The global advancement and investments in biofuels production, consumption and trade are widely regarded as offering environmentally-sustainable solutions to reducing harmful greenhouse gases (GHG), poverty reduction, food and energy security, rural development and employment in developing countries. However, biofuels may also lead to food insecurity, environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity habitat, human displacement; land use and land cover change in situations where policy and institutional frameworks are poor. It is against this background that the AFF instituted this study to investigate and understand the biofuels industry in the selected countries of southern Africa namely: Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, its interplay within the nexus food-fuel-fibre (3Fs), as influenced by the existing policy and institutional frameworks. Specifically, this study sought to address the following key result areas:

Forests and woodlands cover vast areas of Africa, representing a substantial percentage of global forest cover. Tropical moist forests in Central and parts of West Africa and woodlands in Southern Africa are the dominant formations. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique contain the majority of Africa's forest areas. Africa also has widespread areas extending over hundreds of millions of hectares classified as 'other wooded land', such as the savannas of Eastern Africa and the Sudano-Sahelian region. Together with the fertile highlands of Eastern and Southern Africa Forests and woodlands cover vast areas of Africa, representing a substantial percentage of global forest cover. Tropical moist forests in Central and parts of West Africa and woodlands in Southern Africa are the dominant formations. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique contain the majority of Africa’s forest areas. Africa also has widespread areas extending over hundreds of millions of hectares classified as ‘other wooded land’, such as the savannas of Eastern Africa and the Sudano-Sahelian region. Together with the fertile highlands of Eastern and Southern Africa, these are the same agroecological zones where much of Africa’s agriculture, human and animal population concentrations are found Montane forests are ecologically and hydrologically vitally important, and found around mountains and highlands in Eastern Africa. Mangrove forests along the African coast, and riverine forests along water courses, are also part of the natural forest formations in Africa. Man-made plantations cover only limited parts of Africa’s total forest area, with South Africa, Sudan, Nigeria and Morocco contributing substantially to this kind of forest cover. Large scale commercial forest operations are found in the plantation-based forest industry in the South, and in the concession-based timber extraction and saw milling industry in Central and Western African. Small quantities of plantation and naturally grown timber constitute the basis for small scale forest industry across the continent. Africa's share of the global value of wood removals remains significantly lower than its potential. Firewood and charcoal are by far the most significant components of these removals, but cottage industry produced furniture, local construction material, woodcraft, utility goods, and a variety of non-wood products including fruits, medicines, fodder and honey, also originate from various forest types. There is a growing volume of timber traded directly from farms and community managed forests to the primary forest industry, creating links between the informal and formal sectors. More than half a million people in Africa are involved in the primary production of goods in forests. Employment varies considerably, and there is a scarcity of information on this issue. A significant proportion of wood production and processing takes place in the informal sector and has not been adequately reported on Deforestation and degradation are accelerating at alarming rates in many parts of Africa, mainly caused by the transfer of forest land into agriculture and other uses.Some deforestation can also be attributed to non-sustainable exploitation of wood for fuel, timber and other products, leading to a situation where forest management and utilization are increasingly seen as causing negative impacts on forest-dependent people, climate, biodiversity and water. The enormous economic, food security and environmental benefits to be derived from an increasing and sustainably managed forest and tree estate are underestimated, often as a result of inadequate information and appreciation of the potential value of well managed trees and forests. This problem derives partially from national forest institutions which, with some notable exceptions, are weak and have limited influence on policy and investment decisions. Likewise, forest expertise is weak in most regional and sub-regional institutions which are increasingly shaping the development agenda. The international discourse on how Africa should manage its natural resources has not focused on forestry issues, with a tendency to highlight environmental problems rather than social and economic opportunities associated with forest/tree management.

