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Doing What Works
                                                                                                                                            and explained logically, on my own land, it all
                                                                                                                                            seemed such common sense.
                                                                                                                                                Savory explained that on ranch-scale
                                                                                                                                            ranges, preparing soil for plant life and water
Sloppy science is damaging rangelands and wildlife.                                                                                         retention could only be done as nature
                                                                                                                                            intended: by large herds of grazing animals.
What’s missing is a complex functioning whole. By Chris Gill                                                                                Not by resting the land, using machines,
                                                                                                                                            chemicals or fire, as recommended by almost
                                                                                                                                            all range scientists. Historically, before




I
                                                                                                                                            humans arrived in the Americas 10,000 years
    am a businessman for whom ranching and wildlife/habitat                                                                                 ago, these soils, plants, and vast numbers of
    restoration are avocations. Because I married into a                                                                                    large herbivores with their pack-hunting
                                                                                                                                            predators all developed together as one com-
    landowning family 38 years ago, at one time or another,                                                                                 plex functioning whole.
and to varying degrees, I have been responsible for the man-                                                                                    He tied these explanations to a solid base
                                                                                                                                            of scientific research concerning overgrazing
agement of ranches in Uruguay; near Austin, Texas, in the                                                                                   of plants and resting of seasonal, low-rainfall
Texas Hill Country; in West Texas; and even a 3,600-acre                                                                                    land. Fifty years ago, a French pasture scientist
                                                                                                                                            discovered that overgrazing of plants was due
river-delta/marsh ranch on the Texas coast.                                                                                                 to either the plants being exposed to grazing
    I never had even a minimal understand-             in, and cover soil with plant litter and manure                                      too long or reexposed to animals too soon to
ing of what I was doing. I wasted hundreds of          to provide a seedbed. This gets plants grow-                                         allow sufficient time for roots to regrow. As
thousands of dollars. I was anti-cattle. I             ing. It improves the soil’s ability to absorb and                                    this Frenchman’s research established, over-
thought desert grasslands could best be                store rainfall to grow more plant life. This in                                      grazing has nothing to do with animal num-
restored by removing all cattle, and that if one       turn supports more animal life in an ever-                                           bers but everything to do with how many
had to make a living off their ranch, this             widening cycle.                                                                      days a plant is exposed to grazing and how
would require very conservative stocking to                 Allan showed me to my dismay that most                                          long it is allowed to recover between such
protect soil and vegetation.                           of our perennial grass was dying. There were                                         grazing. Savory told me of the many research
    Then a neighbor introduced me to Allan             not enough large animals grazing to keep it                                          plots in deserts all over the world which total-
Savory. Touring our 32,000-acre high-desert            alive by cycling the annually dying leaves and                                       ly exclude livestock, established to “prove that
mountain ranch together, Allan used simple             stems. Past seasons’ old grass material that                                         overgrazing causes land degradation” and
gardening analogies: To grow plants on hard,           should have rotted through grazing was                                               how these exclosures turned grasslands to
bare soil, one does not simply rest it and hope!       instead turning gray-black—oxidizing—                                                desert, contrary to what range experts expect-
Break the soil surface to let water and seeds          through gradual chemical breakdown. Shown                                            ed and predicted!
                                                                                                                                                Allan explained why we need to disturb
                                                                                                              photos courtesy gill family




                                                                                                                                            our range to stimulate plants, why we need to
                                                                                                                                            plan how to move our cattle, and why we
                                                                                                                                            need to minimize overgrazing plants in ways
                                                                                                                                            that mimic what used to happen for millions
                                                                                                                                            of years. Such disturbance and timing is, he
                                                                                                                                            explained, regulated in undisturbed wild situ-
                                                                                                                                            ations by pack-hunting predators forcing
                                                                                                                                            large numbers of grazers to bunch for protec-
                                                                                                                                            tion and by the seasonal availability of forage
                                                                                                                                            and water. Together, these force constant
                                                                                                                                            movement. The result is that animals neither
                                                                                                                                            grazed plants too long nor returned too soon.
