Dry Forests and Woodlands in Sub-Saharan Africa: Context and Challenges

Dry forest and woodland are vegetation types dominated by woody plants, primarily trees, the canopy of which covers more than 10 per cent of the ground surface, occurring in climates with a dry season of three months or more. Dry forests in Africa occupy an area between rainforests in the Congo basin and open woodlands of western and southern Africa. Woodlands in Africa are diverse vegetation formations that include woodland proper, bushland, thicket and, in some cases, wooded grassland. The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in sub-Saharan Africa has implemented a dry forest programme since 1996 but with a narrower focus on southern Africa. The programme, although called dry forest, includes both dry forest proper and woodlands as defined above. Currently CIFOR’s dry forest programme is coordinated by regional offices in Burkina Faso for the West African Region and Zambia for the Southern African Region, and includes all countries in sub-Saharan Africa that have dry forests and woodlands. These vegetation types in sub-Saharan Africa are found in 31 countries in western, eastern and southern Africa and are the dominant vegetation in 63 per cent of these countries. They cover approximately 17.3 million km²and are inhabited by nearly 505 million people (2003 estimate).