Saving US grasslands: a bid to turn back the clock on desertification

Desertification caused by climate change and human activity now threatens the livelihoods of more than 1 billion people worldwide, according to the United Nations. Globally, 52 percent of land used to grow food has been affected either moderately or severely.
But on a patch of Colorado prairie, something different happened: The grass came back. Today, "the grass has covered the sand," says Mr. Livingston. A dozen or more sandy, wind-blown basins have become lush and green.



What made the difference was a simple idea with tremendous global consequences. In short, Livingston tried to turn the clock back on his land by moving his cattle around the land in a way that mimics the movement of buffalo centuries before. The idea is called Holistic Management, and users say it is a powerful tool to undo the damage that humans have inflicted on grasslands worldwide.

The idea behind Holistic Management is that grasslands were healthier before modern ranching began. The reason: As huge herds of herbivores roamed the landscape, they revitalized it, nibbling plants to stimulate root growth, trampling the ground in ways that broke apart caked earth to allow seeds to germinate and water to seep in, and fertilizing the ground with their dung.
As grasslands have been fenced off, however, herbivores have become sedentary, and these processes have been impeded. Holistic Management (HM) involves using livestock as though they were the grazing mammals of old, herding them across property according to a planned schedule. The approach is now being applied to more than 40 million acres around the world – about the size of the state of Wisconsin. In the US, interest has grown since Mr. Savory won the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Prize, which rewards "a strategy that has significant potential to solve humanity's most pressing problems," according to the website.

•A US Department of Agriculture grant is paying for 90 women farmers in six Northeastern states to learn HM.

•A New Mexico-based consultancy specializing in HM is running workshops in Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas to combat degradation of the Republican River watershed.

"In the US this is not fringe stuff anymore," says Jody Butterfield, Savory's wife and colleague. "The fires are getting worse; floods are getting worse. When you show that you can do something to fix it, people want to know more."

The 16,000 acres of Livingston Ranch are a testimonial, says the owner. "Today the wind is blowing around 60 miles per hour," says Livingston. "If it weren't for these management practices, it would be pretty ugly around here."

 

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