Capacity building in forestry in all its forms is a central work area for the African Forest Forum (AFF). It was on this basis that AFF organized a workshop on capacity building and skills development in forestbased climate change adaptation and mitigation in Nairobi, Kenya on November 12-16, 2012, that drew 54 participants from selected academic, research and civil society institutions, as well as from the private sector and youth. The participants came from 22 countries, namely Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Zambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe. It was also attended by staff from FAO and ICRAF. The workshop identified the training needs on addressing the relationship between forests and climate change for educational and related forestry based training institutions at professional and technical levels, as well as for informal groups that are mainly made up of civil society organizations and local communities. Training needs and modules to guide training were developed based on agro-ecological regions of Sub-Sahara Africa. These are arid and semi-arid regions, including Sahelian belt; the savannas and woodlands of West, Eastern and Southern Africa; and the rainforests of West and Central Africa. Separate analyses were done for Anglophone and Lusophone countries as a block, and for Francophone countries as another block, given the different educational systems in these two language blocks. These training modules therefore fill the gaps observed by the training institutions. In order to carry this work forward AFF organized, in 2013, four subregional workshops to first improve on the needs and contents of the modules as well as validating the same. The workshops also served as avenues to better orient/ retool staff from academic, research, extension and civil society organizations in key areas of science and practice of climate change as it relates to forests, and basing such training on these modules. A total of 111 people from academia, research, public sector, private sector, youth and civil society in Sub-Sahara Africa have been involved in the development and validation of the needs and the training modules. In 2013, AFF conducted country training using the modules in Ethiopia, Niger and Zambia; more countries will be covered in the near future. AFF first developed the teaching materials that will later be developed into specific compendiums. It would appear that there are no other institutions that are preparing such teaching materials for forestry training in Sub-Sahara Africa and on the same scope. AFF seeks to use, to the extent possible, XIV Training modules on forest based climate change adaptation, mitigation, carbon trading, and payment for other environmental services the capacity in the continent to develop local solutions to forestry problems; and teaching materials is one area where AFF will continue to engage the expertise on the continent to develop them. We welcome interested individuals and institutions to make full and free use of these training modules in their work.

Summary Southern African woodlands support the livelihoods of millions of both the rural and urban dwellers through the provision of non-wood products including supply of energy and agricultural expansion thereby contributing to deforestation and woodland degradation. However, there are recognized traditional forest management practices and technologies that have potential to promote rehabilitation and/or restoration of degraded woodlands provided relevant policies and institutional frameworks are in place. This paper reviews the causal factors of land and forest woodland degradation in southern Africa and highlights some of the successful practices for their restoration. Natural regeneration of different forms, including complete coppice; coppice with standards and selective cutting; pollarding, pruning and lopping, was found to be the predominant form of restoration in dry forests and woodlands of southern Africa. However, while policies promoting participatory natural resource management are in place in most countries of the region, implementation of these have mostly taken pilot project based approach with no strategies for up scaling by the governments. In addition, enabling policies for community based approach including clear cut land tenure and equitable benefit sharing are still not operational in most countries of the region. The conditions for up-scaling successful restoration practices include: (i) recognition of local knowledge; (ii) institutional support for implementation of restoration activities; (iii) income generating initiatives through marketing and value adding of natural resources; (iv) taking on financial opportunities from CDM mechanism including REDD. Keywords: restoration, dry woodlands, regeneration, policies, degradation Gestion et pratiques de restauration dans les paysages dégradés du sud de l’Afrique et nécessité d’accroître leur envergure P.W. CHIRWA, M. LARWANOU, S. SYAMPUNGANI et F.D. BABALOLA Les terres boisées du sud de l’Afrique soutiennent les revenus de millions d’autochtones ruraux et urbains de par leurs produits autres que le bois, tels que l’énergie et l’expansion de l’agriculture, aggravant la déforestation et la dégradation de la terre forestière. Toutefois, il existe des pratiques de gestion et des technologies traditionnelles reconnues ayant le potentiel de promouvoir la réhabilitation et/ou la restauration des terres forestières dégradées, si les cadres institutionnels et les politiques appropriées sont en place. Cet article examine les facteurs