Citation: Nikodemus, A.; Abdollahnejad, A.; Kapuka, A.; Panagiotidis, D.; Hájek, M. Socio-Economic Benefits of Colophospermum mopane in a Changing Climate in Northern Namibia. Forests 2023, 14, 290. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14020290 Received: 26 December 2022 Revised: 27 January 2023 Accepted: 31 January 2023 Published: 2 February 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Article Socio-Economic Benefits of Colophospermum mopane in a Changing Climate in Northern Namibia Andreas Nikodemus * , Azadeh Abdollahnejad , Alpo Kapuka , Dimitrios Panagiotidis and Miroslav Hájek Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, Praha 6-Suchdol, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic * Correspondence: nikodemus@fld.czu.cz Abstract: Millions of local communities in southern Africa depend on forest ecosystems and the goods and services they provide for their livelihoods. This paper aims to assess the socio-economic benefits of forest goods and services in a changing climate by focusing on the forest products of Colophospermum mopane (C. mopane) in the Kunene and Omusati regions in northern Namibia. We used C. mopane product data from 2011 to 2021. Our analyses showed that local communities harvested five main products from C. mopane, namely firewood, poles, droppers, rafters, and roots. Firewood and poles were the primary C. mopane products harvested by local communities, mainly for subsistence use. Our results suggest that C. mopane potentially continues to the provision of goods and services for the livelihood of local communities, despite the changing climate in northern Namibia. We propose future studies in predictive analysis focus on extreme weather events, such as forest fires, droughts, floods, and other climate-related hazards that affect goods and services provided by forest ecosystems in the northern regions and the entire country. Keywords: climate change; Colophospermum mopane; commercial use; forest products; Kunene region; Omusati region; rural communities; subsistence use; northern Namibia 1. Introduction Millions of local communities in southern Africa depend on forest ecosystems and the goods and services they provide for their livelihoods [1,2], including ecosystem ser- vices provided by C. mopane (Kirk ex Benth) species. In addition to services such as carbon sequestration and the protection of watersheds and biodiversity [3], forest ecosys- tems provide goods and services to local communities in various forms in the region, ranging from timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) [4]. Local communities utilize forest products, such as fuel wood, construction materials, medicine, and food, for marketing and household consumption [5]. However, various previous studies have acknowledged that forest ecosystems in southern Africa are highly vulnerable to climate change [1,2,6]. Some of the identified climate risks to forest ecosystems in the region include, for example, altering the growth rates of woodland flora and impacting species composition and productivity [3,7]. The southern part of Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change [8]. This situation is due to the region’s high exposure to climate change, poor socio-economic conditions, increased reliance on natural resources, and inability to implement adaptive measures effectively [8–10]. For example, in the Sub-Saharan African region, unpredictable rainfall and recurrent droughts significantly impact agricultural production [11], aggravat- ing consequences, including high risks to food security [12]. Climate change projections for southern Africa further predict increased droughts, the frequency, and intensity of wildfires, land degradation, low agricultural and vegetation productivity, extreme temperatures, and increased food insecurity [13]. Furthermore, cli- mate change is also associated with increasing desertification [14]. Additionally, according Forests 2023, 14, 290. https://doi.org/10.3390/f14020290 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/forests