This book is based on legislation from over 34 African countries. For more than a decade, African governments have been introducing legislation to protect the environment and promote the sustainable management of their forests. Most of these laws relate to the conservation of biological diversity. Thanks to these laws, projects have been set up to protect forest areas that are relatively small in size, but of undeniable importance in maintaining the diversity of forest species and ecosystems. Some of these projects aim to define, inventory and promote the conservation of "exceptional forest ecosystems". These include "rare forests", "ancient forests" and "refuge forests for threatened or vulnerable species". Other projects aim to locate forest environments which, while not necessarily deserving to be classified as "exceptional forest ecosystems", are used by threatened or vulnerable species and therefore require adapted forestry practices.