causant la dégradation de la terre et des terres forestières dans le sud de l’Afrique et souligne certaines des pratiques à même d’assurer leur restauration. Différentes formes de régénération naturelle telles que la coupe en taillis, celle en taillis à standards et coupe sélective, l’étêtage, l’élagage se sont trouvées être la forme prédominante de restauration dans les forêts et les terres forestières sèches du sud de l’Afrique. Cependant, bien que des politiques encourageant la gestion participative des ressources naturelles soient en place dans la plupart des pays de la région, la mise en pratique de ces dernières n’a été principalement effectuée que dans le cadre d’une approche basée sur des projets pilotes, sans stratégie d’accroissement par les gouvernements. De plus, la facilitation des politiques d’une approche à base communautaire incluant une propriété foncière clairement définie et un partage équitable des bénéfices n’est toujours pas opérationnelle dans la plupart des pays de la région. Les conditions pour tirer vers le haut de l’échelle les pratiques de restauration efficaces incluent : (i) une reconnaissance de la connaissance locale, (ii) un soutien institutionnel de la mise en pratique des activités de restauration, (iii) des initiatives créatrices de revenus, avec l’aide du marketing et de la valeur ajoutée aux ressource naturelles, et, (iv) une prise en compte des opportunités financières du mécanisme CDM, incluant la REDD.

The African continent remains the most vulnerable region in the world to the impact of climate change, mainly due to weak resilience and adaptive capacity. There is limited knowledge on the relationship between forests and climate change in Africa; and especially on adaptation and mitigation to the adverse effects of climate change, as well as capitalizing on the opportunities that climate change and variability offer the continent.  Understanding, strengthening and further developing the relationship between forest and climate is therefore key issue to Africa’s future development. This is because of the key roles forests and trees outside forests play in the lives of people and animals on the continent, as well as on the economies of African countries and the environment in which the people, livestock and wildlife live in.  However, the nature of this relationship and its impact is greatly influenced by how international forest and climate change and related agreements are incorporated into national policies and practices. With respect to the Africa, it is important to understand how individual African countries are  implementing ideas and recommendations that come from international conventions, agreements, protocols, and other initiatives (all of them are in this text referred to as international agreements) that have a bearing on how climate change and variation could affect forests and vice versa. This could facilitate positioning the forest sector better to contain the adverse effects of climate change as well as take advantage of opportunities that come with the same. It would also make it easier to profile Africa and its sub-regions both at regional and international levels. This could lead to enhanced collaboration and support from institutions and other players that support the implementation of these international agreements, and especially during this era when forests are increasingly seen as contributing not only to international public goods but to international services like carbon sequestration that has global implications. The study whose results are reported in this document was commissioned by the African Forest Forum with the  several objectives, namely: to assess how individual African countries are implementing the forest, climate change and related international conventions; how these international conventions are adding value to their national forestry sector policies and programmes; and to develop an approach on how Africa can to monitor and report on compliance to international processes related to forests and climate. The study was conducted in eight African countries, namely: Cameroon, Rwanda, Gabon, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Niger and Tanzania.

Provision of accurate carbon (C) measurements and analysis are critical components in quantification of C stocks. The objectives of this review were to (1) compile and synthesise current knowledge of available methods for C stock estimation, (2) examine socio-economic drivers of land-use and land-cover change and their influence on woodland C stocks and (3) identify gaps of knowledge and methodological inadequacies in understanding factors affecting C stocks of major C pools for miombo woodlands of southern Africa. The review shows that quantification of forest C is a challenging task, mainly associated with knowledge gaps and methodological challenges. This has brought about a high level of uncertainty and inconsistencies, mainly due to the accounting methods applied. Furthermore, it is necessary to consider the inherent spatial heterogeneity of the landscape and stand density in order to ensure development of accurate C estimation methodologies when developing C models. Ultimately, developing widely applicable biomass models for southern Africa will require detailed assessments, including different aspects of wood C fractions. It is evident from the review that a comprehensive understanding of socio-economic drivers of land-use and land-cover change is necessary to ensure better-informed sustainable forest management policy direction, strategy and practice to deliver C and livelihood options.

