Government’s policies over the years to prevent land degradation have been to promote wide scale tree planting. In many cases, attempts at afforesting degraded areas have adopted orthodox western conservation approaches for regeneration that yielded low results because there has been limited involvement of local institutional actors and their structures. The aim of this paper is to investigate the local institutional actors and local level governance structures that provide the enabling environment for promoting a sustained natural regeneration. A mixed study design involving a sample size of 200 farmers in Lawra Municipality was used. Interviews, observation, structured questionnaires, and nine focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted across three communities. The structured questionnaires were analyzed descriptively using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22 while the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results show that farmers’ motivation for practicing natural regeneration are attributed to improved crop productivity, provision of household livelihoods including food needs, improved soil fertility, fuel wood, fodder, and poles. Natural regeneration of trees were also found to resonate with traditional management practices in which farmers have maintained indigenous tree species alongside their food crops on their farms. The study recommends strict adherence to the local systems for self-governance and management, the institutionalization of cross district bye-laws on natural regeneration, and strengthening farmers’ capacity through learning and sharing of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) experiences in communities with best practices with assistance from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.

多年来，政府防止土地退化的政策一直是促进大规模植树造林。在许多情况下，退化地区的植树造林尝试采用了西方正统的再生保护方法，但收效甚微，因为当地机构行为者及其结构的参与有限。本文的目的是调查为促进持续自然再生提供有利环境的地方机构参与者和地方治理结构。采用了混合研究设计，样本量为劳拉市 200 名农民。在三个社区进行了访谈、观察、结构化问卷和九次焦点小组讨论 (FGD)。使用社会科学统计包第 22 版对结构化问卷进行描述性分析，同时使用主题分析对访谈进行分析。结果表明，农民实行自然再生的动机归因于作物生产力的提高、家庭生计的提供（包括粮食需求）、土壤肥力的提高、薪材、饲料和电线杆。研究还发现，树木的自然更新与传统管理实践产生共鸣，在传统管理实践中，农民在农场的粮食作物旁边保留了本土树种。研究建议严格遵守地方自治和管理制度，将跨区自然更新细则制度化，并通过学习和分享最好社区的农民管理自然更新（FMNR）经验来增强农民的能力。在国土资源部的协助下开展实践。