This paper explores the history of trees and scientific forestry in South Africa and how it changed southern African hydrologies.

In this special issue on Disempowering Democracies, Melis Ece, James Murombedzi and Jesse Ribot show how, though all major agencies intervening in community-based and carbon forestry – such as international development agencies, conservation institutions, and national governments – state that their interventions must engage local participation in decision making, forestry interventions conversely weaken local democracy.