Wood Scarcity Research Articles

Structure Design and Strength Analysis of the Glass Reinforcement Plastic (GRP) Malay Traditional “Perahu Bedar”

The Perahu Bedar, a traditional fishing boat in the Terengganu region of Malaysia, has been historically crafted from Cengal wood. In response to challenges posed by wood scarcity and limitations in skilled craftsmen, this study pioneers the exploration of Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) as a novel alternative material for constructing the traditional Perahu Bedar, measuring 4.32 meters in length. Through a rigorous analysis, the research delves into the structural design intricacies and strength attributes of the GRP Perahu Bedar, marking a significant departure from conventional wood-based construction methods. The study conducts a comprehensive analysis of the structure design and strength characteristics of the GRP Perahu Bedar. The weight, buoyancy force, and load distribution along the boat are analyzed. The data shows varying weight and buoyancy forces along the stations, with positive load values indicating upward forces contributing to buoyancy and negative load values representing downward forces. This analysis provides insights into the boat’s stability and distribution of forces. The sheer force and bending moment along the Perahu Bedar are evaluated. The sheer force values gradually increase or decrease along the boat, while the bending moment is highest at the midsection and decreases towards the ends. These results indicate the distribution of forces and stress on the boat’s structure, aiding in understanding its integrity and stability. The Factor of Safety (FoS) analysis demonstrates a FoS value of 2.2368, indicating a safety margin greater than 1. This suggests that the GRP Perahu Bedar design meets safety requirements and can withstand applied 
 
 stresses without exceeding yield strength. The FoS value provides assurance of structural integrity and safety during normal operating conditions. In summary, this study underscores the groundbreaking potential of Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) as a viable alternative to traditional wooden Perahu Bedar due to very high cost of Cengal Wood (wood that been used to build Peahu Bedar). By meticulously analyzing critical factors such as weight, buoyancy, load, shear force, bending moment, and Factor of Safety (FoS), the research offers invaluable insights into the structural integrity and safety aspects of GRP Perahu Bedar. These revelations not only herald a new era of sustainable and cost-effective boatbuilding practices but also serve as a crucial step towards safeguarding and perpetuating the rich maritime heritage of the region.

Production of Wood-Plastic Composite from Mixed Particles of Pterocarpus angolensis (Mukwa) And Gmelina arborea (Roxb)

Purpose: It is increasingly difficulty to meet the demand and supply for solid wood for human difference end uses, in view of the alarming shrinkage of forest resource. But the un-ending in wood resource supply to wood-based industry basically continue to underscore the need to think beyond total dependent on solid wood. The study creates a template to ameliorate wood scarcity viz production of wood-plastic composite from mixed particles of Pterocarpus and Gmelina, further analysis the effect of particles size on the Physio–mechanical properties of composite.
 Methodology: Five sieved size were employed, polyester and Meth ether Ketone peroxide (MEKP) were used as adhesive and accelerator respectively, sieved samples were oven dried under a control temperature of 1020C to moisture content of 12 to 15%. Fabricated composite was machined according ASTM standards.
 Findings: The water absorption of composite S1, S2, S3 recorded higher water uptake compared to S4 and S5 composites. Experimental results of mechanical properties revealed progressive strength properties with sieved sizes, ranging from 23 KN/mm2 to 67KN/mm2 for compressive strength, while the tensile strength, ranged from 17KN/mm2 to 30KN/mm2. In addition, it was observed that, particle size has influence on the Physical and mechanical properties of composites.
 Unique contribution to theory, practice, and policy:The study hereby concluded that chips from the above species can be used for the production of composite to ameliorate the demand of solid timber from our ecosystem.

