How Niger farmers regrew 200 million trees hidden beneath dry land

An Australian agronomist's simple idea has transformed one of the world's driest landscapes into a remarkable environmental success story. According to World Vision, Tony Rinaudo, widely known as the "Forest Maker," helped farmers in Niger regenerate more than 200 million trees, not by planting new forests but by reviving living tree stumps, dormant root systems and naturally buried seeds beneath the soil. His low-cost approach has restored millions of hectares of degraded farmland while improving food security and livelihoods for millions of people.A hidden forest beneath the desert When Tony Rinaudo arrived in Niger in the early 1980s, the West African nation was facing severe drought, desertification and widespread deforestation. Conventional tree-planting projects struggled because newly planted seedlings often died from harsh weather, poor soils and grazing animals.Everything changed during what Rinaudo has described as a "Eureka" moment.