Entrust the care of forests to the people who live there? It works for Tanzania | Felician Kilahama

By getting local communities to own and manage forests, the country has not only preserved its trees but seen the creation of a sustainable source of income

This is a big year for forests. They'll be central to the UN climate change conference in Paris at the year end - the biggest since Copenhagen - where it's hoped the ever-elusive binding deal on carbon emissions will be struck. Forest protection is also key to the sustainable development goals UN member states agreed last month. And this year, some countries have signed pacts to preserve their trees, among them Liberia's with Norway.

While few people would dispute the value of forests, strategies to keep them intact have all too often been ineffective. My home country, Tanzania, is an exception - and one of Africa's rare success stories. Tanzania's government has pioneered a simple, yet often overlooked, approach to preserving forests - its forest communities take care of them. As other African countries explore new ways to manage their trees, the lessons from this merit reflection.