African Forest

       

  The total area of ​​approximately 650 million hectares (ha) or 21.8 percent of the continent's land area. At this point, approximately 16.8 percent of the world's forests. Many forests, declaration raises the demand for firewood and conversion to agricultural land has been contaminated as a result of a growing human population today. Distribution of forests and woods vary from one piece to another, with North Africa has the most forest area, while Central Africa has the densest cover. Congo Basin in Central Africa is home to the world's second largest contiguous tropical rainforest.

         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.