Climate change adversely affects the environment and human livelihoods. This is through alteration of rainfall patterns as well as water availability, sea level and ecosystem productivity, e.g. forest ecosystem. Forest ecosystems are believed to perform a vital role in helping people in developing countries to adapt to negative impacts of climate change since they capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2) apart from provision of other goods and services, typically manifested during extreme events (such as droughts and floods). Forested areas are, therefore, key resources for mitigating and reducing vulnerability to climate change. The global storage of carbon in forest ecosystems is estimated to be more than 650 billion tons of carbon, of which 44% is stored in biomass, 11% in dead wood and litter, and 45% stored in soil. Despite this capacity, about 17.4% of global greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions originate from the forest sector through deforestation and forest degradation. The United Nations (UN) initiated a program dedicated to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (UN-REDD) as an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests growing in developing countries. Mitigation and adaptation of UN-REDD fulfilled the aims of several international climate change conventions, including international commitment under the UNFCCC 2009 Copenhagen Accord and the Cancun Agreement of 2010. There was an evolution of REDD to “REDD+” which went further than just deforestation and forest degradation, but included the role of conservation, sustainable forest management, enhancement of forest carbon stocks while upholding the improvement for rural livelihoods in developing countries. In this way, developing countries are encouraged to reduce emissions from forest lands while benefiting from sustainable forest management. This emerged after the realisation that forests are estimated to reduce emissions to values between 13 and 50 billion tons (Gt) of carbon dioxide by 2100 (African Wildlife Foundation, 2011) and can, therefore, become a cornerstone of the post - 2012 global climate change agenda. The establishment and sustainability of REDD+ in African societies requires significant initial investment in the strengthening of local institutions, good governance, capacity building and alternative livelihood opportunities. There is need for continuous support to countries in areas of communication, knowledge sharing and stakeholder engagement to safeguard the accuracy and extensive dissemination of information about REDD+. Forest ecosystems can be divided by physiognomic types forming eco-regions and these are classified into: Forests (montane and lowland), woodlands and savannahs (East African, Sudanian and Zambezian) and the Sahel. This report is based on REDD+ activities in African woodlands and savannahs. The African woodland and savannah ecosystems are distributed across 31 countries, i.e. 9 in Southern Africa, 13 in West Africa and 9 in East and Central Africa covering an area greater than 3.8 million km2. The savannah woodlands are divided into moist dystrophic and arid eutrophic depending on species composition and soil nutrient status. The miombo woodland is the dominant woodland type in Southern Africa while the Acacia and open woodland dominate the other parts of Africa. Only four of the countries have received direct support for national REDD programmes, namely Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zambia whilst eleven, (Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe) do not receive direct support but engage with the UN-REDD processes. Most of the countries implementing REDD+ projects have some small-scale private sector funding for sub-national level projects based on the existing voluntary forest carbon markets. In countries, such as Zimbabwe, private sector investment in project development is the only form of REDD+ activity. Donor or public funding currently flowing into some countries, such as Kenya and Tanzania, have projects that provided valuable models and lessons from the sub-national and project level REDD+ processes. The initial level of investment for REDD+ activities varies significantly depending on community histories, experiences of development projects and forest management activities at both national and sub-national levels. National REDD+ readiness planning activities, in some countries, include activities funded by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), forest investment programme (FIP) and private investment programmes. In countries, such as Cameroon and Ghana, there is lack of effective actions to ensure the participation of local people while in other countries they tend to have missed substantial data on the drivers of deforestation. The issue of land tenure has received exaggerated criticism, and some countries have not put in place clear policies/guidelines on carbon rights and benefit sharing mechanisms. In some countries, e.g. Cameroon, studies have shown that current projects lack transparency, meaningful participation or Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and disregard issues of land tenure, customary rights and benefit sharing. Successful climate change mitigation and adaptation must improve the welfare of rural people while integrating sustainable forest management and biodiversity protection. Several models for benefit sharing have been identified. In Tanzania, the community carbon enterprise model has been used as a tool for benefit sharing whilst in Kenya, the benefit sharing model is based on one third each for community development, the individual and the project running costs. The community funds are