Woody biomass on farms and in the landscapes of Rwanda

Scattered trees and woodlots are a prominent feature of agricultural landscapes of Rwanda. However, little is known about their characteristics and their contribution to farmers’ wood needs. Here, we present the results of a survey of (a) the abundance, composition, and size of trees and woodlots in the low, medium and high altitude regions of Rwanda, (b) total woody biomass and biomass for fuelwood at farm and landscape levels, and (c) opportunities for their sustainable use. Scattered trees occurred in all landscapes at minimum densities ranging from 20 to 167 trees ha⁻¹. Of the 56 tree genera recorded, a handful of tree species dominated, with the ten most common species accounting for over 70 % of all trees recorded. Most of them provided fuelwood, fruit and timber to farm owners. Woodlots occurred on about 40 % of the survey farms and consisted for 90 % of eucalyptus coppice. Woody biomass dry weight of scattered trees on agricultural landscape was 0.7 t ha⁻¹ in low altitude region (LAR), 3 t ha⁻¹ in medium altitude region (MAR), and 1 t ha⁻¹ in high altitude region (HAR). Dry weight woody biomass in woodlots (