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Firewood is the main source of energy in rural communities of emerging economies. Rural people develop different strategies to select and use the available species. Analysis of the fi rewood consumption and its relation to the wood-energetic properties was performed in four rural villages in the El Ocote Biosphere Reserve. The relationship between the preferential use of species for fi rewood and wood properties (moisture, ash, volatile content and specific wood density) of 39 species was analyzed using a combination of interviews and laboratory analysis. Fuel value index (FVI) was used to rank species and compare them with a preference index obtained by 76 interviews. People recognized seven character- istics that de fi ne the choice of a species for fi rewood (the kind of fl ame, the length of the fl ame, the amount and duration of coal, the type of smoke produced, the ease of ignition, the fl avor given to food, and the quantity of ash left). Preference criteria do not match with the FVI. Six of the preferred species have low FVI values ( < 60.0), 29 species have intermediate (60 e 300) while only four species showed the highest FVI values ( > 300). We conclude that the FVI is not related to the preference of the species used by people within the reserve. Availability, proximity to home and feasibility may in fl uence the choice of species used for fi rewood. Inglés

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