ABSTRACT
Dominican forests are primarily exploited in their function as energy resources due to the increasing national demand for fuelwood and charcoal. The production of charcoal is the most important economic activity of woodworker households. Pressure on forest resources grows stronger whenever the producer population increases, or if returns from the sale of charcoal and timber are low and woodworkers are thus forced to produce more in order to survive. In order to construct a charcoal kiln, wood is cut to manageable size and stacked tightly together in conic form. The responses of Chalona’s dry forest inhabitants made obvious that most of the families had originally come from communities close to the Haitian border. The production of charcoal represents an income strategy with lower risks involved during times of climatic shocks since it is rather independent of unfavourable weather periods such as frequent droughts.
