VN September 2020

Vetnews | September 2020 9 Zimbabwean, Sarah Savory, daughter of ecologist and holistic management advocate, Allan Savory, talked to www.agriorbit.com about regenerative and sustainable agriculture and holistic management ( reprinted here with permission ). Humankind’s knowledge and technological power has increased more rapidly in the last 400 years than in the previous 200 000 or so years that have made up modern human existence. It is no coincidence that the planet’s health has entered a breath-taking decline during the same few centuries. Technology feeds out constant success stories, provided we ignore the longer-term effects it has on the environment and on rural communities. The things we make do exactly what they are designed to do; the watch tells us the time, the computer computes. They do not do anything unplanned or unexpected; they are not self-organising and generally will not work if a part is missing, a battery goes flat, or the fuel runs out. Technology is complicated, rather than complex, and the problems associated with it are referred to as tame because they can generally be solved, given enough time and money. We are experiencing greater and greater problems, on the other hand, with the things we manage. These involve people and human organisations, things scientists call soft systems, or natural resources, which they term natural systems. These systems do not behave predictably and are self- organising. If a person or a species dies, the organisation or biological community adjusts and continues, albeit in a changed form. They are complex rather than complicated, and the problems associated with them are referred to as wicked, because they are difficult or impossible to solve. It is this complexity that has made soft and natural systems so hard to manage. Whole systemmanagement A study of our planet and the many creatures inhabiting it, does not allow for meaningful isolation and even less so for the control of variables. We cannot isolate our problems and successfully manage them because individual parts do not exist in nature, only wholes, which form and shape each other. When we ignore this fact, the knock-on effect or unintended consequences of our management decisions can be devastating. The result of us doing this, and the biggest threat to all wildlife and humanity, is global desertificationwith its many associated symptoms including: increasing droughts, floods, wild fires, poverty, social breakdown, poaching, biodiversity loss, urban drift, violence and climate change. Every year, governments and institutions waste billions of dollars treating isolated symptoms while continuing to ignore the cause. This is what is known as reductionist management. Grassland desertification Many of our crucial industries, without which we cannot survive, are destructive and extractive. Agriculture is one such industry, producing dead soil and eroding soil to a large extent. We have seen some adjustment in agricultural practices to rectify this but there is still a long way to go. A shocking two-thirds of our planet’s land mass is desertifying. Grasslands in areas with long dry seasons are dying world-wide. These are the parts of the world we need to focus on, because areas that experience year-round humidity developed very differently to the arid grasslands. Plants in humid environments decompose quickly due to the high numbers of insects and micro-organisms that remain active throughout the year because of the constant humidity. Left alone and rested these areas will recover and regenerate with no input. Change management to change the world >>> 10