administered through a trust fund mechanism following some procedures that facilitate transparency. Good governance structures, land tenure systems and law enforcement, market and cultural values of forests, the rights of local communities, benefit-sharing mechanisms as well as poverty and food production policies are important considerations for the success of REDD+ initiatives. In addition, REDD+ projects can be successful when issues of transparency and accountability are precisely addressed and forest management and land use planning are integrated. The primary lessons learnt through pilot projects demonstrate some of the challenges that REDD+ presents in Africa but also provide insights for molding REDD+ policy frameworks for the benefits of communities while promoting forest conservation in Africa. REDD+ pilot projects have demonstrated that climate change mitigation through forest carbon payments can enhance the incomes of the rural poor as well as increasing opportunities for adaptation to climate change and growth. Generally, payments for REDD+ and other ecosystem services have great potential in the light of the diversity of schemes that are likely to emerge and the diversity of services likely to be obtained, including potential positive impact on the environment. REDD+ has the ability to save public and private sector funds by promoting a diversity of benefits, improving people’s livelihoods and having potential to reduce conflict. The need for simple, rapid monitoring methods cannot be over-emphasised. A number of scientific evidence gaps are linked to the accuracy of carbon accounting, ascribed to a lack of data, and there are uncertainties related to carbon storage and carbon flux models. Though the REDD+ processes require community participation in monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV), engagement of experts for accurate accounting should not be overruled. In order to avoid inconsistencies, there might be a need for nested schemes, where projects are linked to sub-national projects, which, in turn, are linked to national projects. Discrete projects need to be adequately coordinated by umbrella organizations operating over larger scales in order to promote the longevity of project impacts at the local scale and allow experiences and good practices to feed into national policy development. Capacity building and resource investments across different levels are also shown to be vital. The following are the key lessons learnt. It is important to identify and quantify the actual drivers of deforestation and forest degradation before any project is implemented. The scope, goals and functioning of a REDD+ process should be clearly communicated to all stakeholders ensuring that a wide audience is included in raising awareness and capacity building activities. Countries may need assistance for continuous financial and technical support for learning and knowledge-sharing activities. In some countries, REDD+ activities have gone ahead without national REDD+ strategies. This has caused tension between government departments, NGOs and the private sector. It would be important to include all countries in REDD+ preparatory schemes. There should be clear methodologies to address the identified drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. Countries may need assistance in developing tools for effective stakeholders’ engagement and capacity building for monitoring deforestation and forest degradation. Most of the REDD+ strategies are financially resource intensive and technically challenging, and need to be supported continually. As REDD+ initiatives continue, national strategies to address drivers of deforestation and forest degradation need to be integrated with other land use systems and clearly reflected in institutional platforms for synchronisation. There is an urgent need for assistance to all countries to formulate national REDD+ strategies. In addition, there is need for the establishment of more permanent institutional infrastructure that guides and enables dialogue about REDD+ at the national level, including coordination and assessment of complementarities of multiple sources of REDD+ and climate funding to avoid duplication of efforts. There is a need to manage expectations of communities about revenue from the REDD+ projects/initiatives, including outlining the potential amounts and timing of payments. Increased funding may be required to protect REDD+ projects from inadequately compensated communities so that they do not destroy the forest. In addition, there is need for sensitisation and training of neighbouring communities to ensure that they also reduce or avoid deforestation and forest degradation. There are several designs to benefit sharing mechanisms, and these provide some clear lessons for other REDD+ projects. Communities are different and, hence, each project should be community specific. There is a need for continuous communication and clear information flow between the communities and other actors, especially safeguards for Social Impact assessment and FPIC at the early stages of project development. Effective strategies have been built on existing relationships that have expanded into REDD+ projects (social capital) by developing on existing knowledge, experience and relationships that have transparent decision making and based on honesty as well as accountability and are truly participatory. There are difficulties to secure carbon markets for some developers, and this has created tension from engaged local communities as they need the carbon benefits immediately. There is need for regular updates to engaged local communities on progress and position of carbon markets to contain their expectations.

