Recently in The Gambia, the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission gathered to reflect on the bonds between people and the forest landscapes that sustain them. The meeting took place as countries manage shifting markets, rising demands on land and resources, and the changing realities of rural livelihoods. These landscapes continue to guide daily life, steadying households and shaping their resilience.
Across Africa, forests and trees outside forests offer quiet forms of support. Families draw fruits, nuts, leaves, insects, medicines and fuel from them – resources that help them endure difficult seasons and shifting markets. In many rural areas, forests supply around 20 percent of household income, a share that becomes vital when harvests falter or markets shift. Across the world, nearly one billion people rely on wild foods such as fruits, herbs, nuts, insects and wild meat, with these foods shaping the diets and coping strategies of communities across diverse landscapes. These patterns differ from place to place, yet together they show how forests sustain people through their resources and the quiet stability they offer.
Forests protect the soil beneath our feet, shelter pollinators, temper heat and channel water back into the ground. Their influence reaches far beyond their boundaries. Many voices during the recent Commission discussions spoke of these connections, reminding us that healthy forests and sustainable agrifood systems should be managed together.
Yet these landscapes face strains that deepen each year. Invasive species move quietly but leave profound effects, advancing steadily and often unnoticed. They now stand among the five key direct drivers of biodiversity loss, with their impacts estimated to be second only to habitat destruction and fragmentation. Participants underscored the need for vigilance – prevention, early detection and steady monitoring – to safeguard both forests and the people who rely on them.
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A recent analysis by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations shows that risks in agrifood systems are becoming more layered and interconnected. Disasters hit crops, livestock, fisheries, forests and surrounding landscapes in ways that compound one another. Countries are increasingly using a One Health lens to understand these links, recognizing how human, animal, plant and environmental well-being shape each other. Delegates in The Gambia stressed the need to use the One Health approach to help countries read these signals early and respond before local pressures turn into wider crises.
Human–wildlife interactions remind us that the boundaries between systems are never neat. They emerge from changes in land use, shifting migration routes, climate pressures and the cultural histories of communities living beside forests. Approaches grounded in ecological understanding and respect for customary practices endure because they grow from the values of the people who live them. Coexistence protects crops and livestock, strengthens rural development and supports conservation, linking the fate of households to the fate of the landscapes around them.
Indigenous Peoples and local communities stand at the centre of this work. Forests hold cultural, nutritional and economic meaning for them, especially for women, youth, older persons and people with disabilities who often face overlapping forms of marginalization. Their knowledge – of seasons, medicines, wildlife behaviour and the shifting character of the land – forms a living archive. Rights-based approaches, gender-responsive measures and fair benefit-sharing were echoed throughout the recent discussions as essential to ensuring that decisions reflect the priorities of those closest to the land.
The FAO-led Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme offers an example of these principles in action. Through social safeguards and shared decision-making, communities across forest, savannah and wetland landscapes manage wildlife in ways that balance conservation needs with legal and sustainable use for food security and cultural practices. Its work reflects themes that resonated throughout the Commission’s sessions: the strength of local knowledge, the value of participation and the deep links between ecological health and rural resilience.
A clear thread has run through this gathering: when forests thrive, agriculture steadies. When wildlife is used sustainably and legally, diets broaden and incomes strengthen. When ecosystems remain intact, many risks diminish before they grow. And when communities guide the decisions that shape their landscapes, the roots of solutions deepen.
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As delegates recently concluded their work in The Gambia, daily life continued across the continent. Families gather leaves and fruits in the morning light. Women collect fuelwood for cooking. Children listen to stories that carry the memory of seasons, animals and landscapes. These simple acts remind us that forests are not distant resources; they live within the rhythm of ordinary days.
The discussions offer countries an opportunity to strengthen the ties between conservation and agrifood resilience, to support community stewardship and to protect the landscapes and preserve the ecosystem services that have nourished rural life for generations. And to make appropriate choices now – with care, with foresight and with a sense of shared purpose.
Ewald Rametsteiner is Deputy Director of the Forestry Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
