For decades, Nigerien farmers cleared their fields of native trees and shrubs, exposing their crops to the fierce Sahelian winds. However, the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), in combination with other improved soil and water conservation practices, has helped to reverse this trend. This ‘Inside story on climate compatible development’ by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) aims to provide an overview of FMNR and its benefits, assess the key elements for its success and summarise its most important lessons. FMNR benefits include: rapid and large-scale restoration of tree cover; the availability of fuelwood from pruned tree branches; better insulation against the cyclical droughts; and relieving women of the burden of gathering fuelwood. The brief highlights that honouring local wisdom is key to the success of FMNR and farmers can play a central role in experimenting, innovating, communicating potential benefits and advocating behaviour change.