No Wood, No Kingdom: Political Ecology in the English Atlantic

In No Wood, No Kingdom, Keith Pluymers demonstrates that, over the course of the late sixteenth century and early seventeenth century, gaps between the perceptions and realities of wood scarcity led to contradictory claims about resource availability in the English Atlantic. Pluymers focuses on the role of political ecology, which refers to ideas and practices governing resource use, in shaping imperial expansion. In contesting the “windfall” thesis, or the notion that domestic deforestation impelled the English to expand into the Atlantic basin, Pluymers argues that political ecology in the English Atlantic was characterized by uncertainty due to challenges in defining resource prevalence, regulating the movement of timber, and acquiring accurate information for imperial and commercial interests (9–10, 237). Through an examination of promotional tracts, administrative documents, maps, and forestry regulations in England, Ireland, Virginia, Bermuda, and Barbados, Pluymers paints an insightful picture of officials, foresters, and colonists struggling over questions of land and resource use.The book is organized into five core chapters, not including the introduction or the concluding sixth chapter, with each chapter covering political ecology in distinct geographical spaces. Chapter 1 analyzes the Tudor and Stuart forestry reforms that sought to maximize the valuation of Crown lands through surveying as the kingdom tried to balance the revenue generated from timber leases with local needs (58). In chapter 2, Pluymers shows how the English went from promoting Irish woodlands as places of abundance in the 1580s to the 1630s when the fear that English forests were full of waste prompted closer scrutiny of Irish woods, but by then the Crown had already overzealously granted woodland leases such that royal access to Irish forests was limited (105). Similarly, in chapter 3, Virginia Company promoters initially encouraged a vision of abundance but, when faced with actually governing the Tsenacommacah woods, they tried to forge commercial and material connections with England by using the woods to sustain sericulture and ironworks, which ultimately failed following the 1622 Algonquian attack on Jamestown (128). Chapter 4 turns to Bermuda, where, despite many challenges, Bermudan trees became key to the colony’s early economy and the subject of the 1622 Orders and Constitutions that enacted a conservationist regime on the island (138). In chapter 5, Pluymers argues that environmental degradation on Barbados did not occur because of ecological illiteracy but because the colony’s political ecology shifted in the mid-seventeenth century from protectionism to privileging profits from sugarcane plantations (170). Chapter 6 situates John Evelyn’s Sylva (1664) within these Atlantic discourses of uncertainty to underscore the persistence of scarcity anxieties.Pluymers succeeds at uncovering a range of competing and frustrated political ecologies that existed in the English Atlantic. One of the strongest sections of the book is in Pluymers’s analysis of English maps of Irish forests, which revealed their struggles with documenting the Irish landscape (67–73). Another intriguing aspect is that many colonists relied on Indigenous, African, and Afro-Caribbean experts for ecological knowledge to protect resources in the colonies (110, 166, 189). While the book’s focus on particular places is one of its strengths, one difficulty of the colony-by-colony approach is that it inadvertently reinforces spatial separation by making readers deliberate on the book’s themes across distinct geographical regions. For instance, the tension between the resource interests of colonists and the central government emerges as a key theme throughout (88, 178) but is never really highlighted for the reader. Nonetheless, the book is both timely and contributes to a growing scholarly examination of the disjunction between knowledge and practice in the early modern world. It will especially interest scholars working on environmental, imperial, and Atlantic histories.

KEKUATAN SAMBUNGAN DUA TAMPANG PADA MDF DENGAN ALAT SAMBUNG PASAK WPC

MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) and WPC (Wood Plastic Composite) are innovative results of using sawdust waste to overcome the problem of wood scarcity. This study used a WPC Teak dowel because it has high shear strength and does not cause rust marks. This study was conducted to determine the value of the MDF connection capacity using WPC Teak dowel connectors and to determine the connection failure mode based on the EYM (European Yield Model) theory. This study used a WPC Teak dowel with a diameter of 6 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, and 12 mm. The type of connection is a double-shear wooden joint using MDF. The test was carried out at the Structural Laboratory, Civil Engineering Department, Tidar University using a Compression Testing Machine to get the value of the connection capacity and test failure mode based on the MDF bearing strength and WPC Teak post failure referring to ASTM D764-97a. The test results obtained an average connection capacity value WPC dowel with a diameter of 6 mm, 8 mm, 10 mm, and 12 mm, respectively, which was 1094 N; 1870 N; 2439 N; and 3462. The highest average connection capacity value at 12 mm diameter was 3462 N, and the lowest at 6 mm was 1094 N.

