FMNR & Tony Rinaudo
While living in Niger Republic, I witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of deforestation and land degradation on the world’s most vulnerable people – children, women and poor farm families.
FMNR was born out of the bitterness of failure using conventional reforestation methods and, I am convinced, as a result of heart felt prayer to God to intervene. FMNR’s subsequent adoption by millions of small holder farmers transformed broken land and lives and restored hope. Today, the Niger FMNR story inspires regreening movements around the world.
My shock at seeing people suffering from avoidable hunger and poverty combined with joy at witnessing how such a simple and low-cost intervention can build resilience and enable vulnerable people to thrive, has galvanized my focus.
Three key lessons emerged from Niger:
- The power of people to create the future they want by working with nature instead of fighting and destroying it.
- The power of nature to self-heal if given a chance and a small helping hand.
- The power of movements to rapidly transform landscapes and to change history.
Today I am as passionate as ever promoting FMNR globally in an ambassadorial capacity – creating awareness, advocating for funding, favourable policies and action and inspiring others to take up the challenge of restoring one billion hectares of degraded land within the next decade.
Tony’s story
Watch this video on Tony’s story and his time in Niger.
The Forest Maker film
Arriving in Niger in the 1980s, Australian agronomist Tony Rinaudo discovered the ravages of intensive agriculture inherited from the colonial era. Directed by Volker Schlöndorff.
The Forest Underground
Tony shares his insights and inspiring life story in his autobiography The Forest Underground: Hope for a Planet in Crisis, named 2022 Australian Christian Book of the Year.
TEDx Sydney
Tony’s TEDx talk highlights this powerful solution, aiming to restore one billion hectares of degraded land and combat climate change.
Resources
Everything is connected
In this video lean about how in a balanced ecosystem, people and animals thrive. But when trees are cut down and land is burned, that balance is lost.
Tony’s time in Niger
In Niger, Tony Rinaudo’s approach transformed barren land, planting 60 million trees across 5 million hectares, benefiting 2.5 million people.
Pruning for natural regeneration
This step-by-step guide demonstrates how to practice FMNR, from selecting the right tree species to prune through to protecting regrowing trees.
The origin story of FMNR
FMNR is a low-cost land restoration technique used to combat poverty and hunger amongst poor subsistence farmers by increasing food and timber production and resilience to climate extremes.
Partnership with God in Restoring Creation
A Story of Hope. Testimony of God’s Call and Answered Prayers. By Tony Rinaudo
Springer research article
Community Driven, Low Cost and Scalable Reforestation Approach for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation. By Tony Rinaudo, Sarah McKenzie, Thu-Ba Huynh and Charlotte L. Sterrett.
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