                                                                                                                                                Finally, Savory talked to me about how
                                                                                                                                            complex this would be for my family as
                                                                                                                                            ranchers. I’d have to think of timing of graz-
                                                                                                                                            ing, re-grazing, and animal numbers so as not
                                                                                                                                            to run out of grass, synchronizing the cattle
                                                                                                                                            moves with calving, lactating, and breeding
                                                                                                                                            requirements. This had to be done economi-
                                                                                                                                            cally, while generating income from sunlight,
About one-third of the Circle Ranch herd at water. Allan Savory told Chris, “To grow plants on hard,                                        through plant growth.
bare soil, one does not simpy rest it and hope! Break the soil surface to let water and seeds in, and cover
soil with plant litter and manure to provide a seedbed. This gets plants growing. It improves the soil’s                                        Our ranch is in a very erratic rainfall area,
ability to absorb and store rainfall to grow more plant life. This in turn supports more animal life in an                                  so we needed to plan continually for
ever-widening circle.”                                                                                                                      droughts. Allan explained that most ranchers
the same amount of grass in a shorter time,            have nothing to do with holistic planned
                                                    using more animals?” So we decided to try it.          grazing or Allan Savory. I was perplexed. We
                                                    Three of us completed Holistic Management              at Circle Ranch, as described above, were
                                                    International’s (HMI) Ranch and Rangeland              doing what they claimed to be impossible! So
                                                    course. For eight years HMI consultants have           I obtained and read every study used in the
                                                    coached us with our grazing and strategic              book in its conclusion.
                                                    planning.                                                  What I found was that Savory’s holistic
                                                        We have excellent records of what we have          planned grazing had been redefined by the
                                                    done. Based on regular monitoring, our land            authors as a short-duration grazing (SDG)
                                                    has measurably improved through planned                wagon-wheel system, with shared water, no
                                                    grazing, increasing our livestock 400 percent          fewer than eight paddocks, five days or less
                                                    and our densities sometimes 250 times. For-            grazing and four weeks or more nonuse—
                                                    age taken has tripled. Our problem is getting          about 10 full cycles a year. Further, this defini-
Circle Ranch is owned by Laura and Chris Gill
                                                    the increased grass eaten. We are bottle-              tion or something similar had been accepted
and their children Christopher, Richard, Carolyn    necked in trying to water the ever-growing             by every range scientist on whom the authors
and Josephine.                                      herd this requires! All our wildlife has benefit-      relied. I already knew from my HMI range
                                                    ed greatly from the increase in cattle num-            training that Savory had never recommended
plan for drought by setting grazing areas           bers, and so has our profitability.                    anything remotely like what these researchers
aside. This decreases production of all grass           So it surprised me when, at a mule-deer            were testing and attributing to Allan.
and cattle every year. He advised instead that      seminar, a member of Texas Parks & Wildlife                I wondered: were the scientists reading
we plan for droughts in terms of days of graz-      field staff gave me the latest book on mule            old texts? So, I reread several of Savory’s old
ing reserved. This keeps animal and grass           deer, “Habitat Guidelines for Mule Deer.” It           papers and his early textbook (later editions of
production high every year, including in the        was written by eight range and wildlife                “Holistic Resource Management” are in use in
droughts.                                           experts (the “authors”) for the Mule Deer              more than 20 universities and colleges).
     Allan explained we would never be able to      Working Group, and sponsored by 24 state               Thousands of times he had warned that all
manage this complexity using any rotational         wildlife departments (the “sponsors”). To my           such short-duration grazing systems, grazing
grazing system. “How,” I asked, “can we as          astonishment, I read that what we do with              rotations and other grazing management sys-
ranchers, concerned about our land and              such success at Circle Ranch harms plants              tems would fail to reverse land degradation in
wildlife, graze our cattle correctly?”              and water function.                                    seasonal rainfall environments worldwide.