Provision of eucalyptus wood farming potential map in Iran: An application of land cover, ecological, climatic, hydrologic, and edaphic analysis in a GIS-based fuzzy AHP framework

Iran is a low-forest cover country (<10% of country area is forested) and has problems with deforestation and increasing demands for wood products. This wood scarcity has prompted the country to curtail industrial logging to meet other demands for wood. The costs of importing wood are rising, so farming wood industrially with fast-growing species may help with this problem. Eucalyptus is a fast-growing species that can be used for industrial production and has been proven adaptable to the environments of southern Iran. This study identifies the most suitable locations for eucalyptus wood-farming in Khuzestan Province. Twenty-two factors and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) were used to identify the best locations for eucalyptus wood-farming in this Province in southern Iran. The independent variables used reflect four components of the environment: soil, water, climate, and land cover. Maps of twenty-two factors were prepared from satellite data, ground sampling, and other geospatial data sources. Eucalyptus plantations in Khuzestan Province were mapped by combining GPS-located ground surveys with data from the Khuzestan Natural Resources Administration. The ecological needs of E. camaldulensis were determined from a review of eucalyptus adaptation studies conducted in southern Iran. The factor maps were classified based on their suitability for eucalyptus farming and these classes served as within-layer weights. The weights of effective factors were calculated using FAHP and Chang's fuzzy-extent analysis (outside-of-layer weights). The accuracies of the fuzzy weights of effective factors were assessed by consistency ratio. A eucalyptus wood-farming potential map was created by overlaying the weighted sub-factor maps. This map was validated with real data (the map of current eucalyptus plantations), overall accuracy assessment, and the kappa index. The results showed that among the primary factors, water (weight: 0.34) and land cover (weight: 0.32) were the most influential determinants of the best locations for eucalyptus farming. The accuracy assessment revealed that the FAHP method produced an overall accuracy of 82% and kappa index of 0.71. This is acceptably strong for the identification of the best eucalyptus farm locations in Khuzestan Province. The wood-farming potential map developed from this research, can be used as a foundation to plan eucalyptus farming in southern Iran to meet the demand for wood in Iran.

Spatial Agglomeration of China’s Forest Products Manufacturing Industry: Measurement, Characteristics and Determinants

China’s forest products manufacturing industry is experiencing the dual pressure of forest protection policies and wood scarcity and, therefore, it is of great significance to reveal the spatial agglomeration characteristics and evolution drivers of this industry to enhance its sustainable development. Based on the perspective of large-scale agglomeration in a continuous space, in this study, we used the spatial Gini coefficient and standard deviation ellipse method to investigate the spatial agglomeration degree and location distribution characteristics of China’s forest products manufacturing industry, and we used exploratory spatial data analysis to investigate its spatial agglomeration pattern. The results show that: (1) From 1988 to 2018, the degree of spatial agglomeration of China’s forest products manufacturing industry was relatively low, and the industry was characterized by a very pronounced imbalance in its spatial distribution. (2) The industry has a very clear core–periphery structure, the spatial distribution exhibits a “northeast-southwest” pattern, and the barycenter of the industrial distribution has tended to move south. (3) The industry mainly has a high–high and low–low spatial agglomeration pattern. The provinces with high–high agglomeration are few and concentrated in the southeast coastal area. (4) The spatial agglomeration and evolution characteristics of China’s forest products manufacturing industry may be simultaneously affected by forest protection policies, sources of raw materials, international trade and the degree of marketization. In the future, China’s forest products manufacturing industry should further increase the level of spatial agglomeration to fully realize the economies of scale.

Forest Restoration in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

A series of international initiatives have set ambitious goals for restoring global forests. This review synthesizes natural and social science research on forest restoration (FR), with a focus on restoration on cleared land in low- and middle-income countries. We define restoration more broadly than reestablishing native forests, given that landholders might prefer other forest types. We organize the review loosely around ideas in the forest transition literature. We begin by examining recent trends in FR and forest transition indicators. We then investigate two primary parts of the forest transition explanation for forest recovery: wood scarcity, including its connection to restoration for climate change mitigation, and the dynamic relationships between migration and land use. Next, we review ecological and silvicultural aspects of restoration on cleared land. We conclude by discussing selected interventions to promote restoration and the challenge of scaling up restoration to achieve international initiatives' goals.

Directed Technical Change and the British Industrial Revolution

We build a directed technical change model where one intermediate goods sector uses a fixed quantity of biomass energy (“wood”) and another uses coal at a fixed price, matching stylized facts for the British Industrial Revolution. Unlike previous research, we do not assume the level or growth rate of productivity is inherently higher in the coal-using sector. Analytically, greater initial wood scarcity, initial relative knowledge of coal-using technologies, and/or population growth will boost an industrial revolution, while the converse may prevent one forever. An industrial revolution, with eventual dominance by the coal-using sector, is the model’s main dynamic outcome, but not inevitable if inter-good substitutability is high enough. Empirical calibration for 1560–1900 produces historically plausible results for changes in energy-related variables during British industrialization, and through counterfactual simulations confirms that it was the growing relative scarcity of wood caused by population growth that resulted in innovation to develop coal-using machines.

