How to green the world's deserts and reverse climate change | Allan Savory

Desertification and Climate Change

In this talk, Allan Savory discusses the problem of desertification and its impact on climate change. He explains how rising population, land turning to desert, and climate change are causing a perfect storm that can only be solved by replacing fossil fuels with technology. He also talks about how desertification is caused by livestock overgrazing plants, leaving soil bare and giving off methane.

The Perfect Storm

• The most massive tsunami perfect storm is bearing down upon us.

• This perfect storm is mounting a grim reality due to our rising population, land turning to desert, and climate change.

• We can solve our problems with technology but we will only solve the problem of replacing fossil fuels with technology.

• Fossil fuels are not the only thing causing climate change.

Desertification

• Desertification happens when we create too much bare ground.

• Most of the world's land that is turning to desert is in environments where we have months of humidity followed by months of dryness.

• About two-thirds of the world is desertifying.

• With space technology now, we can look at it from space and see that what you see in green is not desertifying, while what you see in brown is.

Soil Organic Matter

• When 25 millimeters (an inch) of rain fell on every hectare of Tihamah Desert land one day, most water soaked into the soil simply evaporated out again because the fate of water and carbon are tied to soil organic matter.

• When soils are damaged, carbon goes back to the atmosphere.

Livestock Overgrazing

• Desertification is caused by livestock overgrazing plants leaving soil bare and giving off methane.

• Most of the soil in grasslands is bare and covered with a crust of algae, leading to increased runoff and evaporation.

• Desertification is occurring not only in arid and semi-arid areas but also in high rainfall tall grasslands.

• Allan Savory used to hate livestock because of the damage they were doing, but he later discovered that desertification was caused by livestock overgrazing plants.

Desertification and Climate Change

In this section, Allan Savory discusses the issue of desertification and climate change. He talks about how American scientists had no explanation for desertification except that it is arid and natural. He also explains how grazing animals can help prevent desertification.

The Cause of Desertification

• Research shows that removing cattle to stop desertification actually has the opposite effect.

• Bare soil is much colder at dawn and hotter at midday than ground covered with plant litter.

• Seasonal humidity environments developed with large numbers of grazing animals, which prevented overgrazing while ensuring good soil cover.

Preventing Desertification

• Burning grasslands releases carbon and pollutants, leading to desertification and climate change.

• Using livestock as a proxy for former herds and predators can mimic nature and prevent desertification.

• Impacting grassland heavily with cattle can cover the soil with dung, urine, litter or mulch, making it ready to absorb rainwater, store carbon, and break down methane.

Addressing Climate Change

• Using livestock to address climate change is necessary but poses a dilemma on how to do it effectively.

• Grazing animals have been used for 10,000 years by pastoralists but have created manmade deserts.

• Modern rain science has accelerated desertification in the last 100 years.

Holistic Management and Planned Grazing

Allan Savory discusses how he developed holistic management and planned grazing by studying other professions to address nature's complexity and our social, environmental, economic complexity. He shares results from Zimbabwe where they increased cattle and goats 400 percent, planned grazing to mimic nature, integrated them with all the elephants, buffalo, giraffe and other animals that they have. They also run them in a predator-friendly manner.

Development of Holistic Management

• Allan Savory studied other professions to develop holistic management and planned grazing.

• Holistic management is a planning process that addresses all of nature's complexity as well as our social, environmental, economic complexity.

Results from Zimbabwe

• Land close to land managed using holistic management techniques has almost no fear of dry years.

• The production of grass, shrubs, trees, wildlife is more productive on land managed using holistic management techniques.

• Increased cattle and goat numbers 400 percent while planning grazing to mimic nature resulted in great increases in crop yield.

• Using livestock to mimic nature transformed bare eroding sites into areas with fallen trees attracting elephants.

Results from Other Countries

• Livestock mimicking nature transformed desert land in Mexico back into grassland.

• Livestock mimicking nature healed gullies on Karoo Desert land in South Africa.

• Livestock mimicking nature increased production by 50% on Patagonian grasslands previously turning into desert due to reduced sheep numbers.

• Pastoralists in the Horn of Africa are planning their grazing to mimic nature and openly saying it is the only hope they have of saving their families and culture.

Impact on Climate Change

• What we are doing globally is causing climate change as much as, if not more than, fossil fuels.

• Holistic management techniques can take enough carbon out of the atmosphere and safely store it in grassland soils for thousands of years.

Starting a Flock of Animals

In this section, Allan Savory explains how he starts a flock of animals on barren land.

Starting the Flock

• The only time they have ever had to provide any feed is during mine reclamation where it's 100 percent bare.

• They took the worst land in Zimbabwe and trebled the stocking rate, the number of animals, in the first year with no feeding just by mimicking nature and using a sigmoid curve principle.

Conclusion

In this section, Chris Anderson thanks Allan Savory for his talk and expresses his admiration for his work.

Thanking Allan Savory

• Chris Anderson thanks Allan Savory for his astonishing talk.

• The audience applauds.