The story of how Australian aid worker, Tony Rinaudo has helped in the recovery of drought-ravaged lands in Africa has been featured in the Sydney Morning Herald.

In the 1980s Rinaudo was working to replant forests on the edge of the Sahara desert when he discovered trees were actually beginning to regenerate from a vast root system that still existed underground. This was despite the trees above ground having been felled by a desperately poor population for firewood, to make way for agriculture and killed off by drought.

Over the next 3 decades, Rinaudo worked tirelessly to develop what is now known as Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR); a technique that involves farmers’ protecting, pruning and harvesting regenerating trees on their land.

The result has been incredible. More than 5 million hectares, or half Niger's farmland, has been regenerated through FMNR, and substantial tree regeneration has also been achieved in Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Mali.

The trees provide shade for crops, retain moisture in the soil and enrich nutrients, and are a source of fodder for livestock.

Rinaudo is now driving FMNR programs in 11 African and 5 Asian countries, and is about to start work in Haiti. Currently his focus is East Timor, where the natural environment has been severely degraded due to clearing of forests for valuable timbers and years of conflict.

Rinaudo says regenerating the forests of East Timor is crucial to improving the lives of the predominantly rural population. "They won the battle for independence but they have still to win the battle over poverty."

FMNR is also playing an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. “Imagine if agriculture changed from being a net emitter of carbon dioxide to a net sequester, locking in more than it is emitting,” asks Rinaudo.

Read the full story: The tree whisperer

See also:

The baffling simplicity of FMNR

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