Biotic pressure on Protected Areas (PAs) in developing countries is primarily to satisfy the fuelwood requirements and is one of the factors affecting their conservation. For studying the fuel consumption pattern and the potential of PA conservation through a change in fuel-mix, a fuel consumption survey was conducted during 2002 in households and enterprises around the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR), one of the famous wildlife sanctuaries in South India. The survey revealed that fuelwood contributed 71 per cent of the annual consumption of 7.2 billion kilocalories of useful heat, LPG contributed 21 per cent, non-wood biomass 4 per cent, kerosene and biogas 4 per cent. This indicated that fuelwood was the most important fuel used for cooking and other purposes.