Newsletter 28

Editorial

Dear Readers,

The term 'forest' often conjures up images of lush green tropical forests with tall trees dripping with humidity. It is easy to forget that much of the world's population in arid and semi-arid areas also depends on the products of forests to sustain their livelihoods, although these forests may appear to be no more than scrubby landscapes with low-growing, contorted-looking trees, leafless for much of the year. The importance of these innocuous-looking landscapes should not be underestimated. In Sudan, the forestry sector produces 12% of the gross domestic product, much of this being contributed by a single product, gum arabic, produced for the world market from Acacia senegal. Throughout the Sahel zone, forests are particularly important in providing fuelwood, fruit (and other foods) and construction timber, and play a crucial role in sustaining livestock production. In many areas of Sub-Saharan West Africa, people have managed the landscape over generations to create 'agroforestry parklands' in which particularly useful trees are retained scattered in farms and fallows. In southern Africa, the sale of wooden crafts to tourists is an important source of revenue for many families and, in common with many other forest types, poor people are found to be particularly dependent on resources which require little capital investment.

Arid and semi-arid zones are difficult environments to survive in, nevertheless some exotic species prosper to the point of becoming weeds. Such a one is Prosopis, introduced from the Americas and now considered by some to be a pest while others hail it as a wonder tree for the many products it provides in even the harshest conditions. While most attention has undoubtedly been paid to the forests of semiarid Africa, dry forests also exist in other parts of the world. Within Europe, the Iberian peninsula is the home to several oak and pine species, which support complex agro-silvo-pastoral production systems mirrored on the North African side of the Mediterranean. The Mesoamerican dry forests are the source of some of the most widespread agroforestry species, such as Albizia, Gliricidia and Leucaena, but, in their home environment, these trees survive primarily through use on farms as few forest fragments remain.

I hope that this issue of ETFRN News will help to redress the balance in favour of a broad definition of forests to include both the dry and the humid.

Kate Schreckenberg

We are grateful to Kate Schreckenberg for the final editing of this issue of the ETFRN News. Please note the theme and deadline for the next issue on the back cover and I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Willemine Brinkman