It seems too big of an idea to dwell in obscurity — as Chris Anderson observed at the conclusion of Allan Savory’s talk.
Two-thirds of the world’s grasslands are turning to desert, accelerating climate change and sinking some societies into social chaos.
Savory’s TED Talk went online today. After decades of study and 15 million test hectares on five continents, he has returned grasslands to their pre-industrial health by marching concentrated bands of livestock across the land. Rather than let them roam over a wide area, as is commonly done to the ruin of marginal lands, he recapitulates the large herd behavior of pre-history. These herds traditionally formed in reaction to predator threats, and the herd would not want to urinate on its food, so it keeps moving across the land. This turns out to be the perfect way to turn the land, and reverse desertification.
“10,000 years of animal farming created the problem, and 100 years of science accelerated it. We need bundled and moving livestock. There are no other alternatives left to mankind.”
Has anyone heard of this solution before?
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