Using Nature to Restore the Grasslands

ZiMbabwe

From the savannahs of Africa and the pampas of Latin America to the steppes in North America and North Africa, drylands are famous for their vast grasslands. Alan Savory, a Zimbabwean biologist, rancher and farmer, has dedicated his life and more than half a century of his research to healing grasslands around the world. Over many years of trial and error to find the root causes of desertification, he developed and refined the method now known as “holistic management.”

Holistic management is based on a decision-making framework that results in ecologically regenerative, economically viable, and socially sound management of the world’s grasslands. From this knowledge, land managers and users can use large herds of domestic livestock to mimic wildlife and to restore balance to the land.

Holistic management has enhanced biological diversity and wildlife habitat and increased land productivity, livestock stocking rates, and the prosperity of pastoralists worldwide. More than 10,000 people have been trained in holistic land management and its associated land and grazing procedures, and an estimated 40 million acres are managed holistically worldwide.

Savory donated his ranch in Zimbabwe to create the Africa Center for Holistic Management as a learning site for community and emerging commercial farmers. He is cofounder of the Savory Institute in the United States, which is dedicated to promoting large-scale restoration of the world’s grasslands through its global Impact Hub Strategy, with learning centers being established on all continents to disseminate this knowledge and speed up the natural regeneration of grassland landscapes.

Web site: www.savoryinstitute.com