ABSTRACT
Serious problems of watershed management are caused by the rapidly developing tropical fuelwood crisis. In developing countries, four-fifths of the wood harvested is used for fuel. Throughout Africa, 76 percent of the energy consumed comes from fuelwood, as compared with 42 percent in Asia and 30 percent in Latin America. As populations grow and forests shrink, the traditional practice of gathering free fuelwood is causing worldwide difficulties. The problem is intensified by the drift of rural population to the outskirts of tropical cities, where charcoal is the common household fuel. The fuelwood crisis presents an urgent challenge to those actively concerned with forestry and agriculture in the tropics. Planting of species suitable for fuelwood is an important means of overcoming three widespread problems of management in upland watersheds: imperata grasslands in humid areas, bare hills in areas with long dry seasons, and manmade desert conditions.