     “Very simple,” explained Allan. He then            I read the book’s citations and identified         One was a 1983 Society of Range Manage-
proceeded to tell me of a British military plan-    20 peer-reviewed research papers which had             ment paper cited by the authors themselves!
ning process, developed over 300 years, to          “proven” Savory’s claims were untrue! On the               Curious whether this was deliberate mis-
deal with the ever-shifting complexity of bat-      basis of this scientific evidence, the authors         representation, I contacted Savory and asked
tle, the need to train men rapidly in time of       and sponsors strongly advise that ranchers             about it. He pointed out that new discoveries
war and to always produce the best plan at the
moment, no matter how stressed and
exhausted the officer might be. Allan had
been taught this process as a young lieutenant
in Rhodesia, and later adapted it to ranch and
wildlife management. As he explained, the
range and wildlife professions had never dealt
with complexity, but rather sidestepped with
grazing formulae like rotational and other
systems. For decades, Allan has advocated
this grazing planning process and taught it to
thousands of people in many countries,
including the United States.
     This made sense. It appealed to our fami-
ly’s heritage as ranchers. We made a plan to
move our herd so that we would know where
they were going months ahead, always locat-
ing them for the right reasons, at the right
time, and with the right behavior. We could
now see how our cattle might produce better
habitat for all wildlife. To get “animal impact,”
we would need, at times, to carry two or three
                                                    A “tinaja” (seasonal water hole) showing regrowth typical of planned grazing intense/brief animal impact.
times as many cattle and concentrate them. It       “We have excellent records of what we have done,” Chris says. “Based on regular monitoring and measure-
would also help the ranch be more profitable.       ment, our land has improved through planned grazing, increasing our livestock 400 percent and our
     “How,” we pondered, “can it hurt to take       densities sometimes 250 times. Forage taken has tripled. Our problem is getting the increased grass eaten.”
Dimbangombe:
 “Nobody warned me as a young scientist that
the greatest crime a scientist can commit is to
                                                                                                              Success in Africa.
actually discover something totally new that                                                                  Story and photos by Allan Savory.
clashes with the deep beliefs of a profession.”
                           Allan Savory

                                                                                                              T
                                                                                                                      he Dimbangombe Ranch in Zimbabwe
                                                                                                                      is the oldest, most advanced holistic
                                                                                                                      management learning/demonstration
                                                                                                              ranch in the world. This is where the Africa
                                                                                                              Centre for Holistic Management runs its Col-
                                                                                                              lege of Agriculture, Wildlife and Conserva-
                                                                                                              tion Management, training and assisting
                                                                                                              thousands of impoverished people alongside
                                                                                                              large populations of Africa’s wildlife.
                                                                                                                   Recently, after hearing about Dimban-
                                                                                                              gombe at a major Water Summit conference,
                                                                                                              Zimbabwe’s new minister of Water Develop-
                                                                                                              ment, Sam Nkomo, came to see it for himself.
                                                                                                              At the summit, he witnessed scientists and
                                                                                                              politicians, united as never before, agreeing
                                                                                                              that water is the lifeblood of the nation, that
                                                                                                              wells are going dry, that dams are filling with
More than a thousand head of cattle being moved to new pasture on Jan. 2, 2009. “I am pro-habitat             silt, and that no local or foreign experts know
and pro-wildlife,” Chris says. “I strongly advocate holistic planned grazing because it works. If it didn’t   what to do. Sam now sat in the African bush
work, I would say so and look for something better.”                                                          with me, drinking tea on the edge of a clear
                                                                                                              pool covered with flowering water lilies. In
are often fiercely resisted. He wryly explained         kidding!                                              the distance, a herd of elephant, having slated
that while innovators used to be burned at the              I am a pragmatist with no professional            their thirst and coated their hides with fresh
stake, this treatment of deviant scientists is          agenda. I strongly advocate holistic planned          mud to ward off insects, wandered away
now illegal. “Nobody warned me as a young               grazing because it works. If it didn’t work, I        across the grassland toward the forest.
