Tony Rinaudo AM is the award winning Senior Climate Action Advisor for World Vision, also known as The Forest Maker. This Australian agronomist revolutionized reforestation in Africa, alongside the communities in which he worked, with a system called Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR). In Niger alone, where the desert was still expanding 20 years ago, around six million hectares of land have been restored. Having spread to 24 countries in Africa, Tony’s vision is for it to reach 100 countries around the world this decade, and he’s not alone. The movement is fast spreading globally.

The transformation in Niger has been called "probably the largest positive environmental transformation in the Sahel and perhaps in all of Africa," by internationally acclaimed environmental specialist Chris Reij. Though Tony will tell you the transformation was in the people first, starting with himself. He’ll also tell you that the solutions found in Africa worked because they were low-cost, rapid and scalable. And that the lessons he learnt living on the edge of the Sahara Desert relate to so much of what the rest of the world needs today.

Recognition for Tony’s decades of pioneering work has come in the form of multiple awards including the Commandeur de Merite, Agricole, Rep. du Niger, and the Right Livelihood Award. The latter was “for demonstrating on a large scale how drylands can be greened at minimal cost, improving the livelihoods of millions of people.” The Award went on to say, “What Rinaudo has created is much more than an agricultural technique, he has inspired a farmer-led movement.”

So “what would be possible if all stakeholders—donors, scientists, governments, policy makers, business, NGOs, traditional and religious leaders and farmers—partnered and were serious about land restoration? Technically, there is no reason why simultaneously 5 million hectares of land could not be restored in multiple countries within five years.”

Title slide: Tony Rinaudo (pic: Silas Kosh). You’ll find some other photos on the website, including the very moment Tony had his epiphany.

Music:
The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.

Find more:
FMNR Hub.

The Fore

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