1. The Forestry Outlook Study for Africa is an initiative of all African nations, co-ordinated by the FAO, in partnership with the African Development Bank, sub-regional organisations, the European Commission, the World Bank, regional and international organisations as well as NGOs and the private sector. FOSA was approved by the 11th session of the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission (AFWC), held in Dakar, Senegal in April 1998. The activities of FOSA began in October 1998 and will continue until mid-2002, when the results will be presented to the 13th session of the AFWC (April 2002) and (the North African study) to the 14th session of the Near East Forestry Commission (July 2002).
2. FOSA is a study that examines the future of African forests and the goods and services they provide. The study will analyse the forces shaping the future of African forests, provide likely scenarios of the state of the forestry sector to the year 2020, and indicate policy, programme and investment options by which countries may influence the future.
3. For the purpose of analyses, the African continent has been subdivided into five sub-regions: North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. The Southern African sub-region consists of 10 countries: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
4. The sub-regional planning meeting for Southern Africa for the Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA) was held in Lusaka, Zambia on 31 March - 1 April 2000. This followed immediately on the 12th session of the AFWC, in which a progress report on FOSA was presented and discussed by the member countries. The agenda of the sub-regional planning meeting and list of participants are provided in appendices 1 and 2, respectively.
