Urban and peri-urban forestry as a valuable strategy towards African urban sustainable development

Increasing urban populations necessarily imply an increasing demand for food and basic services. . In most African cities, rapid urbanization has outpaced the capacity of urban settlements to provide dwellers with essential services and goods. The urbanization process has thus largely been translated into unsustainable production and consumption patterns, depletion of natural resources, decreasing access to adequate water, food, energy sources, job opportunities and sanitation facilities as well as increasing poverty and inequality. By providing ecosystem services, products and public benefits in and around urban settlements, urban and peri-urban forestry can help respond to needs and threats posed by an increasing urban population. The paper provides action research examples of how the efforts towards the protection and restoration of forests and tree cover in and around African cities can make a substantive contribution to reducing poverty and malnutrition and to ensuring a more environmentally and socio-economically sustainable urban development.