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Globally, there are increasing demands for land use changes aimed at restoring Carbon (C) and biodiversity in degraded forest ecosystems. This study provides an integrated understanding of aboveground (AG) C storage, structural and floristic composition in charcoal and agriculture fallows in Miombo woodland systems of Zambia. We present the findings of ecological surveys; measuring tree diameters and assessing species composition on twenty-four 0.25 ha plots in undisturbed woodlands, and 58 plots re-growing after agriculture (5–58 years) and charcoal production (5–44 years). Undisturbed Miombo stored 39.6 Mg C ha⁻¹ AG, while after clearance, C stocks accumulated at 0.98 and 1.42 Mg C ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ in agriculture and charcoal fallows respectively. There were no significant differences in C stocks between woodlands and ⩾20 year old fallows, implying that in terms of AG C storage, woodlands …