African rainforests: past, present and future

In recent decades, there has been a surge of interest in tropical forests, as there is increased appreciation of the rich biodiversity they host and the many roles they play in the functioning of the Earth system at local, regional and global scales. Of the world’s major tropical forest regions, most research and policy attention has focused on the Amazon region, the world’s largest tropical forest bloc, and to a lesser extent on South East Asia, the third largest tropical forest region. By contrast, the world’s second largest tropical forest region, the tropical forests of Central and West Africa (termed the Guineo-Congolian region) have been relatively neglected. This has been for a number of reasons, including challenging and fragmented politics, civil conflicts and logistical as well as infrastructure challenges. Nevertheless, there is an extensive amount of research activity in the African rainforest zone that has rarely been compiled in a single interdisciplinary volume. This review paper synthesizes the insights emerging from the theme issue on ‘African rainforests: past, present and future’ of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

MALHI Y.;  ADU-BREDU Stephen;  ASARE Rebecca A.;  LEWIS S;  MAYAUX Philippe; 

2013-08-13

ROYAL SOC

JRC82923

0962-8436,   

http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/368/1625/20120312.full,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC82923,   

10.1098/rstb.2012.0312,