Strong social， economic and cultural connections exist among economies across Central and Northern Europe， Central Asia， the Middle East， North Africa and Greater Central Asia
　�。℅CA）. The GCA region， in the widest sense， encompasses Kazakhstan， Tajikistan， Uzbekistan， Turkmenistan， Kyrgyzstan， Mongolia and western China and harbors unique biodiversity.
　　Various species of fauna and fiora mingle with endemic species not found elsewhere.
　　Forests in this region are vital natural resources that provide important environmental services including climate regulation， soil protection， clean water supply and many more. They also play a leading role in socio-economic development， supplying people with food， fuel， medicinal plants and recreational areas. Meanwhile， forests are suffering the effects of increasingly severe land degradation and desertification due to a host of natural and human factors. The most significant ofthese factors include overgrazing， land clearing for agricultural use， illegal logging and poaching， firewood collection， excessive water consumption， and insufficient financial and technical support.
　　Economies in GCA are actively involved in international and regional commitments focused on climate change adaptation， biodiversity conservation and desertification control. However， a comprehensive overview of the history， status and outlook of forestry development in GCA has been lacking.
　　Given this， the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation （APFNet） identified the GCA region as one of its seven geographical priority areas for strategic interventions. Desk research and field surveys have been conducted since 2014 with the financial support of the Department of Science and Technology （DST） of the State Forest Administration of China （SFA）， the active involvement of officials from different forest authorities， as well as consultants from international organizations， which has culminated in a series of six books being published.
　　This book， one of the six， gives a holistic overview ofthe current state of forests and forestry， the contribution of forests to economic development， forestry policies and legislation， and forestry education and research， in Tajikistan. In particular， sustainable forest management best practices in relation to soil and water conservation， desertification control， forest fire and disease prevention， biodiversity conservation and rehabilitation of degraded forests etc.， are covered in-depth.
　　We hope that this book will be of value to foresters， from policy makers to grass root practitioners and those working in forest authorities， academia， international organizations and civil society organizations who have an interest in forestry development in Tajikistan.