Residential heating, fuelwood demand and tree species: Implications for native forests in the South of Chile

Abstract

This study compares revealed versus stated household fuelwood preferences for particular tree species, explores the underlying factors, and discusses the implications for native forests. We used a cross-sectional survey of over 550 fuelwood consumers spanning rural areas to small, medium and large cities in the Los Lagos region of Chile conducted in 2020. We employed the Generalized Ordered Logit Model (GOLOGIT) and Multinomial Logit Model of household choice of major tree species for fuelwood. Our results show a significant misalignment between revealed and stated tree species preferences. Household tree species preferences for fuelwood is determined by fuel-value index (FVI), household expenditure, awareness of the relationship between fuelwood production and deforestation, and spatial heterogeneity. Household expenditure, as a proxy of family income, leads to selection of higher FVI tree species, though it is dependent on forest location and accessibility as well. As particular native species are those with high FVI, this implies a possible relationship between household income and native forest degradation that needs to be further explored. At the same time, awareness of deforestation is correlated with households buying the more abundant but less preferred species of fuelwood. These results point to potential impacts on native forests in Southern Chile, which will vary according to tree species´ ecological characteristics, their regeneration potential, and harvesting methods used. Current policies incentivizing better thermal insulation of homes would allow people to use more abundant non-preferred tree species for fuelwood. These findings point to a need for continued research on how improved energy and forestry regulations can support more sustainable fuelwood consumption decisions within local fuelwood markets and better assessments of forest impacts of such policies.