“Forests, People, and the Environment” is a Special Issue in Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science (SF-JFS) published in May 2017.
The Special Issue focuses on the some research results presented at a pre-congress workshop organized by the African Forest Forum (AFF) and partners at the 2015 World Forestry Congress. It is Guest Edited by Paxie Chirwa (University of Pretoria, South Africa) and Larwanou Mahamane and Godwin Kowero (AFF).
In their overview, “Forests, people and environment: some African perspectives,” the Editors underscore the importance of forests to the livelihoods of millions of people in Africa through provision of ecosystem goods and services. They further state that, “mismanagement of forests has resulted in deforestation and forest degradation, thereby contributing to the increased emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”
It is within this context that the topics that the research papers cover include the main drivers of land and forest degradation. The studies also emphasise the need to recognize promising traditional management practices and institutional frameworks in addressing land and forest degradation through establishment and better management of forests and trees, and in addition to promoting favourable adaption approaches to climate change. 
Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science (SF-JFS), is a scientific publication of SAIF and is published in collaboration with NISC. It is one of the leading forestry journals in the southern hemisphere.
The journal publishes scientific papers in forest science and management of planted or natural forests in the southern hemisphere and the tropics.
For further information on this journal, go to http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tsfs20/current