In agriculture, holistic management is a method of managing resources that was created by Allan Savory to help manage grazing. This approach is sometimes compared to "a permaculture approach to rangeland management." Holistic management is a registered trademark owned by Holistic Management International, which is no longer connected to Allan Savory. Many researchers have criticized this method, saying it does not deliver the benefits it promises.

Definition

"Holistic management" is a way of thinking about how to manage resources by considering all parts of a system together. It was first created by Allan Savory and is now used in managing systems that involve many complex social, ecological, and economic factors. Holistic planned grazing is similar to rotational grazing but focuses more on understanding and using a clear plan for four important parts of an ecosystem: the water cycle, the mineral cycle (including the carbon cycle), energy flow, and community dynamics (how living things interact in an ecosystem). This method treats both livestock production and people’s well-being as equally important. Holistic Management is often compared to "a permaculture approach to managing land used for grazing."

The Holistic Management decision-making process uses six steps to help manage resources effectively:

• Think about everything you are managing as a whole, not just one part. This helps people manage better by considering all available resources, such as money.
• Decide what you want now and in the future. Set goals and actions that will help create a good quality of life and a healthy environment that can last for many years.
• Look for early signs that show if an ecosystem is healthy or not. Identify important services that ecosystems provide, such as clean water or soil health, and find simple ways to track them. For example, bare ground can mean an unhealthy environment, while new plant growth and more wildlife can mean a healthier one.
• Use all possible tools to manage natural resources. These tools include money and labor, human creativity, grazing, animal impact, fire, rest, living organisms, and science or technology. Success depends on using all these tools well.
• Test your decisions by asking questions that check if they are good for people, the environment, and finances in both the short and long term.
• Monitor your system regularly before problems become too big. This allows managers to make quick changes if needed, before important ecosystem services are lost. Always assume your plan might not be perfect and use feedback from monitoring to adjust and plan again. This is like using a "canary in a coal mine" method, where early signs of trouble are noticed quickly.

Savory identified four important principles of Holistic Management planned grazing, which aim to use the helpful relationship between large grazing animals and grasslands:

• Nature works as a whole, with people, animals, and land all depending on each other. Changing or removing important species, like large grazing herds, can cause unexpected harm to other parts of the environment.
• Any agricultural planning must be flexible enough to handle the complexity of nature, since every environment is different and changes over time.
• Raising animals, such as cattle, can replace important species that are missing. When managed carefully to mimic natural processes, farming can help heal the land and support wildlife while also helping people.
• The timing and length of land use are the most important factors in planning. It is important to know how long to use land for farming, how long to let it rest, and exactly when and where the land is ready for these activities.

Development

In the 1960s, Allan Savory, a wildlife biologist from Southern Rhodesia, developed the idea of holistic planned grazing. He wanted to understand desertification within the larger environmental movement and was influenced by the work of André Voisin. Savory believed that the spread of deserts, the loss of wildlife, and human poverty were connected to the decline of natural herds of large grazing animals and changes in the behavior of the few remaining herds. He also thought that livestock could replace natural herds to help ecosystems by cycling nutrients. However, while some found that rotational grazing worked for managing livestock, scientific studies showed it did not always solve ecological problems like desertification. Savory believed a more complete management plan was needed for grasslands. Because of this, Holistic Management became a tool for planning on farms and ranches. In 1984, he started the Center for Holistic Resource Management, which later became Holistic Management International.

In many areas, people blame pastoralism and shared land use for environmental harm caused by overgrazing. After years of research, Savory realized this idea was often incorrect. He found that removing animals sometimes made environmental problems worse. This idea is similar to a natural process called a trophic cascade, where humans act as the top predator, and changes ripple through the ecosystem.

Savory created a management system he said would improve grazing. Holistic planned grazing is one of several newer methods that aim to copy the behavior of natural wildlife herds. It is claimed to improve water quality and habitats near rivers, and to help both livestock and wildlife live better on the land.

Savory says Holistic Planned Grazing could help reduce climate change by building soil, increasing biodiversity, and stopping desertification. This practice uses fencing or herders to restore grasslands. Livestock are moved carefully in large groups to mimic how natural herds behave. In nature, grazing animals are kept together by predators and forced to move after eating, trampling, and leaving manure in an area. They return only after the land has recovered. This method tries to copy what happened over 40 million years ago, when grass-grazer ecosystems built deep, rich soils, stored carbon, and helped cool the planet.

