TED talk by Allan Savory on Desertification: it isn't what you think

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A must see.

Summary:

1) Desertification does not occur everywhere. In general it only occurs in areas where the humidity level varies dramatically during the year.

2) Desertification doesn't occur for the reasons most people, including the existing scientific consensus, believe. It isn't climate change, it is the removal of large herds of animals from grasslands.

3) The mechanism is the breaking of the previous carbon cycle in grasslands - from 4 month growing/8 months dry with large herds of animals and higher retained humidity/lower temperature swings during the day completing the decay of dead grass for the next season's growth vs. oxidation (very long process, hurts next year's growth as it is blocked by dead plant matter, doesn't provide as good ground cover to moderate temperature swings and humidity/rainfall retention

4) Fire is another way to remove the dead plant matter, but wildfires release all sorts of toxins as well as CO2

5) Desertification is a huge contributor to climate change, not the other way around

6) The herd animal benefit isn't a function of the presence of animals, but is a function of mimicking large herds of animals in nature. I.e. much of the desertification that has occurred in the past millenia is due to families running small numbers of animals spread out over the range vs. large herds which more resemble nature.

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Re: TED talk by Allan Savory on Desertification: it isn't what you think

Thanks for the summary. I don't have time to watch this now, but does he mention if it's possible to reverse desertification?

[fengguo1]

Re: TED talk by Allan Savory on Desertification: it isn't what you think

Yes, using herds of domesticated animals

[shiny!]

Re: TED talk by Allan Savory on Desertification: it isn't what you think

What do they graze on if there's nothing left but sand?

[c1ue]

Re: TED talk by Allan Savory on Desertification: it isn't what you think

What do they graze on if there's nothing left but sand?

If we're talking beach sand, then there's nothing to be done.

However, the talk does show examples where very, very severe damage is reversed.

The mechanism is plausible - a restarting of the carbon cycle which was interrupted, which is backed up by the US examples where declining grassland actually got much worse despite literally 8 decades (i.e. pre CO2 climate change) of no cows.

The problem, of course, is the solution doesn't mesh well with our present ideals of private ownership and small family groups, much less the party line with the mainstream 'green' movement.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: TED talk by Allan Savory on Desertification: it isn't what you think

During time in Kenya back in 2009 there was considerable public debate about the destruction of the Mau Forest and desertification.

It was interesting to read/hear much of the blame wasn't along the lines of Al Gore's climate change, but largely directed at nomadic pastoralists.

The pastoralists either didn't culturally come to grips with private land ownership or didn't care.

What the pastoralists were doing was burning down private and public land, including healthy chunks of the Mau Forest in order to create grazing land for their herds(wealth).

I know the Ted Talk said burning isn't an option(and is counterproductive)......but it just seems strange that a long-term pastoralist culture would develop such a counterproductive habit....especially if it's entirely unnecessary.

Granted, there's likely far more to the story than that, but if the TED talk is true it basically means the Kenyan pastoralists, if provided effective government facilitation, could theoretically move about Kenya and just about charge for their services by improving the ecosystem?

It just feels like something is missing....particularly the part about how herd animals raised for meat/milk are able to eat/drink at a basic survival level in a completely desertified region.

It would have to require considerable water/grass resources in close proximity to desert.

I would think the clash between grass/water as a product being sold from landowners to pastoralists' herds would have to be weighed against the service provided by the pastoralist's herd to the landowners would have to be reconciled.

"Your herd ate my grass and drank my water so you owe me."

"My herd pooped on your desert so you owe me."

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Re: TED talk by Allan Savory on Desertification: it isn't what you think

There isn't a lot of talk about why a large herd of animals is necessary - as opposed to one or many smaller herds - but Savory notes several times that a large herd is what is needed.

Thus a nomadic pastoralist is not necessarily replicating a natural 'herd'.

I'd guess one specific mechanism is the trampling effect: hundreds and thousands of animals in a concentrated area churns it into mush, while a few dozen goats meandering about may just create a few bare spots.

As for burning - fire is definitely a way to preserve grassland. The American Indian tribes in the edges of the Great Plains would do this, though the ones further in did not. Fire is a problematic tool for ecological preservation, however, especially if some people are mixed in the range in question.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: TED talk by Allan Savory on Desertification: it isn't what you think

There isn't a lot of talk about why a large herd of animals is necessary - as opposed to one or many smaller herds - but Savory notes several times that a large herd is what is needed.

Thus a nomadic pastoralist is not necessarily replicating a natural 'herd'.

I'd guess one specific mechanism is the trampling effect: hundreds and thousands of animals in a concentrated area churns it into mush, while a few dozen goats meandering about may just create a few bare spots.

As for burning - fire is definitely a way to preserve grassland. The American Indian tribes in the edges of the Great Plains would do this, though the ones further in did not. Fire is a problematic tool for ecological preservation, however, especially if some people are mixed in the range in question.

I was thinking the same on herd size....there must be some sort of "critical mass" for creating a positive effect on the ground.

The problem as I understand it talking to the Kenyan is that pastoralists were burning the Mau Forest itself to the ground, which acts as a sponge during the wet season, keeping the downstream land supplied with water.......but with a shrinking "sponge" due to pastoral burning.

So the TED talk read a bit like a chicken/egg scenario I have a hard time reconciling with what I was told on the ground.

Maybe it would apply well in that scenario........pastoralists mesh together into minimum sized groups.....partnered with downstream landowners in some consulted and agreed to terms of water/grass in exchange for "desert reclamation services".

And shoot on site(half jokingly) any pastoralists that burn the Mau "sponge", just like poachers get shot on sight in Tanzania for burning bush to poach game.

It would be interesting to see data on minimum herd size required, per Ha, per day.

I would suspect the only way this will work is if a well funded and progressive NGO pays landowners of arable land with grass/water to host the herds required to reclaim the desert.

And if property is clearly titled and not heavily disputed.

Disputed 3rd world land with westerners jumping into the mix with money to save it, is trouble with a capital T all too often.

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Re: TED talk by Allan Savory on Desertification: it isn't what you think

Rewatched - herd size matters because of trampling. A large herd completely flattens the grass into close ground cover, and the close ground cover is what conserves humidity/improves water retention, which in turn improves decay.

Smaller groups of animals don't flatten all the grass and so fail to create a beneficial ground cover layer.

Looking at comments on wattsupwiththat and elsewhere - other parts of the process also involve rotation of the herd so that maximum ground cover is created. Variations seem to include moving smaller groups in more confined spaces, rotating so that the herd only visits a given area once or twice a year.

The process also doesn't seem to involve any equipment to speak of - it is purely an education based method.