scientist that the greatest crime a scientist can       would say so and look for something better. I              Sharing a dented tin mug and joining us
commit is to actually discover something                am pro-habitat and pro-wildlife. While I              for tea were two Ndebele cattlemen invited to
totally new that clashes with the deep beliefs          respect the ranching life very much, the sad          sit with the minister. They work on the ranch
of a profession.”                                       fact is that cattle ranching is a marginal busi-      and are in charge of the cattle herd that is the
    What of the 20 research papers? Savory              ness looked at alone. But if ranchers all over        single most-important tool used to manage
laughed that range scientists in Texas had pla-         the West could, as our family has, greatly            the wildlife habitat and health of the river and
giarized his work in the 1970s and, in so               increase their cattle numbers, improve profits        underground water supplies. From his fellow
doing, dropped the planning, converting it to           and experience range improvement, what a              tribesmen, Sam heard that this pool was new,
a short-duration grazing rotation system. And           wonderful thing it would be for the United            having only appeared in the upper river
ever since, American range scientists have              States. What a wonderful thing for our                catchment in the last two years. They told
been proving to one another that the plagia-            wildlife.                                             him water had come and stayed through the
rized form doesn’t work, and cussing Allan for              Why not give this open-minded and hon-            dry season higher up in the river system than
proposing it!                                           est consideration? Anyone who tells you               it had ever been known before.
    So, I wrote the authors and sponsors (200           Allan Savory sells snake oil has never seen                “What witchcraft is this?” asked the min-
in all) a 20-page paper challenging their               this in practice. Ask them for a document             ister. “You must have had a lot more rain
scholarship. I also wrote an article which was          wherein he has ever recommended any                   because how else can water appear where it
published in HMI’s “In Practice.” All this went         unplanned system under any name. Ask for              has not existed in a hundred years?”
on the Web (www.holisticmanagement.org).                any actual test that disproves planned grazing.            There had been no more rain. Rather
Now some folks were mad at me, too. One                 If you can find one, Allan will give $1,000 to        than give a long scientific explanation, I
scientist said I was “bowing to Mecca [Albu-            the wildlife organization of your choice and          enjoyed my tea, while two barely literate old
querque],” HMI’s home base. But most were               Circle Ranch will match it! n                         herders talked to the minister and his perma-
silent. Not one sponsor or author asked for                                                                   nent secretary in their own language. They
our records or plan or accepted our invitation          Chris Gill continues to learn about land and
                                                        livestock. He ranches with his family in Texas.       explained how we had increased the cattle
to visit and observe. Finally the authors wrote                                                               and goat numbers 400 percent, and how they
back and said they were just talking about the                                                                ran them in one herd, constantly moving to a
SDG systems that Savory recommends. No
plan to fit the wildlife needs, grass needs and
more. They told him they did this so the
hooves, dung and urine would cause more
plants to grow, covering more soil; how more
water now soaked into and stayed in the soil;
how the boreholes were now more reliable;
and the river is now flowing longer in the year
and water is arising higher than they have
known up the river drainage, where we were
sitting.
     As a result of that simple demonstration
of what is possible using common sense and
good science, the minister, who had to get on
to meet the president of Zambia, left his per-
manent secretary behind to start planning a
partnership between the Africa Centre and
government to restore all rivers in the nation
so that cities, industry and agriculture can
look to a brighter future. We are now drafting
a concept paper to jointly present to Ameri-
can, or other government development agen-
cies, to begin training people in government
agencies and eight universities and colleges.
The goal is exciting—to stop biodiversity loss
and land degradation so that the nation can
                                                          The Dimbangombe River has been restored by livestock on holistic planned grazing over its watershed
begin restoring the health of all its rivers run-         and along its banks. Elephants now drink in new pools a mile above their traditional water hole,
ning through forest reserves, communal pas-               due to a healthier river system.
toral lands, ranches, national parks and farms
because the watersheds of the rivers involve              rounded by the herders with their cooking              of corn production on average threefold,
all land uses.                                            fires.                                                 some fivefold, higher than control fields using
     I have always been passionate about                      Even though the portable lion-proof cor-           traditional practices.
