The Savory Institute is an organization dedicated to promoting large-scale restoration of the world’s grasslands by implementing Holistic Management. Holistic Management was developed 40 years ago by biologist Allan Savory as a way to save the savannah and its wildlife of Southern Africa from desertification.
While many scientists have put their time and resources into unsuccessful tools for combating desertification, such as technology, fire, and resting the land, The Savory Institute’s unique approach taps into the way that large herds of wild herbivores naturally interact with the land. In the past, herds of herbivores such as caribou and buffalo grazed, defecated, stomped, and salivated on the grasslands, which improved the soil quality. When these herds disappeared, biological decay was disturbed and the soil became unproductive. Holistic Management helps people create strategies to manage herds of domestic livestock to  bring back the natural cycle of biological decay to the grasslands. Doing so has made the soil has healthy again and desertification has been reversed.
With desertification comes the inability of the land to produce food or store water and carbon. By teaching land managers, farmers, ranchers, and others how to understand nature and work with it to create rich soil once again, The Savory Institute’s Holistic Management approach will improve biological diversity, water retention, land productivity, food security, and carbon sequestration in the form of soil organic matter.
The Savory Institute
