Publication - 4 December, 2007
Forests are vital in regulating the climate -locally, regionally and globally. Africa's intact rainforests act as a regulator of rainfall for the region. Moreover they act as a brake on further acceleration of climate change by serving as a vast carbon reserve. While the stakes are incalculably high in terms of biodiversity, there is also clearly an urgent need to protect Africa's tropical forests in order to maintain their carbon stocks.