Forest planning and policy making process in West Africa – and elsewhere in Africa for that matter – has largely been dominated by the State, with very little room for a meaningful participation of civil society. This state of affairs led to a management of forests and forest resources which failed to produce sustainable outcomes. There has been poor governance of forests, alarming deforestation and land degradation, exacerbated by increasing rural poverty and large foreign debts. As these and other environmental problems strain the West African sub-region, the need for pluralism in forest sector development is gaining momentum. The need to accommodate multiple interests in charting the future of forests is indeed gaining wide recognition, as evidenced by the declarations in favor of sustainable forest management in Agenda 21 and by the many international conventions on forests in which African countries are participating. How to accommodate multiple interests in the forest sector is the real issue facing Africa’s forestry authorities today. Although there is a growing set of tools and methodologies to reinforce participation of stakeholders in national forest programmes and similar processes, there is a need to approach the issue strategically, thinking regionally and acting nationally and locally. It is in this context that the present study has been commissioned by FAO Sub-regional Office for Africa to prepare a sub-regional strategy for enhancing the participation of civil society actors in forestry planning and policy making processes in West Africa.