This study was undertaken as part of the initiative by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA) in collaboration with the Forestry Department of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and the African Forest Research Network (AFORNET) at the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) on “Lessons Learnt on Sustainable Forest Management in Africa”. The initiative aims to:

analyse and establish what lessons have been learnt from positive and negative experiences of various initiatives, projects and programmes focusing on the sustainable management, use and conservation of forests in sub-Saharan Africa; 
analyse and establish the ecological, economic, social and other pre-requisites for extending the positive lessons for wider application (i.e. to more people, larger areas, other countries, etc.); and 
based on the outcome of the above analyses, to identify the most urgent issues and concerns for Africa, and draw them to the attention of the various international processes.