Analysis of Factors Affecting Wood Energy Consumption in Urban Residences and Their Implication on Biodiversity Loss: Case of Cotonou, Benin

Abstract

In Sub-Saharan Africa, wood fuels remain one of the most important sources of energy and income for habitants. The growing demand for this type of energy has strongly impacted the wood species in supply areas. The purpose of this study was to assess the risk of biodiversity loss (species degradation) due to wood energy consumption in Cotonou. The methodological approach included surveys using questionnaires with different categories of people such as consumers, transporters, and wood energy producers. Data was collected and processed using STATA v.13 software. The risk of biodiversity loss due to wood-energy consumption was evaluated using a scenario based on the risk ranking method in Tchaourou’s commune. Results showed that four factors such as “City districts”, “Wood Resistance (density)”, “Wood origin (Provenance)” and “Household Size (Number of habitants)” were driving wood-energy demand in Cotonou. A total of 3924.03 tons of wood energy was transported from 17 communes to Cotonou. Djidja’s commune was the most important (1200.01 tons), followed by Savè (586,814.6 tons) and Tchaourou (627,719.4 tons). In addition, among the 13 plant species frequently used by wood-energy producers in Tchaourou’s commune, Prosopis africana and Anogeissus leiocarpa were mentioned with a high rate of extinction. The study concluded that the patterns of fuelwood production and consumption in Cotonou present a great danger to biodiversity in supply areas.