Forestry in Sub-Saharan Africa - prospects & challenges. Policy Brief No.11

Africa is characterised by extremely diverse ecological conditions, ranging from humid forests to deserts and from montane temperate forests to coastal mangrove swamps. The total forest, including woodlands, cover in Africa is estimated at 650 million hectares, of which 8 million hectares are plantations. An important feature is the uneven distribution of African forests between the different sub-regions and the population they support