Forests and planted trees provide sustenance to many millions of people in Africa, particularly the vulnerable, women and children. Balancing utilisation of forest resources and growth of forests and trees forms the basis of sustainable forest management (SFM). Africa’s natural and planted forests are not sustainably supplying wood and other products to meet the needs of the growing population as well as the demand of national, regional and international markets. Serious shortages of wood are forecast in many countries for the near future and this has negative socio-economic implications. The African Forest Forum (AFF) recognised the need to improve SFM in Africa through planting trees using genetically improved planting stock for establishment of industrial plantations, community tree woodlots and agro-forests. This report is based on situational analyses of tree breeding and tree germplasm supply conducted in West and Central Africa (Avana-Tientcheu, 2016), Eastern Africa (Msanga, 2016) and Southern Africa (Marunda, 2016). To understand trends in the choice of species and estimate seed demand, the studies looked at forest statistics in selected African countries and reviewed the history of tree planting (introduction of species and provenances), afforestation, reforestation statistics and conservation needs. Plantation development has been generally successful in countries where the private sector has been encouraged and supported to invest in tree planting (e.g. South Africa, Tanzania and Congo), research (Congo, Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe) and tree germplasm development (Burkina Faso). Community tree planting for agroforestry, whilst still in the nascent stages of development, has been encouraged and supported by international donors. Distribution of seed is mainly through informal farmer networks supported by local and international organisations, national tree seed centres (e.g. Burkina Faso) and the private sector (e.g. in South Africa). The users of tree germplasm in African countries have become diverse - from large plantation corporations, community-based organisations and city councils, to small-scale tree growers, including farmers groups and individual farmers including women keen to plant indigenous fruit trees to improve their livelihoods. This diversity brings with it challenges and opportunities. Challenges may include how to supply a variety of high quality tree seed from a range of species whilst the diversity offers opportunities for the rural communities to be involved in the supply chain of tree germplasm. The studies showed that Africa, like most parts of the world, has imported, tested, shared, exchanged, sold and improved genetic resources for tree species. Use of genetically improved planting stock was reported in all countries in Africa although the levels of use vary from country to country, with countries such as South Africa having the most sophisticated tree germplasm development and deployment systems. Some countries, e.g. South Africa and Zimbabwe, acknowledged the presence of species and provenance trials which revealed the best performing species and provenances, seed sources and provided the material for tree improvement and for subsequent deployment to operational plantings. Other countries, especially in West and Central Africa (except Ghana), reported that most provenance trials were abandoned and illegally exploited and most data and information has been lost. A new wave of establishment of commercial plantations is sweeping through many parts of Africa, for example in Congo (Eucalyptus Fibres du Congo), Ghana (Africa Plantations for Sustainable Development, Siricec, Miro Forestry), Mozambique (New Forests Green Resources, Florestas Do Planalto, Chikweti Forests, Florestas de Niassa), Rwanda (New Forests), South Africa (International Finance Corporation, Hans Merensky), South Sudan (Maris Capita), Tanzania (Green Resources, New Forests, Kilombero Valley Teak Company), Zambia (Green Forest Development) and Uganda (Sawlog Production Grant Scheme). This new wave of plantation development has seen an increase in the demand of tree germplasm and new species for planting in marginal areas that are available for afforestation. In 2016, the Forests for the Future – New Forests for Africa initiative was launched in Ghana with the aim to stimulate and drive large scale reforestation in Africa. The set target is to plant 100 million hectares of new forests. The Great Green Wall Initiative was launched in 2011 and involves 12 countries of which 8 are from West Africa. The goal is to plant trees as a means to try to stop, or even to reverse, the desertification process, which is the main ecological problem of many countries with arid climates (e.g., Niger, Chad, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Senegal). The