“Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert,” begins Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And it’s happening to about two-thirds of the world’s grasslands, accelerating climate change and causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory has devoted his life to stopping it. He now believes — and his work may show — that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim degraded land that was once desert. Statements in this talk have been challenged by other scientists working in this field.
I recently visited a huge sheep property near Gunning as part of a Landcare outing. On this farm we saw they had 4000 sheep on a 400 ha paddock. The sheep would be there for only 4 days and by that time, we were told, they would have eaten everything, and manured the whole area. The property had 70 paddocks this size and the sheep would not be returning to a particular paddock for several months. The owners said that the advantages included that everything edible, including weeds was taken giving the animals good variety in their diet, yet the paddock was not over-grazed. This was inspired by Allan Savory’s work
Just to nitpick, “desertification” isn’t a fancy word. In German, “Verwüstung” is the normal term and desertification was used interchangeably. BUT! Verwüstung also means to destroy something…
I want to work on a holistically managed operation when this working season is complete. What networks should I connect with so I can be employed usefully and learn these Savory & grazing practices more fully? I’m looking to November 2018 and beyond. Thanks for contacting robert.hayes2@gmail
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