Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) of forests has tremendous potential to provide cost-effective socio-economic and environmental benefits for ecosystems and landscapes. But implementation and upscaling of ANR confront many challenges at local, national and global scales. Three regional workshops (Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America-Caribbean) led by key stakeholders in the ANR Alliance identified major finance and policy challenges. Legal restrictions on harvesting naturally regenerating trees limit economic benefits and favor tree planting or commercial forestry over management of fallow vegetation or existing secondary forests, even on private land. In many cases, farmers must obtain approval from public forest agencies to harvest trees, requiring high transaction costs. In other cases, naturally growing trees belong to the government and cannot be used by farmers for economic gain. Few countries offer economic incentives, subsidies, technical support, or extension services for implementation of ANR. Investors are generally unaware that assisted natural regeneration can be a highly effective reforestation approach or perceive higher risks than investing in tree planting for carbon storage. Biodiversity benefits of ANR are taking a back seat to carbon storage in the rush toward carbon finance.

These obstacles emerge from a history of economic and land-use policies that favor either commercial forestry or strict conservation of natural forests, relegating natural regeneration to uncertain status and vague definitions. They also stem from outdated agrarian reforms that require clearing land to demonstrate use and obtain land-use rights. Forest regeneration is associated with indigenous and traditional communities’ shifting agricultural systems, which are strongly penalized in many countries. Young natural regrowth areas are often viewed as “idle” lands that are not valued or protected. Regenerating forests lack an enabling policy context and are often excluded from reforestation and forest restoration programs. Practice of ANR is further disincentivized by conflicting policies across agriculture, forestry, and conservation sectors.

Pathways that enable ANR implementation include cross-sector collaboration and policy alignment, communicating knowledge on the benefits and feasibility of ANR in specific restoration contexts, providing technical support for farmers and land managers, and designing economic incentives that value naturally regenerating forest ecosystems and their sustainable management.