*5.2.2 Fuel wood extraction*

Almost all households, in and around the forests, use fuel wood for daily livelihood. Majority of the fuelwoods are sourced from the nearby forests. The local people generally collect dead or fallen trees or branches, which do not contribute directly to the destruction of trees in the forest; but it has other ecological consequences. Some local community members live on selling the fuelwood extracted from the forest. Fallen leaves collection is a major problem in deciduous forests in the central as well as in the northern part of the country. Leaf and fuelwood collectors clean up the undergrowth of the forest and also cut down seedlings which hinder regeneration of the forest [4].
