ABSTRACT
Generally, forests play a significant economic role for many African countries. It provides revenue for the government and offers employment opportunities for different people. However, research has shown that human-induced activities in the forest sector increasingly put human rights, wildlife, and plant species in danger. With the devastating impact of deforestation and the unwarranted killing of wild animals, illegal logging poses an enormous threat to mankind and endangered species of animals. Deforestation and forest degradation emissions are significant drivers of erosion and anthropogenic climate change. Furthermore, human rights are abused by a lax enforcement mechanism of forest laws in some African countries. Diverse human rights can be violated as a result of deleterious forest conservation methods. Forest biodiversity is depleting due to increasing deforestation, fragmentation, and degradation of the forest. Addressing these problems requires African states to safeguard the forest for the conservation and survival of Africa’s rich biodiversity and genetic resources. Concerning the forest policies and legislation in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, this chapter examines how best the African forests can be conserved sustainably. It argues that the pursuit of an adequate, well-defined, sustainable forest conservation goal can contribute immensely to the actualisation of different human rights. The chapter further examines how the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights promotes forest conservation and game reserve. In addition, the role of the Maputo Convention of 2003 concerning forest conservation is also examined. The chapter adopts a doctrinal and comparative research method to advocate for a sustainable forest conservation system in Africa. It concludes with recommendations on the above discourse.
