Distance to forest, mammal and bird dispersal drive natural regeneration on degraded tropical peatland

•Natural regeneration of peatswamp forest on degraded peatlands is driven by distance to forest, mammal and bird dispersal.•Regeneration occurred in clusters of young trees at distances up to 2 km from the forest.•Forest burnt in 1997 had higher species diversity and trees per plot than intact forest.•Natural regeneration could restore degraded peatlands surrounding remnant forest patches up to 500 m from natural forest.