An Australian credited with launching a tree regeneration technique that has led to reforestation of millions of hectares of degraded land in dozens of nations has been recognised with a global gong dubbed the "Alternative Nobel Prize".

Tony Rinaudo, an agronomist with World Vision, will be one of four recipients this year of the Right Livelihood Award. Previous winners include US whistleblower Edward Snowden and Syria's "White Helmets" rescue teams.

New shoots: Tony Rinaudo with Manuel Da Silva and some of his children near Aileu in East Timor. Credit:Angela Wylie

Mr Rinaudo was working on failing tree planting efforts in a barren region of Niger in 1983 when he spotted an existing network of tree roots struggling to grow. That discovery of stumps "vigorously ready to rebound if you gave them a chance" was the "turning point" of his career, he said.

"That was the solution we were looking for – everything we needed was already there," Mr Rinaudo, 61, told Fairfax Media.