need and call to plant more trees (e.g., Billion Trees Campaign and Green Belt Movement) will increase the demand for seed and new species, and national tree seed centres will need to be prepared for the increased seed demand and identify priority tree species. The reviews of tree breeding and tree germplasm supply and demand in Africa showed a decreasing trend in research and development investments and widening gaps in the supply of good quality germplasm. Given the forecasted increase in tree planting and the recorded threats of pest and diseases to forest genetic resources in Africa (Bosu, 2016; Gichora, 2016; Kojwang, 2016;), tree planting programmes in Africa might not reach the optimum productivity levels if germplasm supply and pest and disease threats are not addressed. Forestry development in Africa will have to address these issues as part of a wider programme to achieve SFM. It is clear that most African countries recognise that SFM is achieved by combining strategies that conserve and encourage regeneration of native tree (e.g. Ngitili in Tanzania; Zai in Burkina Faso; landscape restoration in Maradi and Zinder (Niger), coppice management in the miombo woodlands of Southern Africa) and the promotion of tree planting at large plantation scales and at the farmer level. The choice of species for commercial plantations has been decided based on decades of research on species trials and collaborative research for agroforestry species. For newer species for agroforestry, research is still fairly new and a number of candidate species are still being tested and promoted. The commonly planted species in Africa are Eucalyptus, Pinus, Acacia, Hevea species Tectona grandis and Gmelina arborea for the primary supply of industrial wood, rubber, gums and fuelwood. The first two genera have formed the backbone for commercial tree planting and have undergone several cycles of selections and in some cases mating to create new clones or varieties. The genera are attractive because of the shorter economic and reproductive rotations that are possible. Recently, agroforestry species for intercropping, alley cropping, fodder provision and indigenous fruit trees have been tested for growth and productivity in many African countries. Indigenous tropical hardwoods such as Khaya senegalensis, Khaya anthotheca and Milicia excelsa have been domesticated as plantation species in tropical countries. Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal have been planted in plantations for gum Arabic production (hashab and talha from the two species respectively). Faidherbia albida is commonly planted throughout the continent for soil amelioration, provision of fodder for livestock and firewood. A number of indigenous commercial hardwoods are harvested from natural forests in all the regions but more so in West Africa. Priced hardwoods such as Milicia excelsa, Entandrophragma spp., Triplochiton scleroxylon, Terminalia spp., Nauclea diderrichii, Khaya spp., Pericopsis elata and many others are harvested by concessionaires. Although most of the countries developed sound forest policies oriented toward sustainable forest management, there are low levels of incentives to conserve or apply sound silvicultural practices to ensure regeneration of most species. Germplasm of good phenotypes is therefore lost during harvesting, as seed is not collected for replanting. Physiological characteristics of seeds for most tropical hardwood species are either recalcitrant or unknown (i.e., do not store for long periods under low temperature and moisture conditions), thus making it difficult to store the seed for future use. The review of tree germplasm production in Africa showed that Africa’s forest sectors, both commercial and community forestry, need quality seeds, but the continent’s capacity to supply good tree planting stock varies from good to poor depending on the country. Countries often lack the institutional capacity to support the growth of tree seed markets (an issue that cuts across boundaries), tree breeding research, seed production, seed storage and testing, and regulation. Expertise in tree breeding, tree germplasm management and investment could help build the capacity to produce good quality tree seeds and improve on other aspects of the tree seed sector, including management, logistics, deployment and the integration of new species and technologies. Since many tree species used in plantations or agroforestry were found to be the same across the continent, indicating a wider ecological and economic range than individual countries, it is prudent to have regional research programmes on tree breeding and improvement, germplasm management, and share information on silvicultural aspects, environmental benefits, impacts on soils and biodiversity, pest/disease prevention, wood utilisation and economics.