Urban forests and green spaces have a critical role to play in strengthening African cities against global climate challenges and in creating healthier, more inclusive, equitable and resilient communities, according to a declaration released following the 2nd African Forum on Urban Forests (AFUF).
The Johannesburg Declaration 2025 was issued on behalf of participants at the four-day forum, which was co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and partners from 18 to 21 March under the theme ‘Green horizons: shaping the future resilience of African cities through urban forests’.
Recognising Africa’s unprecedented scale of urbanisation, growth of informal settlements, climate change effects, and land degradation and deforestation, the Declaration expresses how carefully designed, implemented and maintained green spaces such as urban forests can help to future-proof African cities to climate change.
It also underlines the need to make access to green spaces available to all citizens.
“While the benefits of urban green spaces are increasingly recognized, their distribution, quality, and access remain unequal. Bridging this gap is essential for creating more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive urban environments across Africa,” the Declaration sets out.
Call to action
The Declaration includes a call to action to integrate urban forests and green spaces in city planning and development while promoting a sustainable future for Africa’s urban dwellers.
“We urge decisions makers, urban planners, foresters, ecologists, botanists, architects and landscape architects, engineers, the health sector including traditional healers, civil society, and all community members as well as development financiers and partners and the private sector to work together to ensure that green spaces including urban forests are inclusive, well-managed, equitably distributed, multifunctional, resilient and sustainable,” the Declaration says.
AFUF participants also issued specific recommendations including the mobilization of diverse funding such as municipal budgets, carbon markets, public-private partnerships and insurance. Addressing governance and prioritising research and monitoring was signalled as a priority, as was focusing on environmental and climate challenges by selecting diverse native species, restoring water catchments and healthy reservoirs, investing in waste management, and addressing historic inequalities and environmental injustice, urban agriculture and climate-proof green infrastructure.
The road ahead
AFUF emphasized the power of collaboration and the need for meaningful partnerships to conserve, preserve, restore, and expand urban forests, green spaces and nature-based solutions, ensuring they benefit all.
To support future work across the continent, the Afrika Mazingira Collective was launched as an African nature-based solution community of practice, which will also contribute to FAO’s Green Cities Initiative.
“This collective will connect urban stakeholders across Africa and beyond to promote, implement, and scale up nature-based solutions for city climate resilience, biodiversity, and livability,” says the Declaration.
“Together, we can create cities where the built environment, people, and nature thrive.”
AFUF was organised by FAO, the City of Johannesburg, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the Centre on African Public Spaces.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Regional Office for Africa.