NAIROBI, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Africa's sustainable forestry management framework will be launched in early 2020 to guide the continent in sustainable exploitation of forest resources, an African Union (AU) official disclosed on Monday.

Almami Dampha, senior policy officer at AU Commission, said that the framework has been developed to help countries meet the AU Agenda 2063 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

"The framework will act as a guide to assist AU member states and regional bodies in promoting sustainable management and policies development of forest," Dampha told over 100 delegates attending a forestry conference in Nairobi.

He said that Africa's forest declined by 2.8 million hectares in 2010-2015 due to poor forestry and land use policies, competition from other sectors such agriculture and mining, and conflicts and instability.

"We hope that the framework will help in reversing the deforestation, forest degradation, land degradation, desertification, mitigate and adapt to climate change and make the continent prosperous," said Dampha.

The AU official told forestry experts and governments to prioritize forestry in their national plans and resource allocation.

He observed that the framework that will be ratified by the heads of state and governments early next year is due for validation in July.