Here is a fascinating clip on the importance of land management. In particular, the importance of maintaining ground cover with an abundance of grass to trap moisture.
When it comes to protecting the environment and guarding against drying microclimates, land management is critical.
Large swathes of mulga country in South-West Queensland are being destroyed because it is being locked up in order to store carbon.
As the mulga scrub thickens it prevents grass from growing and the ground closes up resulting in water running over the top of it instead of into it.
This leads to erosion. I have seen this with my own eyes as Mitchell and other grasslands are being pushed out by mulga.
Locking up paddocks also leads to more feral pests such as pigs, cats and dingos/wild dogs.
It’s another classic example of how inner-city bureaucrats are actually destroying the environment not protecting it.
“Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert,” begins Allan Savory in this quietly powerful talk. And terrifyingly, it’s happening to about two-thirds of the world’s grasslands, accelerating climate change and causing traditional grazing societies to descend into social chaos. Savory has devoted his life to stopping it. He now believes — and his work so far shows — that a surprising factor can protect grasslands and even reclaim degraded land that was once desert.