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Towards Sustainable Management and Development of Tropical Secondary Forests in Anglophone Africa: The Nairobi Proposal for Action

Year of publication 2003

Author Office of Assistant Director-General (Forestry Department)

Product type Book (stand-alone)

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Secondary forests - defined as forests which have developed after significant disturbance (see chapter II) - are increasingly prominent features in tropical landscapes, and in many countries the surface area covered by them is far greater than that of primary forests. In Africa there may be as much as 90 million to 313.3 million ha of secondary forest, depending on the definition used. This represents between 6.4 % and 22.3 % of the world's tropical forest. Secondary forests provide a variety of products and services that can contribute to improving socio-economic conditions particularly in rural areas, watershed protection, combating soil run-off and erosion, and commercial timber and NWFP production. If secondary forests are managed well they may - under favourable framework conditions - relieve the pressure on remaining primary forests, thereby effectively conserving biodiversity and genetic resources. More recently, the potential of this resource to sequester carbon from the atmosp here has become an important topic, and is discussed at international fora around the world. In order to realize the potential of secondary forests we need to manage them in a sustainable manner. Unfortunately the management of this resource has received insufficient attention at local, national and international levels. More focus is needed on the socio-economic factors responsible for secondary forest formation, the interactions of secondary forests with other land-use types (farmers' crop and livestock production systems), and the environmental benefits this resource can provide. Particularly the translation to well formulated policies backed by adequate legal regulations and a supportive institutional framework is needed. It is within this context that a series of regional workshops (Tropical America, Asia and Africa) were developed.

Language English

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