Juvenile Wood from Pinus patula Schltdl &amp; Cham for Multilaminated Panel Production

ABSTRACT Wood scarcity, attacks by primates and insects, and fungal damage in forest plantations make the introduction of new species necessary. Given this, it is important to understand the potential uses of wood in the production chain. Pinus patula Schltdl & Cham presents good adaptation to Brazilian conditions and is a candidate for wood supply. Its juvenile wood density however, is lower than that of other pine species. This study aimed to evaluate the properties of veneer on panels produced with twelve-year old P. patula wood compared with panels produced with P. taeda wood of the same age, which is commonly used for panel production. Panels were bonded with urea-formaldehyde and phenol-formaldehyde adhesives using veneers applied on two types of plywood panel. The P. patula panels showed lower strength, stiffness and density when bonded with urea-formaldehyde, and higher strength, density and stiffness when bonded with phenol-formaldehyde in comparison with P. taeda. P. patula panels can be used for multilayer panel production.

Variability of household fuelwood consumption in a rural Sudano-Sahelian context in Burkina Faso

Over 90% of the rural population in sub-Saharan Africa still relies on fuelwood as their primary source of household energy. In this context, recent robust data on fuelwood consumption in rural areas are needed to conceive and implement appropriate energy policies. This paper identifies the factors that determine fuelwood consumption variability in two villages in Burkina Faso, based on a two-year survey of 60 rural households of different size and wealth status. The women who made up the panel were surveyed at five-day intervals over a period of three months in the rainy season, one month in the cold dry season and one month in the hot dry season. Our results corroborate some fuelwood consumption patterns in rural SSA: fuelwood consumption per adult equivalent decreases both with the size of the household and with local wood scarcity. Conversely, it challenges the idea that the level of consumption is correlated with the level of household wealth. Finally, the most important result is that the scarcity of wood resources leads people to buy fuelwood from outside and adopt strategies to reduce their consumption by reducing the number of cooking cycles and certainly by wasting less energy, whatever the level of household wealth.

From Wood to Coal: Directed Technical Change and the British Industrial Revolution

We build a directed technical change model where one intermediate goods sector uses a fixed quantity of biomass energy (“wood”) and another uses coal at a fixed price, matching stylized facts for the British Industrial Revolution. Unlike previous research, we do not assume that the level or growth rate of productivity is inherently higher in the coal-using sector. Analytically, greater initial wood scarcity, initial relative knowledge of coal-using technologies, and/or population growth will boost an industrial revolution, while the converse may prevent one forever. An industrial revolution, with accelerating growth in the coal-using sector, is the dominant dynamic outcome, but not inevitable if inter-good substitutability is high enough. Empirical calibration for 1560-1900 produces historically plausible results for changes in energy-related variables during British industrialization, and through counterfactual simulations confirms that it was the growing relative scarcity of wood caused by population growth that resulted in innovation to develop coal-using machines.

Implications of fuel wood scarcity on livelihoods of rural communities of Nyarubuye Sub-County in Kisoro District, south western Uganda

Fuelwood scarcity is evident in south western Uganda, where households are using sorghum and maize stalks for cooking as alternatives to the traditional fuelwood. The aim of the study was to assess the implications of fuelwood scarcity on livelihoods of rural communities in Nyarubuye sub-county in Kisoro district in south western Uganda. Systematic random sampling techniques were used to select participating households for the study. Data were collected using direct observation and interviews, using a structured questionnaire that was administered to 80 households in Busengo and Karambi parishes. Face to face interviews were held with key informants, using a checklist. The study showed that the main drivers of fuelwood scarcity in Nyarubuye Sub-county include: land shortage, rapid increase in population, change of land use from communal forested land to crop growing only, lack of integration of trees on farm, inefficient methods of cooking and brick burning. The study also showed that the implications of fuelwood scarcity on livelihoods in the study area were adverse and greatly affected women, as compared to men. They included sickening of eyes, breathing difficulties, snake bites and body dislocations, increased domestic violence (wife beating) and sexual abuse (rape), school attendance inconsistencies for school going children, loss of tree cover and low crop yields. Suggested strategies to reduce fuelwood scarcity in area include: promotion of on farm tree planting activities (agroforestry) and energy saving technologies, availing alternative energy sources such as electricity, enhancing family planning methods, skilling of communities on income generation enterprises especially girls. A byelaw on school children with emphasis on girls to collect firewood during weekends only should be formulated and enforced. Keywords: Firewood, maize stover, tree cover

