How Cows Could Green the World?s Deserts and Reverse Climate Change

[Sally Furniss]

Published on Mar 4, 2013
"Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert," begins Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And terrifyingly, 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 so far shows -- that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim degraded land that was once desert.

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[JJackson]

Re: How Cows Could Green the World?s Deserts and Reverse Climate Change

Sally thanks for the link.
Everyone should give him a listen because if he is even partially correct the implications are profound globally, beautifully simple and cost free to implement.

[dc_agar]

Re: How Cows Could Green the World?s Deserts and Reverse Climate Change

This is very interesting. I've been an over-the-road driver throughout the US and I've seen fields of wild dead grass that appeared useful for cattle feed. According to this man, it's vital to preserving the land. I wonder whether the hoof action of the grazing animals is vital to the breakup of the dry algal surface matting he mentioned; I was waiting for him to say that and I don't think he did, but it seems logical.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: How Cows Could Green the World?s Deserts and Reverse Climate Change

Thanks Sally, this seems to be game-changing.

[sharon sanders]

Re: How Cows Could Green the World?s Deserts and Reverse Climate Change

Thanks Sally, this seems to be game-changing.

I agree. I have sent this video all over. Some large international health groups did not know about it and are researching this.

[JJackson]

Re: How Cows Could Green the World?s Deserts and Reverse Climate Change

This is very interesting. I've been an over-the-road driver throughout the US and I've seen fields of wild dead grass that appeared useful for cattle feed. According to this man, it's vital to preserving the land. I wonder whether the hoof action of the grazing animals is vital to the breakup of the dry algal surface matting he mentioned; I was waiting for him to say that and I don't think he did, but it seems logical.

I was left with the same question, after watching, as you. While trying to answer it I found this

For instance, overgrazing has been faulted for degrading lands.
Yet, perhaps what has not been recognized universally is what
overgrazing really is. Overgrazing is a function of time, not
animal numbers, and occurs when an animal returns to a grass
plant before it has had time to regenerate. When animals are
allowed to roam at will, they will indeed revisit plants before the
plants can recover. However, when animals are herded so as to
ensure that they do not re-graze plants before they have
recovered, then overgrazing is no longer an issue. Time governs
the effects of trampling too. Animal hooves enhance soil health
when they chip sealed soil surfaces, and knock down dead plants
so they can decay more quickly. But they cause damage if
animals remain in one place too long or return to it too soon.
By combining small groups of animals into larger herds and
planning their daily moves, herdsmen maximize forage
production and the benefits of animal impact – the hoof action
of the animals as well as the dung and urine that fertilize the
soil. By mimicking the wild herds that roamed these lands in the
past and keeping livestock moving, they minimize overgrazing
of plants, which over time leads to increased ground cover.

The above was taken from Holistic Management of African Rangelands (Constance L. Neely and Jody Butterfield) one of the papers available on the AFRICA CENTRE FOR HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT site's resources dropdown links.
See also A Global Strategy for Addressing Global Climate Change (A.Savory) a 20page .pdf