Uses

Holistic Management was first created to help manage land for farming and to restore land that has become desert-like. It can also be used in other areas where there are many complex issues related to both society and the environment. One example is managing water resources in a way that brings together different groups to ensure fair water use, helping the economy and people's well-being while protecting important ecosystems. Another example is reclaiming land after mining. Holistic Management is also used in some types of farming that do not till the soil, planting multiple crops together, and in permaculture. The United States Department of Agriculture recognizes Holistic Management. The most complete use of this method is as a Whole Farm/Ranch Planning tool, which farmers and ranchers have used successfully. Because of this, the USDA spent six years providing funding to train new women farmers and ranchers using this method. [3] [4]

Criticism

Many scientific studies and news articles have questioned the ideas behind Holistic Management theory. In 2014, a review looked at five ecological ideas from Holistic Management. It found that none of these ideas had scientific support in the Western US. A paper by Richard Teague and others said that some criticisms focused on general rotational grazing systems, not specifically Holistic Planned Grazing. A study of research from 1972 to 2016 found that Holistic Planned Grazing did not improve plant cover, plant growth, or animal production better than continuous grazing. However, some areas with more rainfall might have seen benefits. At least three studies showed that multi-pasture grazing methods improved soil quality, including soil carbon, nitrogen, biota, water retention, and ground litter, compared to land with continuous grazing.

Some research suggests that multi-pasture grazing may help land hold more water than ungrazed land. However, George Wuerthner wrote in a 2013 article that many studies cited by supporters of Allan Savory did not properly test his ideas. He noted that some studies had lower vegetation removal levels than Savory recommended.

Critics argue that many studies focused on general rotational grazing, not Holistic Management itself. Holistic Management includes goal setting, learning, and monitoring, which are hard to test in scientific studies. This may explain why some land managers report positive results with Holistic Management, even though studies often show no improvement in plant or animal productivity. A 2022 review of 22 studies found that Holistic Management did not improve productivity but did help with social connections and learning among farmers.

Savory has faced criticism for claiming that Holistic Management’s carbon sequestration benefits cannot be studied scientifically. In 2000, he said that science cannot prove anything and that it protects people from ideas like his. A 2017 factsheet by Savory claimed that studies on Holistic Management were rejected because they lacked proper repetition. A summary of debates noted that Savory argues Holistic Planned Grazing cannot be fully tested by science, but he did not explain how his methods could claim to fight desertification or climate change without scientific proof.

Few studies compare Holistic Management to grasslands without livestock. Some research shows that removing livestock from dry grasslands can help plants and soil store more carbon. A 2021 study found that sparsely grazed and natural grasslands store most of the world’s grassland carbon, while managed grasslands with more livestock have released more greenhouse gases. A 2011 study found that multi-paddock grazing, as promoted by Savory, stored more soil carbon than heavy continuous grazing but less than areas where grazing was completely excluded. Another study estimated that restoring pastureland to wild grasslands could store 15.2–59.9 gigatons of additional carbon.

In 2013, the Savory Institute responded to critics, and Savory gave a TED Talk claiming that Holistic Grazing could reduce carbon dioxide to pre-industrial levels in 40 years. He later said he did not claim it could reverse climate change, only address it. RealClimate.org said Savory’s claims about reducing carbon levels are not reasonable. Skeptical Science noted that no grazing method can increase cattle numbers, productivity, and carbon storage at the same time. A 2016 study from Sweden found that Holistic Management’s carbon sequestration claims are seven times too high. A 2017 study called Savory’s claims “unrealistic,” estimating that grazing management could store 0.3–0.8 gigatons of carbon annually, which is less than 10% of global livestock emissions. Project Drawdown estimated that improved grazing could store 13.72–20.92 gigatons of carbon between 2020 and 2050, or 0.46–0.70 gigatons per year. A 2022 study found similar results, estimating 0.15–0.70 gigatons of carbon annually.

Awards

Savory received the 2003 Banksia International Award. In 2010, Operation Hope, a project in Zimbabwe led by the Africa Centre for Holistic Management, won the Buckminster Fuller Challenge. This award honors projects that use thorough and forward-thinking methods to greatly improve human well-being and the health of Earth's ecosystems. Many people who use Holistic Management practices have also been recognized for their work in protecting the environment. [5]