led to people having no alternative but to extract wood from forests by cutting down trees. He added that the large-scale use of alternatives such as rubber and coconut shells was not viable at present, as both were being used as export products.  Commenting that should there be a national shift to using firewood, Sri Lanka’s forests would not be able to bear the strain, he stressed that the Government should move towards cultivating forests for fuelwood or providing alternative wood energy such as discarded rice husks from mills, etc. Withanage said the increased demand for firewood would also have environmental consequences. “In Sri Lanka, wet zones have home gardens and rubber woods which can yield firewood. However, those in dry zones are unable to obtain firewood in a similar manner, so sourcing of wood in these zones is a significant contributor to the degradation of forests.  “Firewood is being sold in increased quantities, with it even being available in supermarkets. This firewood is good quality wood cut from good trees, unlike the branches broken off trees or coconut tree stems available in the wet zone. Wood is being cut down as a business endeavour once again and obtained by cutting down large trees. As such, we can expect the destruction of forests,” he said. Forest Department Sri Lanka Conservator of Forests – Social Forestry and Forest Extension C. Palamakumbura confirmed the same, saying the demand for firewood had increased, with piles of firewood once again visible along roadsides, especially in Anuradhapura and Puttalam areas. However, he noted that these bundles were not sourced from home gardens, but from forests, terming this as a significant problem. He said the drop in gas usage meant people were finding it easier to sell firewood, while the price has also increased, rendering this a viable income source for many.   Palamakumbura noted that the activities surrounding the sourcing of wood from forests caused a range of environmental degradations, disturbed wildlife, and also contributed to rising temperatures in surrounding areas.  However, Palamakumbura said there could also be a positive side; for instance, people could be planting fast-growing trees on private lands for this purpose. “Planting of trees suitable for fuelwood in home gardens should be promoted if gas is not being used,” he said, adding: “About 10-15 years ago the Forest Department used to have projects to plant trees for fuelwood. We are expecting to start promoting this project once again, by providing people with fast-growing tree species to be planted in home gardens. We also hope to grow species such as acacia and ipil ipil on Forest Department lands.”  Palamakumbura also suggested that alternatives to fuel wood such as wood chips and rice husks be promoted, since the fire and warmth generated from these sources lasted longer, while reducing the threat to forests.       While forests can play a useful role in meeting renewed demands for fuel, this new development contributes to the ongoing indiscriminate encroachment into forested land. Withanage observed: “According to data from the Government and Wildlife and Forest Conservation Department, Sri Lanka possesses natural forest cover of 29.6%. The former Director General of Forest Conservation compiled a report which revealed that Sri Lanka’s primary forest cover stood at 17% at the time. The remaining forests have been denuded of their large trees. During 2016, 2017, and 2018, approximately 8,000 hectares of forest land was destroyed per year, wth forests being cleared for massive development projects and large-scale cultivation. Chena cultivation also contributes to the destruction. However, the past two years have seen an even greater degree of forest destruction.  Therefore, I believe that during 2020 and 2021, the yearly average of 8,000 hectares of destruction has likely doubled.” Commenting on the present situation and its effects on the ongoing deforestation, Withanage observed: “The LPG issue is not likely to contribute to the destruction of thousands of hectares of forest. However, instead of complete deforestation, what usually happens is the felling of large trees. These trees are chopped down despite existing prohibitions and turned into firewood, leading to a certain degree of deforestation.” Palamakumbura also noted that the present use of firewood could not be confirmed with certainty as being a significant contributory factor in reducing Sri Lanka’s forest cover as yet, since the situation was still in its initial stages. He further noted that prior to the LPG crisis-induced use of firewood, those engaged in the business of selling wood obtained leftover wood at plantations, highlighting that it was rare to see any firewood being obtained by chopping down trees in forests even for commercial purposes, with most firewood obtained from home gardens.  Withanage noted that Sri Lanka presently did not have forest cultivation specifically for use as fuelwood, although there were cultivations of ipil ipil in the ’70s. He acknowledged that fixing the electricity crisis would prove to be expensive due to having to import coal and diesel – currently problematic due to the dollar shortage. Therefore, he shared that the best option would be solar cookers as an immediate solution, while achieving energy sovereignty through the use of solar energy should be focused on as a long-term solution.