The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is the custodian of South Africa’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry resources. It is primarily responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies governing the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Sector.

The vision of the Department is to be “a dynamic , people centred department , leading to the effective management of the nation’s water and forestry resources, to meet the needs of current and future generation”.

To fulfil its mandate and obligations, the department has six branches. Forestry is one of these branches with three Chief Directorates, namely: Forestry Regulation and Oversight, Forestry Regions and Forestry Development. The main purpose of the Forestry Branch is to ensure the sustainable management of the country’s forest resources in order to realize their optimal social, environmental and economic benefits. It addresses South Africa’s framework for sustainable development, co-operative governance and participation of local communities in forest management as provided for by the White Paper on Sustainable Forest Development (1996), the National Forestry Action Programme (1997) and the resultant National Forests Act (1998) and the National Veld and Forest Fire Act, 1998.

Forestry has been recognised as one of the key sectors with potential to contribute to poverty alleviation, and economic growth and development. As a result, Forestry is part of the National Industrial Policy Framework (NIPF), and the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (ASGI-SA).

In line with the vision of the department, the Forestry branch has embarked on various programmes aimed at meeting the social and economic needs of the current and future generations whilst benefiting the environment. A brief description and purpose of these programmes are provided below.