Africa’s forests and woodlands can be classified into nine general
categories including tropical rain forests, tropical moist forests,
tropical dry forests, tropical shrubs, tropical mountain forest,
subtropical humid forests, subtropical dry forests, subtropical mountain
forests and plantations. Mangrove
forests cover 3390,107 ha. Only 32.5 million ha of forests and
woodlands, or five percent of the total forest area, are formally
protected.
The forest sector in Africa plays an important role in the livelihoods of many communities and in the economic development
of many countries. This is particularly so in Western, Central and
Eastern Africa where there is considerable forest cover. Africa has a
high per capita forest cover at 0.8 ha per person compared to 0.6 ha
globally.
On average, forests account for 6 percent of gross domestic product
(GDP) in Africa, which is the highest in the world. In Uganda, for
example, forests and woodlands are now recognized as an important
component of the nation’s stock of economic assets and they contribute
in excess of US$546.6 million to the economy through forestry, tourism, agriculture and energy.
Forests and woodlands also contribute to the long-term social and
economic development goals of New Partnership for Africa’s Development
(NEPAD) and can play an important role in addressing the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and meeting its targets. They provide energy, food, timber and
non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and are important contributors to
wealth and health at the household, community, national, sub-regional,
regional or even global level. See Further Reading for more information
on the MDGs and their targets, as well as progress towards them.