Atlantic Iron: Wood Scarcity and the Political Ecology of Early English Expansion

Fears of wood scarcity were common in early modern England, and proponents of colonial expansion into Ireland and Virginia drew on these anxieties to justify their enterprises and to solicit support for projects exploiting colonial woods. They argued that Ireland and, later, Virginia were the edges of a wooden frontier. Closely examining the connections between ironworks in Virginia, southwest Ireland, and the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries reveals a more complex political ecology that transcends broad concepts of scarcity and abundance. Contemporaries disagreed about the extent and severity of English wood scarcity. Colonial ironworks competed against each other and with domestic and European producers. Many investors in and leaders of ironworks understood that to compete on quality and price they needed to exploit regulatory differences, forge commercial connections with other producers and merchants, and secure access to markets, materials, and expertise. The Virginia Company’s attempts to build ironworks, culminating in a short-lived project at Falling Creek, demonstrate that early Virginia colonists saw their woods through an Atlantic lens and understood that North American natural abundance needed to be made, not just discovered.

Effect of Indole-3-Butyric Acid on Clonal Propagation of Mulberry (Morus alba L.) Stem Cuttings: Rooting and Associated Biochemical Changes

Fuel wood scarcity in the Himalayan region is an established fact and mulberry (Morus alba L.) tree has a great potential in fuel and energy production. This study determines the role of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) for rapid clonal propagation of mulberry for higher biomass and large-scale production; and examines the associated biochemical changes during rooting. The non-treated (control) and treated (1000, 2000 and 3000 IBA mg L−1) soft stem cuttings were cultured in mist chamber. After 50 days the rooting percentage, root number and root length were found to be higher in IBA-treated cuttings than in the non-treated ones. The rooting zone of IBA-treated and untreated cuttings were sampled at day 0 (prior to the culture in mist chamber), 15, 30, and 45 for estimation of total soluble indole content, peroxidase (POX), indole acetic acid oxidase (IAA-oxidase) and total soluble sugar (TSS). The total soluble indole, POX and IAA-oxidase were enhanced due to IBA. POX increased from day zero to day 45 of culture. IAA-oxidase kept increasing for 30 days and thereafter declined markedly. IBA initially increased TSS, which later decreased with passage of time till the 30th day both in IBA-treated and control cuttings. Thereafter, TSS content exhibited statistically non-significant variation at day 30 and 45 of culture. On the whole, IBA increased rooting phenomenon and activated carbohydrate metabolism. IAA-oxidase appears to trigger and initiate root primordia, whereas POX is involved in both initiation and elongation of roots.

Considerations on the environmental performances of deck-ventilated roofs for developing contexts

In hot-climate developing contexts roofs have undergone radical changes under the effect of the avai ability of profiled metal sheets, and that has often determined a decrease of their environmental performances. In the present article the thermal performances of low-cost roofs for hot climates are taken into account through computational experiments and compared, to reason about the available options. The results stress the importance of redundancy of devices hindering the transmission of heat in “cool” roof configurations for obtaining good performances at a low cost. An interesting example of configuration which results to be adequate for contexts characterized by wood scarcity is that of big-size ferrocement tiles ventilated in the hanged-ceiling space.

An institutional analysis of commodity chain evolution: a case study of sawn wood in Uganda

SUMMARY Efforts to address wood scarcity have ignored the forestry value chain and extant literature treats commodity chains as static constructs. Using the adaptive cycle framework, the evolution of the sawn wood commodity chain in Uganda was analysed to examine how policy and governance, physical, and socioeconomic factors interacted to shape its profile over time. Results show that the chain has evolved through one adaptive cycle and is currently undergoing reorganisation. The policy and governance environment had the greatest influence but inadequate coherence with the socioeconomic and physical environments resulted in a system vulnerable to exogenous disturbances. The examination of commodity chains as complex adaptive systems provides beneficial insights to supplement traditional cross-sectional studies focussing on structure, functioning and distribution equity. There is a need for adaptive institutions with focus on development of a cogent strategy for proper coordination in the sawn wood product...

