Over 60 million people live in the SADCC countries; by 2000 AD the number will be over 100 million. The vast majority, city-dwellers as well as farmers, rely on wood fuel for domestic use. Supplies are diminishing as consumption grows. The quality of life is deteriorating yet further and the environment is more and more degraded. But these phenomena are not simply the consequence of a wood shortage which might be cured by some cropping and management policy. They flow from a complex network of causes each contributing in its way to growing poverty and want which has, as one obvious symptom, the shortage of fuel for life's basic purposes. The authors, by means of case studies, examine those causes throughout the nine SADCC countries and consider the policies that can be developed there which will not only help to alleviate the symptom but will help to prevent the imminent catastrophe which it represents. Originally published in 1988

Over 60 million people live in the SADCC countries; by 2000 AD the number will be over 100 million. The vast majority, city-dwellers as well as farmers, rely on wood fuel for domestic use. Supplies are diminishing as consumption grows. The quality of life is deteriorating yet further and the environment is more and more degraded. But these phenomena are not simply the consequence of a wood shortage which might be cured by some cropping and management policy. They flow from a complex network of causes each contributing in its way to growing poverty and want which has, as one obvious symptom, the shortage of fuel for life's basic purposes. The authors, by means of case studies, examine those causes throughout the nine SADCC countries and consider the policies that can be developed there which will not only help to alleviate the symptom but will help to prevent the imminent catastrophe which it represents. Originally published in 1988

Based on work by the Miombo Network in southern Africa, this book helps decision-makers and general readers alike improve their understanding of the socio-ecology of the Miombo woodlands across southern Africa. It also highlights the importance of and the need for further research on the unique Miombo ecology and its link with economic development. One major challenge facing these woodlands is the influence that direct (both natural and anthropogenic) and indirect drivers of change, as well as interactions between these, have had over the centuries. As such the book explores the socio-economic and ecological interactions that occur in these woodlands and discusses the need for further research to provide a better understanding of these interactions. Drawing on data and information from numerous studies conducted in the last 20 years, the book presents a comparative analysis of policy changes and management experiences in the countries concerned. It also addresses issues of global climate change, since they have an impact on Miombo ecosystem management and restoration, and provides future projections based on an assessment of how climate change has affected the Miombo woodlands in the past.