Africa’s wildlife and people. Our cattle/goat             rals were developed for protection, we found               Suddenly our learning/demonstration site
herd is run without fencing that is so damag-             by accident that we had developed a powerful           is taking on greater significance than we
ing to wildlife, which needs to move freely.              soil-restoration and crop-production tool.             anticipated. Because of this, we hope we can
The livestock are herded daily to a carefully             Where the corrals are placed for about five            serve many nations. n
managed grazing plan that integrates their                nights on the worst of gullies—bare-capped
moves with the sable antelope, buffalo, ele-              eroding soil or other problem areas—and the            Allan Savory is chairman of the Africa Centre
phant, waterbuck, kudu, bushbuck and zebra.                                                                      for Holistic Management. He and his wife
                                                          animals trample the ground to death and
                                                                                                                 Jody Butterfield founded the International
And because we protect and need the preda-                cover it with dung and urine, the recovery is          Center for Holistic Management in
tors—lions, cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs and             amazing. And where we have trained local               Albuquerque, N.M. He can be reached at
hyenas—the management herd sleeps secure-                 starving people to place the overnight corrals         allansavory@gmail.com.
ly at night in portable lion-proof corrals sur-           on their crop fields, they have achieved levels




Bare, hard eroding ground for 30 years, over a foot of soil loss at base of trees.    Same land in 2009 (note bent-over lower branch of tree on the left).
This land was subjected to extremely high impact from cattle spending the night       Erosion has stopped. Vastly more feed and cover for wildlife has grown and
on it in 2007. Subsequently, it has been only subjected to holistic planned grazing   more water and carbon are being absorbed into healthy soil. Using holistic
and wildlife use and no range management, reseeding or any other practice.            management, amazing recovery takes place.

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Doing What Works: Range Magazine

  • 1. Doing What Works and explained logically, on my own land, it all seemed such common sense. Savory explained that on ranch-scale ranges, preparing soil for plant life and water Sloppy science is damaging rangelands and wildlife. retention could only be done as nature intended: by large herds of grazing animals. What’s missing is a complex functioning whole. By Chris Gill Not by resting the land, using machines, chemicals or fire, as recommended by almost all range scientists. Historically, before I humans arrived in the Americas 10,000 years am a businessman for whom ranching and wildlife/habitat ago, these soils, plants, and vast numbers of restoration are avocations. Because I married into a large herbivores with their pack-hunting predators all developed together as one com- landowning family 38 years ago, at one time or another, plex functioning whole. and to varying degrees, I have been responsible for the man- He tied these explanations to a solid base of scientific research concerning overgrazing agement of ranches in Uruguay; near Austin, Texas, in the of plants and resting of seasonal, low-rainfall Texas Hill Country; in West Texas; and even a 3,600-acre land. Fifty years ago, a French pasture scientist discovered that overgrazing of plants was due river-delta/marsh ranch on the Texas coast. to either the plants being exposed to grazing I never had even a minimal understand- in, and cover soil with plant litter and manure too long or reexposed to animals too soon to ing of what I was doing. I wasted hundreds of to provide a seedbed. This gets plants grow- allow sufficient time for roots to regrow. As thousands of dollars. I was anti-cattle. I ing. It improves the soil’s ability to absorb and this Frenchman’s research established, over- thought desert grasslands could best be store rainfall to grow more plant life. This in grazing has nothing to do with animal num- restored by removing all cattle, and that if one turn supports more animal life in an ever- bers but everything to do with how many had to make a living off their ranch, this widening cycle. days a plant is exposed to grazing and how would require very conservative stocking to Allan showed me to my dismay that most long it is allowed to recover between such protect soil and vegetation. of our perennial grass was dying. There were grazing. Savory told me of the many research Then a neighbor introduced me to Allan not enough large animals grazing to keep it plots in deserts all over the world which total- Savory. Touring our 32,000-acre high-desert alive by cycling the annually dying leaves and ly exclude livestock, established to “prove that mountain ranch together, Allan used simple stems. Past seasons’ old grass material that overgrazing causes land degradation” and gardening analogies: To grow plants on hard, should have rotted through grazing was how these exclosures turned grasslands to bare soil, one does not simply rest it and hope! instead turning gray-black—oxidizing— desert, contrary to what range experts expect- Break the soil surface to let water and seeds through gradual chemical breakdown. Shown ed and predicted! Allan explained why we need to disturb photos courtesy gill family our range to stimulate plants, why we need to plan how to move our cattle, and why we need to minimize overgrazing plants in ways that mimic what used to happen for millions of years. Such disturbance and timing is, he explained, regulated in undisturbed wild situ- ations by pack-hunting predators forcing large numbers of grazers to bunch for protec- tion and by the seasonal availability of forage and water. Together, these force constant movement. The