On-going AFF projects and their main objectives

Since its founding in 2007, the African Forest Forum (AFF) has worked closely with several UN bodies, governments at all levels, intergovernmental organizations like the African Union Commission (AUC), civil society and private sector organizations to drive a better understanding of the potential roles that forests, and forestry can play in addressing many current development and environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss  and livelihood.

With over 3,000 members from all over the continent and beyond, AFF has worked hard to provide a bridge between science-based knowledge and strong policies that support the sustainable management and wise use of these resources for the benefit of future generations. It has strengthened the capacity of public and private forest institutions for sustained development outcomes in the sector and delivered on related issues in the context of climate change.

Projects and activities funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Swedish International Development Cooperation (Sida) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have shaped national institutions and policies to cultivate shifts in perceptions, priorities, values, capacities, and skills that bear on forestry and related decisions and practices.

Below is a list of AFF’s on-going projects and their main objectives

Project:	Objectives
Transforming the African Forest Forum to enhance its capacity to improve livelihoods and environmental stability through better management of African forest and tree resources	Improve management of forest biodiversity to secure the supply of ecosystem goods and services and safeguard human wellbeing in selected biodiversity hotspots. Identify and assess key sustainability determinants for existing tree-based energy options from biomass procurement to consumption. Enhance knowledge sharing and management of forest science through traditional and new approaches Transformation of AFF for sustainability
Strengthening REDD+ implementation in Africa: capitalizing on lessons learned for an evolving environment – In collaboration with UNREDD	To strengthen African countries’ capacities and knowledge through UN-REDD’s REDD+ specific expertise and the convening power, AFF’s network, regional expertise, and local knowledge, thereby increasing political dialogue and policy change, as well as integration of REDD+ across policy sectors and sustainable development strategies.
Strengthening institutional arrangements for promoting sustainable intra-African trade of timber products	To anticipating the disruption that the EUDR will cause to timber supply chains in parts of Africa, the overall objective of this proposal is to, together with stakeholders, co-develop strategies for upscaling the intra-African use of timber for sustainable green growth while avoiding trade deviation to third-party markets
Facilitating advocacy for smallholders in the Swiss policy debate- in partnership with University of Bern partnership	To identify enabling mechanisms that will cushion the downsides of the European deforestation free regulation (EUDR) for smallholders in commodities producing countries
Provision of technical support to facilitate multi-actor collaboration, synergies, knowledge exchange, joint learning and demand-based capacity development, knowledge exchange and joint learning, to enable accelerated impacts, scaling out, up and deep within the DSL-IP REM SA cluster’	To provide technical support to facilitate multi-actor collaboration, synergies, knowledge exchange, joint learning and demand-based capacity development to enable accelerated impacts, scaling out, up and deep within the DSL-IP REM SA cluster
Fair business development for Non-Timber Forest Products based on local knowledge of Tamarindus in Kenya	This study focuses on one key NTFP species Tamarindus indica (T indica), with a high market potential in Africa. The project aims to increase the knowledge about key factors for sustainable, poverty-reducing business models for NTFPs, in particular T. indica, in SS Africa.
AfricanYouth4Forests – From Science to Youth Action for Sustainable Forests.	“AfricanYouth4Forests” (AY4F) represents a dynamic intersection between Africa’s verdant forests and its youth. It seeks to empower young Africans (aged 18–30) to transform their environmental aspirations into actionable realities. Marrying ancestral wisdom with contemporary tools, the project focuses on scientific knowledge, and empowerment, fostering a generation that is rooted in its heritage yet forward-thinking in its approach to sustainable forestry.