Forests and climate change - instruments related to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and their potential for sustainable forest management in Africa

Forests play major roles in climate change. They contribute carbon emissions when destroyed or degraded and they suffer from changing climate, drought and extreme weather. Managed sustainably, they can provide a unique environmental service by removing excess carbon from the atmosphere, storing it in biomass, soils and products. In addition, sustainably produced wood fuels offer an environmentally benign alternative to fossil fuels. During the 7th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Marrakech, Morocco, in 2001, governments agreed on the final framework for implementing the Kyoto Protocol, which obligates industrialized countries to reduce their net greenhouse gas contribution by country-specific, fixed amounts.