result is that animals neither grazed plants too long nor returned too soon. Finally, Savory talked to me about how complex this would be for my family as ranchers. I’d have to think of timing of graz- ing, re-grazing, and animal numbers so as not to run out of grass, synchronizing the cattle moves with calving, lactating, and breeding requirements. This had to be done economi- cally, while generating income from sunlight, About one-third of the Circle Ranch herd at water. Allan Savory told Chris, “To grow plants on hard, through plant growth. bare soil, one does not simpy rest it and hope! Break the soil surface to let water and seeds in, and cover soil with plant litter and manure to provide a seedbed. This gets plants growing. It improves the soil’s Our ranch is in a very erratic rainfall area, ability to absorb and store rainfall to grow more plant life. This in turn supports more animal life in an so we needed to plan continually for ever-widening circle.” droughts. Allan explained that most ranchers
  • 2. the same amount of grass in a shorter time, have nothing to do with holistic planned using more animals?” So we decided to try it. grazing or Allan Savory. I was perplexed. We Three of us completed Holistic Management at Circle Ranch, as described above, were International’s (HMI) Ranch and Rangeland doing what they claimed to be impossible! So course. For eight years HMI consultants have I obtained and read every study used in the coached us with our grazing and strategic book in its conclusion. planning. What I found was that Savory’s holistic We have excellent records of what we have planned grazing had been redefined by the done. Based on regular monitoring, our land authors as a short-duration grazing (SDG) has measurably improved through planned wagon-wheel system, with shared water, no grazing, increasing our livestock 400 percent fewer than eight paddocks, five days or less and our densities sometimes 250 times. For- grazing and four weeks or more nonuse— age taken has tripled. Our problem is getting about 10 full cycles a year. Further, this defini- Circle Ranch is owned by Laura and Chris Gill the increased grass eaten. We are bottle- tion or something similar had been accepted and their children Christopher, Richard, Carolyn necked in trying to water the ever-growing by every range scientist on whom the authors and Josephine. herd this requires! All our wildlife has benefit- relied. I already knew from my HMI range ed greatly from the increase in cattle num- training that Savory had never recommended plan for drought by setting grazing areas bers, and so has our profitability. anything remotely like what these researchers aside. This decreases production of all grass So it surprised me when, at a mule-deer were testing and attributing to Allan. and cattle every year. He advised instead that seminar, a member of Texas Parks & Wildlife I wondered: were the scientists reading we plan for droughts in terms of days of graz- field staff gave me the latest book on mule old texts? So, I reread several of Savory’s old ing reserved. This keeps animal and grass deer, “Habitat Guidelines for Mule Deer.” It papers and his early textbook (later editions of production high every year, including in the was written by eight range and wildlife “Holistic Resource Management” are in use in droughts. experts (the “authors”) for the Mule Deer more than 20 universities and colleges). Allan explained we would never be able to Working Group, and sponsored by 24 state Thousands of times he had warned that all manage this complexity using any rotational wildlife departments (the “sponsors”). To my such short-duration grazing systems, grazing grazing system. “How,” I asked, “can we as astonishment, I read that what we do with rotations and other grazing management sys- ranchers, concerned about our land and such success at Circle Ranch harms plants tems would fail to reverse land degradation in wildlife, graze our cattle correctly?” and water function. seasonal rainfall environments worldwide. “Very simple,” explained Allan. He then I read the book’s citations and identified One was a 1983 Society of Range Manage- proceeded to tell me of a British military plan- 20 peer-reviewed research papers which had ment paper cited by the authors themselves! ning process, developed over 300 years, to “proven” Savory’s claims were untrue! On the Curious whether this was deliberate mis- deal with the ever-shifting complexity of bat- basis of this scientific evidence, the authors representation, I contacted Savory and asked tle, the need to train men rapidly in time of and sponsors strongly advise that ranchers about it. He pointed out that new discoveries war and to always produce the best plan at the moment, no matter how stressed and exhausted the officer might be. Allan had been taught this process as a young lieutenant in Rhodesia, and later adapted it to ranch and wildlife management. As he explained, the range and wildlife professions had never dealt with complexity, but rather sidestepped with grazing formulae like rotational and other systems. For decades, Allan has advocated this grazing planning process and taught it to thousands of people in many countries, including the United States. This made sense. It appealed to our fami- ly’s heritage as ranchers. We made a plan to move our herd so that we would know where they were going months ahead, always locat- ing them for the right reasons, at the right time, and with the right behavior. We could now see how our cattle might produce better habitat for all wildlife. To get “animal impact,” we would need, at times, to carry two or three A “tinaja” (seasonal water hole) showing regrowth typical of planned grazing intense/brief animal impact. times as many cattle and concentrate them. It “We have excellent records of what we have done,” Chris says. “Based on regular monitoring and measure- would also help the ranch be more profitable. ment, our land has improved through planned grazing, increasing our livestock 400 percent and our “How,” we pondered, “can it hurt to take densities sometimes 250 times. Forage taken has tripled. Our problem is getting the increased grass eaten.”
