Climate change, sustainably managed renewable raw materials and energy from biomass are some of the major challenges facing mankind in the 21st century. Globally, wood is the most important locally available renewable energy source for the human population. In Africa, fuelwood and charcoal production is the dominant use of woody biomass. When obtained from sustainably managed forests, the use of woody biomass can be seen with positive climatic and socio-economic effects.This book originated from research undertaken as part of a project, Building Biocarbon and Rural Development in West Africa (BIODEV), implementedi n 2012–2016 by a consortium composed of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the Centre for International Forest Research (CIFOR), the Universityof Helsinki (UH), the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), along with national partners of which the most important ones were Sierra Leone Agricultural Institute(SLARi) and Environmental Institute for Agricultural Research (INERA) in Burkina Faso. The project activities have been concentrating on Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone; some activities have been carried out also in Guinea and Mali. The main aim of the project was to achieve sustainable rural development with long-term livelihood and environmental benefits to rural populations and the global community under climate change through science-based,validated and high-value biocarbon approaches. The project aimed also to form replicable high-value biocarbon tools in large landscapes.