THE ROLE AND MANAGEMENT OF EUCALYPTUS IN LODE HETOSA DISTRICT, CENTRAL ETHIOPIA

ABSTRACT The growing demand for construction and fuel wood and the wide adaptation of Eucalyptus to the different agro-ecological zones of the country are resulting in increased plantation of Eucalyptus by smallholders, but the policy environment in Ethiopia discourages farmers from planting this exotic. While rural and urban households supported the planting of Eucalyptus, district level politicians opposed its planting, and researchers had reservations about it. The opposition of the politicians appears to be founded on fears of damage to the ecosystem. This study was conducted to examine the contribution of Eucalyptus to meeting wood and cash needs of rural households, on-farm management of Eucalyptus, and the perception of stakeholders in Central Ethiopia about this tree. Of tree species, Eucalyptus was ranked first by farmers, indicating conflicts between policy makers and local communities over market needs for Eucalyptus wood. A market survey showed that 74% of firewood sold in the district capital was Eucalyptus. The tree generated a quarter of annual cash incomes of rural households, and contributed significantly to subsistence. Almost half of the farmers had overstocked their Eucalyptus woodlots, indicating that plantation management needs improving. The study shows that Eucalyptus plays an important role in the livelihoods of smallholders, and that attempts to discourage Eucalyptus, in the absence of viable alternatives, will worsen wood scarcity in the Ethiopian highlands.

Fear of Wood Shortage and the Reality of the Woodland in Europe, c.1450-1850

Across the early modern period actors at all levels of European society expressed fears of imminent ‘wood scarcity’ with potentially catastrophic social and economic consequences. Debates as to the ‘reality’ of this risk have subsequently been pursued in many national historiographies with little international comparison. This article provides a cross-national synthesis of this work, along with novel perspectives on the causes of such debates; an examination of the condition of European woodland and the regulation thereof; and reflections on whether Europe was approaching a state of ecological exhaustion around the time of the Industrial Revolution. It is argued that the framework for regulation and debate was set in the fifteenth and early sixteenth century with the widespread development of state oversight of woodlands. Quantitative evidence of the level of supply and demand for wood suggests however that a general, as opposed to a localized, shortage of wood was not plausible before the later eighteenth century. Earlier fears were generated by a combination of an emerging governmental sense of responsibility for resource management, local pressures exerted by urban growth and industry, and above all competition among different users of the woodland. Genuine shortages had emerged by the Napoleonic period but were largely remedied during the nineteenth century by the widespread application of scientific forestry, though at the cost of serious social conflict. This suggests that Europe was not close to an ecological frontier at this period.

The Evolution of Wood-based Industries in Brazil and their Means of Securing Wood

This paper analyses the evolution of wood-based industries in Brazil and evaluates the methods they use to secure wood. Only industries that consume roundwood are analysed. These industries are grouped into three categories: charcoal-based industries; paper and pulp industries; and lumber and panels industries. The structure-conduct-performance paradigm together with transaction cost theory and game theory are used in the analysis. Special attention is paid to historic changes in the wood-based industries' structures, technologies, locations and market orientations brought on by changing wood availability. This paper also analyses the different ways that a predicted wood scarcity will affect each wood-based industry. The paper ends by suggesting an alternative policy to increase the supply of roundwood in the market and, consequently, support the continued viability and expansion of wood-based industries in Brazil.

Access to natural resources and the fertility decision of women: the case of South Africa

Previous studies have examined the impact of an exogenous increase in population on the local resource base. In some recent theoretical work it has been proposed that resource scarcity, in turn, may affect fertility, and hence population growth rates. However, the sign and magnitude of this effect remains an open empirical question. In this paper we examine the impact of fuelwood and water scarcity on fertility rates using household data from rural South Africa. An individual choice model of fertility is estimated in which resource scarcity affects the demand for children through its effect on child mortality and productivity of children as resource collectors. Several alternative measures of resource scarcity are used, such as average distance traveled and time per trip for collecting water and fuelwood. We find wood scarcity to have a positive and significant effect on fertility. The effect of water scarcity is also positive, but not significant in general.