Links to approaches that work with the ecosystem; success stories from around the world.

Reversing desertification and healing damaged land

Most "cures" for damaged land make the problem worse -- as the world's advancing deserts tell us. By imitating how nature functions when healthy, holistic managers around the world are producing rapid recoveries of damaged land.

Allan Savory Continuous grazing in the surrounding area caused this river to dry up. Same day, same area: managed grazing is restoring this river's health. Article by Allan Savory.

How it works

How can grazing heal land? Learn how grazers maintain grasslands in nature, and how people can harness the same forces to heal damaged land. A short introduction with photo.

Grazing as an ecological tool (articles) lists links to in-depth coverage of this still-controversial subject.

Landscape damage

Erosion: why it happens and what to do about it (slide show) by Wilma Keppel. Pictures from around the world tell the story of erosion's causes, costs, and cures. In 2 parts: why erosion happens (20 photos); protecting and growing soil (15 photos).

Desertification -- what it is and how to fix it (articles). Desertification currently affects about 1/4 of Earth's land area. Learn why most conventional "solutions" can't work.

Grazing and overgrazing (articles). What is overgrazing? Why do small numbers of livestock destroy land that used to support millions of wild grazers?

Success stories

Left: stream entering property. Right: same stream leaving property 1500 m (0.9 mile) downstream.

Graeme Hand Clear water flowing off property after just 25 months of Holistic Management.

New! Soil loss and soil surface management by Graeme Hand. Good soil surface management can stop topsoil loss at the source. The key is litter composting at the soil surface.

October 1984. Invading Harpuis bush. No grass, hard capped white soils, carrying capacity: zero.

Norman Kroon January 1997. Same post after native grasses returned.

Restoring South Africa's desertified Karoo by Norman Neave, Sholto Kroon, and Roland Kroon. Learn the Karoo's surprising history, and visit two successful land restorations near Graaff-Reinet, South Africa.

Horses breaking up an old road for revegetation

Thomas J. Elpel New growth colonizing the roadbed

Horse hooves stimulate desirable vegetation by Thomas J. Elpel. Methods of using horses on small acreages to revegetate disturbed soils, restore dormant pastures and stimulate green ones, trample weeds, and assist lawn care. On Wildflowers and Weeds website.

Frank & Vicky Dawley Riprap and re-contouring failed to stop erosion on this stream's bare banks

Wilma Keppel Banks revegetated by managed grazing withstand yearly flooding

Revegetating a stream in northern California, U.S.A. by Wilma Keppel. This formerly seasonal creek now flows till September, and never dries out completely, creating a haven for wildlife.

Conventional weed control failed

Norman Neave Across the fence, this dense sward out-competes weeds

Restoring a nonfunctioning waterway by Norman Neave. Clearing alien invader plants and restoring grassland in eastern South Africa using managed grazing.

November 1992

Kachana Pastoral Co. November 1998

Using Nature's own forces to reclaim deteriorating land by Chris Henggeler. Feral cattle and donkeys severely damaged this former wetland in northwestern Australia. Now managers are using cattle as their main tool to heal it.

Conventional techniques failed on this old gold mine site

Tony & Jerrie Tipton The restored land outperformed some nearby hayfields

Revegetating Mined-out Lands, Nevada, U.S.A. Creating a grassland by recreating the interdependence between animals that have evolved to graze and plants that have evolved to be grazed. On the EcoResults! website.

Allan Savory August 1999

Kelly Pasztor July 2001

Ravine improvement at Mexico research station. A mixed-species "flerd" (flock + herd) trampled the edge and created good conditions for plant germination and growth. On the Center for Holistic Management's website.

1986: 11% snakeweed

Roger Bowe 1990: 1% snakeweed, 9 new perennial grass species

Reducing snakeweed in New Mexico, U.S.A. on the Center for Holistic Management's website. Article about this ranch on the Quivira Coalition website.

Date Creek grazed conventionally

Dan Dagget Same area, grazed during the dormant season and rested during the growing season

Restoring a Desert Oasis, Arizona, U.S.A. on the EcoResults! website.

Managed grazing helps river basin resist drought. Allan Savory reports on a January 2003 visit to the Africa Centre for Holistic Management. Photos.

Healthiest Riparian Area in North America? New Mexico's U Bar ranch supports the the highest density of songbird territories in North America and hosts the largest known population of at least three threatened or endangered species. On EcoResults! website. Photos.

Improving a small acreage with three horses by Peter Donovan. In northern California, U.S.A., Dick and Diane Knox revegetated their bare ground, and now manage their grazing to promote oak reseeding. Photos.

Improved ground cover in Oklahoma, U.S.A. on the Center for Holistic Management's website. Photos.

Sagebrush reduction near Billings, Montana, U.S.A. on pasturemanagement.com. Photos.

Improving landscape health near Bruneau, Idaho, U.S.A. by Peter Donovan. How herder Joel Herrmann changed livestock management to grow more ground cover and improve the water cycle.

Revegetating soilless land (articles). Soil-building is a vital part of revegetating sites where topsoil has been lost or never existed in the first place.

Related articles and links

• The American Sahara: The New Desert Beneath Our Feet on Thomas J. Elpel's website. Are the landscapes around you healthy and normal, or the result of damage that happened in the past? Learn the surprising truth.
• Brittleness: why management that helps some landscapes harms others (articles). Management that doesn't suit the landscape is the leading cause of desertification worldwide.
• EcoResults! website features land restoration projects in the western U.S.A.
• Land restoration successes at the Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management website. This site has many good articles.
• Recommended books fromthe editors of Managing Wholes.

Updated 14 November 2003
URL: managingwholes.com/__land.htm