  • 3. Dimbangombe: “Nobody warned me as a young scientist that the greatest crime a scientist can commit is to Success in Africa. actually discover something totally new that Story and photos by Allan Savory. clashes with the deep beliefs of a profession.” Allan Savory T he Dimbangombe Ranch in Zimbabwe is the oldest, most advanced holistic management learning/demonstration ranch in the world. This is where the Africa Centre for Holistic Management runs its Col- lege of Agriculture, Wildlife and Conserva- tion Management, training and assisting thousands of impoverished people alongside large populations of Africa’s wildlife. Recently, after hearing about Dimban- gombe at a major Water Summit conference, Zimbabwe’s new minister of Water Develop- ment, Sam Nkomo, came to see it for himself. At the summit, he witnessed scientists and politicians, united as never before, agreeing that water is the lifeblood of the nation, that wells are going dry, that dams are filling with More than a thousand head of cattle being moved to new pasture on Jan. 2, 2009. “I am pro-habitat silt, and that no local or foreign experts know and pro-wildlife,” Chris says. “I strongly advocate holistic planned grazing because it works. If it didn’t what to do. Sam now sat in the African bush work, I would say so and look for something better.” with me, drinking tea on the edge of a clear pool covered with flowering water lilies. In are often fiercely resisted. He wryly explained kidding! the distance, a herd of elephant, having slated that while innovators used to be burned at the I am a pragmatist with no professional their thirst and coated their hides with fresh stake, this treatment of deviant scientists is agenda. I strongly advocate holistic planned mud to ward off insects, wandered away now illegal. “Nobody warned me as a young grazing because it works. If it didn’t work, I across the grassland toward the forest. scientist that the greatest crime a scientist can would say so and look for something better. I Sharing a dented tin mug and joining us commit is to actually discover something am pro-habitat and pro-wildlife. While I for tea were two Ndebele cattlemen invited to totally new that clashes with the deep beliefs respect the ranching life very much, the sad sit with the minister. They work on the ranch of a profession.” fact is that cattle ranching is a marginal busi- and are in charge of the cattle herd that is the What of the 20 research papers? Savory ness looked at alone. But if ranchers all over single most-important tool used to manage laughed that range scientists in Texas had pla- the West could, as our family has, greatly the wildlife habitat and health of the river and giarized his work in the 1970s and, in so increase their cattle numbers, improve profits underground water supplies. From his fellow doing, dropped the planning, converting it to and experience range improvement, what a tribesmen, Sam heard that this pool was new, a short-duration grazing rotation system. And wonderful thing it would be for the United having only appeared in the upper river ever since, American range scientists have States. What a wonderful thing for our catchment in the last two years. They told been proving to one another that the plagia- wildlife. him water had come and stayed through the rized form doesn’t work, and cussing Allan for Why not give this open-minded and hon- dry season higher up in the river system than proposing it! est consideration? Anyone who tells you it had ever been known before. So, I wrote the authors and sponsors (200 Allan Savory sells snake oil has never seen “What witchcraft is this?” asked the min- in all) a 20-page paper challenging their this in practice. Ask them for a document ister. “You must have had a lot more rain scholarship. I also wrote an article which was wherein he has ever recommended any because how else can water appear where it published in HMI’s “In Practice.” All this went unplanned system under any name. Ask for has not existed in a hundred years?” on the Web (www.holisticmanagement.org). any actual test that disproves planned grazing. There had been no more rain. Rather Now some folks were mad at me, too. One If you can find one, Allan will give $1,000 to than give a long scientific explanation, I scientist said I was “bowing to Mecca [Albu- the wildlife organization of your