We are a research institute for Africa’s forest-sector research. Our scientific and applied forests research informs policy, supports community resilience, and drives sustainable development across Africa and beyond. We work alongside African communities and partners to empower local sustainable development and contribute to global sustainability.
Join us to make a difference in Africa.
Our Story
The Centre for Africa’s Forests Research, Engagement and Collaboration (CAFOREC) was established in 2021 in response to a critical gap in global forest research. Although many higher education institutions host forestry departments and NGOs address forest‑related issues, including international forest forums, none of them dedicate their research exclusively to the African forest ecosystems. This includes prominent organisations such as the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), whose work, while globally recognised, largely concentrates on the rainforests at a worldwide scale. As a result, the distinct ecological characteristics, socio‑cultural dimensions, and global significance of Africa’s forests remain insufficiently examined. This gap limits the visibility of Africa’s forests and constrains the potential contribution of Africa‑focused research to climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, sustainability and broader societal benefits.
Africa contains the world’s second‑largest expanse of tropical forest after the Amazon Basin, positioning the continent as a critical actor in global climate and biodiversity frameworks. Achieving international sustainability objectives, including the Sustainable Development Goals and particularly Target 3 of the Global Biodiversity Framework, will require robust, context‑specific research on the African forest ecosystems. Such research is essential for informing policy, guiding conservation strategies, and supporting forest‑dependent communities across the continent with their sustainable community development projects.
CAFOREC was founded to address this research deficit by establishing a centre dedicated exclusively to Africa’s forest ecosystems and the people who depend on these forests. While much of the continent’s forest cover is concentrated in sub‑Saharan Africa, the centre’s mandate encompasses all African forest landscapes. Through this focus, CAFOREC aims to elevate the global relevance of African forest research and highlight its diverse contributions to ecological knowledge, climate resilience, biodiversity conservation and human well‑being.
As a non‑profit research institution, CAFOREC conducts high‑quality interdisciplinary and scientific research designed to inform national, regional, and international policy processes. In addition to its research activities, the centre engages directly with forest‑dependent communities and the local people, to promote sustainable forest management, resource management and sustainable community development, thereby linking scientific inquiry with practical, community‑centred outcomes.
What We Do
Our Approach
Our research centre adopts a research approach grounded in community engagement and collaboration, bringing together researchers, academics, industry partners, stakeholders and the public, particularly across Africa, into a shared research space. This inclusive research environment and our collaborative model is designed to generate evidence‑based solutions that are practical and critical to environmental challenges such as biodiversity loss, deforestation, climate change and forest exploitation.
The centre is committed to advancing research excellence in sub‑Saharan Africa, home to most of the world’s rainforests by strengthening research capacity. To support this goal, we are establishing a collaborative platform through which higher‑learning institutions in the Global South can engage with universities and NGOs in the Global North, thereby enhancing academic exchange and strengthening Africa’s academic research capacity.
Research
We facilitate knowledge exchange through high-quality scientific research that is interdisciplinary, evidence-based, and impact-driven. Our research and community engagement activities aim to address key global challenges aligned with sustainable development.
Engagement
We conduct high-quality, ethical interdisciplinary research by collaborating with higher education institutions, local communities and other stakeholders. We also engage the public through citizen science initiatives. By involving the public in citizen science projects, we ensure that knowledge creation is shared, inclusive and beneficial to all.
Support
Drawing on comprehensive field assessments, particularly of long-term community needs, livelihoods, gender inclusion and local community support systems, we design and implement sustainable community development projects that are, for example, focused on capacity building, agroforestry, livelihood enhancement and sustainable land management. This ensures ongoing support for communities as it empowers them and strengthens environmental resilience.
We believe that forest-dependent people and their wider local communities, each with diverse needs, have the right to food security, wellbeing, and improved livelihoods. Africa’s forests offer critical ecosystem services that supports these rights and thus, contribute directly to sustainable development across the regions.
Forests play a vital role in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Yet, how each SDG is pursued will inevitably influence forests ecosystems. In Africa, efforts to achieve each goal directly or indirectly shape the health of the forest ecosystem and the wellbeing of the forest-dependent communities who rely on these forests for survival.
The research centre builds on its mission and collaboration with partners to drive ethical, innovative scientific and applied research. Our work not only informs biodiversity and forest-related policies but also engages communities in projects that directly shape their lives. We are committed to delivering impact-driven research and supporting sustainable community development across Africa.
