Australian agronomist Tony Rinaudo's reforestation project in Niger was failing – with 80% of his planted saplings dying – until he stumbled upon a simple solution in plain sight: stumps of previously cut trees trying to regrow in the dry, deforested landscape.

The degraded land contained numerous such stumps with intact root systems, plus millions of tree seeds hidden in the soil, which farmers could encourage to grow and reforest the landscape, something he refers to as 'an invisible forest in plain view.'

Today, the technique known as Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) is responsible for reforesting six million hectares in Niger alone.

Rinaudo speaks with Rachel Donald on Mongabay's podcast about his journey implementing this technique and its massive potential to help tackle biodiversity loss and food insecurity through resilient agroforestry systems.

Read more about FMNR at Mongabay, here.

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Image: Results of Farmer Natural Regeneration in Luhundwa, Tanzania, from 2019 – 2022. Photo courtesy of LEAD Foundation.

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Timecodes

(00:00) Introduction

(02:43) The Concept of FMNR

(04:42) Underground Forests & Hidden Potential

(07:33) Roadblocks and Revelations in Niger

(14:00) The Social and Environmental Benefits of FMNR

(20:28) Regenerating Earth's Degraded Land

(25:11) "We don't have centuries to make a change."

(30:59) The Power of a Social Movement

(42:41) Undeployed Solutions

(47:55) Credits