Strategy for the forest sector in sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank Technical Paper 251

Presents new strategies for protecting forests in Sub-Saharan Africa and underlines the importance of the region`s natural resources to its economic development. Forest resources in Sub-Saharan Africa are disappearing at an alarming rate--the region witnessed a 7 percent loss of its forest cover during the 1980s. The deforestation of tropical rain forests in West and Central Africa is occurring at a rate of 2 million hectares each year. The poor usually suffer the most in the short run--but it is the entire world community that suffers in the long run from the ensuing ecological damage. This strategy paper is one element of the World Bank`s process of addressing environmental issues and challenges. The paper adheres to the Bank`s forest policy adopted in 1991, which reaffirms the Bank`s support for conservation and sustainable development of forest resources. The authors emphasize the importance of the symbiosis of forest resource management and socioeconomic development for the region.