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Land Restoration

By imitating what nature would do if it was healthy, holistic managers around the world are producing spectacular recoveries of damaged land.

Conventional weed control failed

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

New! Restoring a nonfunctioning waterway by Norman Neave. Clearing alien invader plants and restoring grassland in eastern South Africa. printer version

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. printer version

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. on the EcoResults! website.

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

Frank & Vicky Dawley Banks revegetated by managed grazing withstand yearly flooding

Improving a riparian area in California, U.S.A. on the Center for Holistic Management's website.

Allan Savory August 1999

Kelly Pasztor July 2001

Ravine improvement at Mexico research station 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.

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.

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

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

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

Related articles and links

• New! Grazing as an ecological tool lists links to in-depth coverage of this still-controversial subject. printer version
• The American Sahara: The New Desert Beneath Our Feet on Thomas J. Elpel's website. Good article with pictures and links.
• Brittle and Nonbrittle Environments on Thomas J. Elpel's website.
• EcoResults! website features land restoration projects in the western U.S.A.
• The Allan Savory Center for Holistic Management website. Land restoration projects are listed on their Photo library page.
• Our overgrazing and desertification pages.

Updated 26 August 2002
URL: managingwholes.com/restoration.htm