“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.

Allan Savory is a Zimbabwean biologist, farmer, soldier, exile, environmentalist, and winner of the 2003 Banksia International Award and the 2010 Buckminster Fuller Challenge. He is the originator of holistic management.