Reversing desertification with livestock in Zimbabwe

Discussion in 'Environment & Conservation' started by Margot, Mar 27, 2011.

  1. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    This solution is so simply and the experiment has been successful!




    Reversing desertification with livestock in Zimbabwe

    http://www.new-ag.info/focus/focusItem.php?a=1775

    After three years of holistic grazing grass cover has dramatically increased

    ACHM/SIAccording to the UN, 12 million hectares of land - an area the size of Benin - are lost globally to desertification every year. "Continued land degradation is a threat to food security, leading to starvation among the most acutely affected communities and robbing the world of productive land," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said at the launch of a decade-long effort to tackle desertification in August 2010.

    Meanwhile, an approach using livestock and specific grazing regimes has seen desertification reversed on over 2,500 hectares of degraded land, in Zimbabwe.

    Overgrazing is often seen as a major cause of desertification. But by changing the way animals are managed, the Savory Institute (SI) and Africa Center for Holistic Management (ACHM) have restored 2,700 hectares of degraded land close to Victoria Falls by increasing livestock numbers by 400 per cent.

    Having increased land productivity, water availability and improved livelihoods, the approach is now being adopted by local communities and pastoralists in Namibia, Zambia, Kenya and Ethiopia.


    A source of hope

    The grazing approach*, an example of 'holistic management', mimics the natural movements of large herds of wild grazing animals. Livestock are grazed in one area for a maximum of three days, and are not returned for at least nine months. "Overgrazing is a function of time and not of animal numbers," explains Allan Savory, ACHM founder, former wildlife biologist, farmer and consultant. "Whether there is one cow or a thousand does not alter the fact of overgrazing but merely changes the number of plants overgrazed if the animals remain too long in the same place."

    Moving across the land in large numbers, the animals break the soil crust with their hooves, trample litter to provide soil cover, and fertilise the soil with nutrient-rich dung and urine.

    This increases plant growth and improves soil quality.

    "What we are demonstrating is that we can return to formerly animal-maintained grasslands and savannahs to keep grasslands and their soils alive without burning billions of hectares annually to remove old dead grass in an attempt to keep such grasslands healthy," explains Savory.

    "The effects are impressive," Savory enthuses. "We can barely keep pace with grass growth, even in dry years."

    Increased organic matter and improved soil structure also increase water infiltration and retention within the soil. "The river, which was dry most years, is now flowing again in all but the driest years," Savory observes. "We have water in pools with water lilies and fish through the dry season a kilometre above where they have been known before."
     
  2. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    They have begun using this same technique in Arizona.............
     
    Bowerbird and camp_steveo like this.
  3. jackdog

    jackdog Well-Known Member

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    great article, I wonder if anyone will do a study to see how things balance out in the co2 absorption of the plants vs methane production of the cows. Not that I think a few tons of CO2 will matter much one way or the other. Earth has been through a lot of changes through the years, but it would still make a nice paper. a Cow can burp about 280 liters of methane a day, Methane is over 20 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. And that is if you use IPCC "science" and disregard Beer's law of absorption
     
  4. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    I think this is a brilliant strategy to reverse desertification.. Absolutely brilliant.
     
  5. jackdog

    jackdog Well-Known Member

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    I won't argue that, anything that feeds people is good in my eyes
     
  6. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    This could also be used in Southern Sudan and other places in Africa... especially whereever they have pastoralists.
     
  7. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    Fyi......................
     
  8. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    This is too cool..
     
  9. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    I think this is very exciting news!!!!!
     
  10. drinkredstripe

    drinkredstripe New Member

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    Hopefully the plan will work. I've been reading though that global warming will cause desertification in many parts of Africa no matter what changes to agriculture are done.
     
  11. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    This techinque might work in Sudan as well.
     
  12. Not Amused

    Not Amused New Member

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    Good find. Maybe they can reduce the fallow time, as to not have to burn the excess grass.

    There is good program every now and then on the History channel. called "Black Blizzard" on the US dust bowl. That was fixed by stopping tilling of soil, and not trying to grow in areas too dry to support crop growth.

    China will be learning the same lesson, as their wester crop lands are starting to dust up...
     
  13. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    Fyi.......................
     
  14. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    In places like Palestine and Arabia where there is little rainfall, they plant on narrow terraces so now water is wasted..

    But I think hooves breaking the crust and leaving behind a little manure would do wonders for capturing precious ground water.
     
  15. politicalcenter

    politicalcenter Well-Known Member

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    If the manure is returned to the soil the ground will become a carbon sink. It is called rich land farming.

    I have read that properly managed farmland can absorb as much carbon per acre as forest land.

    If manure is burned as fuel it is carbon neutral. You can take out the methane and burn it and then use the leftovers for fuel or animal bedding.

    Properly grazed lands can absorb more carbon than ungrazed or overgrazed lands and the pasture being grazed can influence methane emissions by the plants being grazed. Some plants produce more methane in ruminent stomachs than others... alfalfa and clover produce less methane than some of the other pasture grasses and legumes....I have just begun reading up on the subject.
     
  16. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    Oh ... you seem to understand it perfectly.
     
  17. Kranes56

    Kranes56 Banned

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    This is awesome. Ending desertification will help a lot of people out.
     
  18. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    LOLOL.. It is awesome IMO..

    Seems the key is not overgrazing but moving the animals in cycles.
     
  19. Kranes56

    Kranes56 Banned

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    It's just a common sense solution. So much is just built off of common sense. It's just amazing what happens when we think rationally. Of course, this only works tempomarily. When the population increases, chances are the situation will change. But as of right now, it's golden.
     
  20. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    Yes.. it is common sense really..

    Breaking thru the surface tension.. allows whatever rainfall is available to be absorbed rather than run off or evaporate.

    Brilliant common sense. :smile:
     
  21. politicalcenter

    politicalcenter Well-Known Member

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  22. politicalcenter

    politicalcenter Well-Known Member

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    click on the find out more about biochar here link
     
  23. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    Wow.. fascinating.. Is there any downside?

    Once it is produced, biochar is spread on agricultural fields and incorporated into the top layer of soil. Biochar has many agricultural benefits. It increases crop yields, sometimes substantially if the soil is in poor condition.

    It helps to prevent fertilizer runoff and leeching, allowing the use of less fertilizers and diminishing agricultural pollution to the surrounding environment. And it retains moisture, helping plants through periods of drought more easily. Most importantly, it replenishes exhausted or marginal soils with organic carbon and fosters the growth of soil microbes essential for nutrient absorption, particularly mycorrhizal fungi.
     
  24. politicalcenter

    politicalcenter Well-Known Member

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    Right now it is expensive and hard to find. But it is very easy to make.
     
  25. Margot

    Margot Account closed, not banned

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    Its just charcoal, isn't it.. and you don't have to put it down every year????
     

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