Forests and woodlands cover an area of about 650 million hectares, or 21.8% of Africa’s land area (FAO, 2001), representing about 17% of the world’s forest area. Almost all forest resources (98.8%) are natural forests with tropical moist (38.4%) and dry forests (53.4%) being the most important formations. The bulk of these forests are found in Central (37%) and Southern (28%) Africa, while West, North and East Africa have 11-13% each. The area of forest plantations is very limited, only 8-9 million ha. In some regions of Africa, there are considerable tree resources on farm and pasture land in various agroforestry or wood lot formations.

The gross productivity of the tropical rain forests is high. These forests are mainly exploited, through concessions, by the private sector. The population density in these forests is low.

Dry forests are found in three out of four sub-Saharan African countries. They are sources of major rivers on the continent and act as a reservoir of land onto which agriculture expands. They are therefore essential to human and animal livelihood support in general. The major river basins of Africa, with the exception of the Congo River, are also found in the dry forests. They are fairly open and of low productivity. They lie in the agricultural belt. The ecozones where dry forests form the natural vegetation support about 500 million people. They also support a lot of the African wildlife, and many important game reserves and animal parks are located in dry forests.

Many big African towns and cities lie within or near dry forest zones. Urbanisation rates in Africa are very high, more than 4% per year. This exerts a lot of pressure on the forests for fuelwood and other products and services. The forests are under immense human and animal pressure for various needs, at the same time as this demand for wood also creates opportunities for income generation and improved forest management.

1.2 Forest management

Despite the glaring lack of information in support of good forest management, there are efforts to manage African forests sustainably, especially those under formal administration. Sustainable forest management (SFM) is a long-term objective for Africa, and is written into most national and regional development plans and strategies.

Developing SFM plans for productive forestry is relatively new. Past experience dealt with management plans for sustained timber yield. It is commendable that Africa has begun to take realistic steps to improve management of its forest and tree resources. The most important steps are in the realm of policy and institutional changes, both within the forest sector, in other sectors, and the economy as a whole. Of particular importance are the following:
 
•    Decentralisation and devolution of administration and increased emphasis on community participation in forest management.
•    Changes in forest administration especially through the establishment of more autonomous boards, authorities and commissions.
•    Increased role for the private sector in forestry production and processing; this has led to privatisation of public-owned commercial  enterprises, including forest industries and plantations in many countries.
•    Increasing role of civil society – especially national and international NGOs - in influencing forest resource management, particularly through their advocacy role and also through direct involvement in forestry initiatives in supporting community participation.
•    A growing awareness and concern about the local and regional roles of forests and trees in fields like poverty alleviation, climate change, energy supply, water availability, and biodiversity conservation.
•    Concerns also about global changes, especially stemming from demands that forests, also in Africa, shall provide global public goods and services, and environmental protection in particular, as reflected in various international arrangements including treaties and conventions.

Given such scenarios, the focus in the present to medium term could be to create the necessary conditions for getting the forest and tree resources under management or, where management exists, strengthen it and make it more responsive to changing needs and challenges.

1.3 Contributions from SFM I and SFM II

As a modest contribution to this effort the African Forest Research Network (AFORNET) at the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), in collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, implemented a project on “Lessons Learnt on Sustainable Forest Management in Africa” (SFM I) between 2003 and 2005. The project aimed at discerning positive and negative lessons from forestry activities, programmes and projects that had been implemented in Africa since most countries became independent in the last 40+ years. It also sought to enrich its findings through analysing the relevance to Africa of lessons from Latin America, Asia and Sweden.

Between March 2006 and October 2008, a follow-up project, “Sustainable Forest Management in Africa” (SFM II), is being implemented with the primary purpose of bringing the findings from SFM I to a wider range of  forest stakeholders in Africa and, based on systematic discussions among those, identify priority projects and activities to resolve some of the key problems and issues. In addition, a primary goal of SFM II has been to establish an African Forest Forum that will galvanise the African voice and opinion on many forestry issues as well as mobilise resources and institute mechanisms for their resolution.

The current proposal is for the dual purpose of running the African Forest Forum for an initial period of five years and, through the Forum, to support an improved forest management in Africa by addressing a limited number of key issues and opportunities that need to be first looked upon in a regional context. In addition to the seven specific activities for which funding are requested in the current proposal, there are several others in different stages of development for which funding will be requested from other partners.