All urban and peri-urban forest ecosystems of Africa are – to varying but steadily increasing degrees – under pressure from their city populations. The first part of this report offers an overview of the woodfuel situation in Africa, addressing the key factors, the typology and the challenges and new issues involved in the sustainable management of urban and peri-urban forests in the face of the growing demand for woodfuel. The second part presents four detailed case studies and is intended to be complementary inasmuch as it considers individual countries (Nigeria, Mali, South Africa, Republic of the Congo), expanding further on the issues highlighted in the first part. This work thus provides an overview of the woodfuel situation in Africa, while laying the groundwork for further in-depth regional research. A formula that well illustrates the authors’ position could serve as a motto for the whole of this report: “The future of forests lies in the towns.”