choice and enjoyed my tea, while two barely literate old querque],” HMI’s home base. But most were Circle Ranch will match it! n herders talked to the minister and his perma- silent. Not one sponsor or author asked for nent secretary in their own language. They our records or plan or accepted our invitation Chris Gill continues to learn about land and livestock. He ranches with his family in Texas. explained how we had increased the cattle to visit and observe. Finally the authors wrote and goat numbers 400 percent, and how they back and said they were just talking about the ran them in one herd, constantly moving to a SDG systems that Savory recommends. No
  • 4. plan to fit the wildlife needs, grass needs and more. They told him they did this so the hooves, dung and urine would cause more plants to grow, covering more soil; how more water now soaked into and stayed in the soil; how the boreholes were now more reliable; and the river is now flowing longer in the year and water is arising higher than they have known up the river drainage, where we were sitting. As a result of that simple demonstration of what is possible using common sense and good science, the minister, who had to get on to meet the president of Zambia, left his per- manent secretary behind to start planning a partnership between the Africa Centre and government to restore all rivers in the nation so that cities, industry and agriculture can look to a brighter future. We are now drafting a concept paper to jointly present to Ameri- can, or other government development agen- cies, to begin training people in government agencies and eight universities and colleges. The goal is exciting—to stop biodiversity loss and land degradation so that the nation can The Dimbangombe River has been restored by livestock on holistic planned grazing over its watershed begin restoring the health of all its rivers run- and along its banks. Elephants now drink in new pools a mile above their traditional water hole, ning through forest reserves, communal pas- due to a healthier river system. toral lands, ranches, national parks and farms because the watersheds of the rivers involve rounded by the herders with their cooking of corn production on average threefold, all land uses. fires. some fivefold, higher than control fields using I have always been passionate about Even though the portable lion-proof cor- traditional practices. Africa’s wildlife and people. Our cattle/goat rals were developed for protection, we found Suddenly our learning/demonstration site herd is run without fencing that is so damag- by accident that we had developed a powerful is taking on greater significance than we ing to wildlife, which needs to move freely. soil-restoration and crop-production tool. anticipated. Because of this, we hope we can The livestock are herded daily to a carefully Where the corrals are placed for about five serve many nations. n managed grazing plan that integrates their nights on the worst of gullies—bare-capped moves with the sable antelope, buffalo, ele- eroding soil or other problem areas—and the Allan Savory is chairman of the Africa Centre phant, waterbuck, kudu, bushbuck and zebra. for Holistic Management. He and his wife animals trample the ground to death and Jody Butterfield founded the International And because we protect and need the preda- cover it with dung and urine, the recovery is Center for Holistic Management in tors—lions, cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs and amazing. And where we have trained local Albuquerque, N.M. He can be reached at hyenas—the management herd sleeps secure- starving people to place the overnight corrals allansavory@gmail.com. ly at night in portable lion-proof corrals sur- on their crop fields, they have achieved levels Bare, hard eroding ground for 30 years, over a foot of soil loss at base of trees. Same land in 2009 (note bent-over lower branch of tree on the left). This land was subjected to extremely high impact from cattle spending the night Erosion has stopped. Vastly more feed and cover for wildlife has grown and on it in 2007. Subsequently, it has been only subjected to holistic planned grazing more water and carbon are being absorbed into healthy soil. Using holistic and wildlife use and no range management, reseeding or any other practice. management, amazing recovery takes place.