Maintaining the integrity of forest ecosystems involves sustaining a wide range of ecological processes where plants, animals, micro-organisms, soil, water and air are constantly interacting. As a result of these processes, forests provide a number of functions essential to life on this planet. They maintain the chemical balance, stabilize the climate, recycle nutrients, break down pollutants, clean the air and water, and are vital to watershed protection, soil formation, carbon storage and the supply of food and habitat for wildlife. The productive capacity of forests are determined by a number of factors, such as the fertility of the soil, the climate and the presence of various plant and animal species.
This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities. Agenda 21 recommends developing feasibility studies and operational planning related to major forest activities. Conservation of the Forest Ecosystem Studies are produced by IUCN to examine the status of forest ecosystems in nine African countries and provide guidance on how these systems should be managed for sustained use and economic development.