While conventional wisdom says that livestock grazing is a major cause of desertification (grasslands becoming desert), Allan Savory from Zimbabwe says the opposite is true: introducing livestock actually the only real solution to desertification.
The reason: something has to eat up dead grasses left behind by the dry season in wet-and-dry climates like those found in Africa. He says the dead tall grasses left from the dry season have to decay biologically in order for the new grass to grow when the rains return. In the absence of huge natural herds of wildebeest, elephants, etc. to eat the dead dry-season grasses, he says livestock grazing is the next best thing.
Allan Savory has been seeking solutions to the problem of desertification - grasslands becoming deserts -- for decades. He says desertification has led to the decline of civilizations and that nearly 2/3 of the world's land is affected.
How Can Deserts Turn Into Grasslands? by Alan Savory
http://www.npr.org/2013/11/15/243721657/how-can-deserts-turn-into-grasslands?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=share&utm_campaign=
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