In the Shona culture, the land evolved with herding animals. Hence the absence of one results in the destruction of the other. The conventional grazing management belief that too many animals cause overgrazing is a misconception of the semi-arid savanna environments of Southern Africa where these environments evolved with thousands of herding grazers such as wildebeests and buffalo.
The Shona believe that overgrazing is caused by inadequate recovery period for grazed plants. Further, they believe that in conventional western grazing management practice overgrazing is a result of domesticated animals overstaying on the same piece of land (continuous grazing) or returning too soon to the grazed area (rapid rotational grazing systems).
Osmond Mugweni defines Holistic Resource Management as a way of managing all of the resources in any terrestrial ecosystem to produce a desired goal. Its aim is to develop among Resource Managers a way to process information into a very specific action process that is driven by identification of common goals and the mental discipline needed for an individual and an organisation to get there. Osmond's experiences with the approach is that it gives the managers the sense that there are thinking processes that can be applied to solve problems i.e., mental discipline that can, in fact, renew and reinvigorate environments. The three part goal that drives the holistic management includes the values of the people managing the resources, along with the things they need to produce to meet those values and the future resource base that would sustain the production and values.
Pilot work conducted by Osmond Mugweni for the period 1986 to 2002 which was refined during the Ashoka Stipend period of Sept 2002 to August 2005, as regards time controlled grazing; overgrazing, rest and animal impact in semi-arid/brittle environments/rangelands can be summarized as:
1)Overgrazing weakens or even kills individual plants which reduces the ability of such plants to provide soil cover. Over-rest also produces this. The noted difference is that under overgrazing the plants are often of many age groups, while under over-rest the plants are usually old and dying with fewer young plants.
2)High animal impact causes many plants to grow with tight plant spacing. On the other hand, no animal impact causes ever-increasing spaces between plants on capped soil surfaces.
3)Overgrazing with low animal impact and no herding behaviour causes large bare areas to develop, similar to what is produced by effects of over-rest.
4)Overgrazing combined with high animal impact, which is common in Zimbabwean Communal Areas, accompanied by herding behaviour, results in tight low vigour plant communities of a near mono-culture with a high proportion of growing leaf and young plants.
5)Time controlled grazing combined with high animal impact and herding behaviour produces multi-species of healthy, tight plant communities with a good age distribution, which would support many other life forms on such a land. This seems to be the desirable productive, ecologically stable and sustainable system to be promoted for the future management of Communal Grazing.
Sustainable Grazing based on Holistic Resource Management Principles.
The Solution for Semi-arid rangelands degradation: Time controlled grazing based on Indigenous Shona Grazing Management Practices. Heavy stocking rates for short period followed by long recovery periods. Land divided into adequate units such that 1/3 of the area is grazed in early summer, 1/3 in late summer and 1/3 receive full summer recovery period (not grazes). These units are rotated annually.
This from Osmond's observation is a simulation of the community herding that was characteristic of the Shona hamlets of Zimbabwe in the 16th to the 18th Century. See the pages on the New Idea being practices by the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute.
In the Shona culture, the land evolved with herding animals. Hence the absence of one results in the destruction of the other. The conventional grazing management belief that too many animals cause overgrazing is a misconception of the semi-arid savanna environments of Southern Africa where these environments evolved with thousands of herding grazers such as wildebeests and buffalo.
The Shona believe that overgrazing is caused by inadequate recovery period for grazed plants. Further, they believe that in conventional western grazing management practice overgrazing is a result of domesticated animals overstaying on the same piece of land (continuous grazing) or returning too soon to the grazed area (rapid rotational grazing systems).
Osmond Mugweni defines Holistic Resource Management as a way of managing all of the resources in any terrestrial ecosystem to produce a desired goal. Its aim is to develop among Resource Managers a way to process information into a very specific action process that is driven by identification of common goals and the mental discipline needed for an individual and an organisation to get there. Osmond's experiences with the approach is that it gives the managers the sense that there are thinking processes that can be applied to solve problems i.e., mental discipline that can, in fact, renew and reinvigorate environments. The three part goal that drives the holistic management includes the values of the people managing the resources, along with the things they need to produce to meet those values and the future resource base that would sustain the production and values.
Pilot work conducted by Osmond Mugweni for the period 1986 to 2002 which was refined during the Ashoka Stipend period of Sept 2002 to August 2005, as regards time controlled grazing; overgrazing, rest and animal impact in semi-arid/brittle environments/rangelands can be summarized as:
1)Overgrazing weakens or even kills individual plants which reduces the ability of such plants to provide soil cover. Over-rest also produces this. The noted difference is that under overgrazing the plants are often of many age groups, while under over-rest the plants are usually old and dying with fewer young plants.
2)High animal impact causes many plants to grow with tight plant spacing. On the other hand, no animal impact causes ever-increasing spaces between plants on capped soil surfaces.
3)Overgrazing with low animal impact and no herding behaviour causes large bare areas to develop, similar to what is produced by effects of over-rest.
4)Overgrazing combined with high animal impact, which is common in Zimbabwean Communal Areas, accompanied by herding behaviour, results in tight low vigour plant communities of a near mono-culture with a high proportion of growing leaf and young plants.
5)Time controlled grazing combined with high animal impact and herding behaviour produces multi-species of healthy, tight plant communities with a good age distribution, which would support many other life forms on such a land. This seems to be the desirable productive, ecologically stable and sustainable system to be promoted for the future management of Communal Grazing.
Sustainable Grazing based on Holistic Resource Management Principles.
The Solution for Semi-arid rangelands degradation: Time controlled grazing based on Indigenous Shona Grazing Management Practices. Heavy stocking rates for short period followed by long recovery periods. Land divided into adequate units such that 1/3 of the area is grazed in early summer, 1/3 in late summer and 1/3 receive full summer recovery period (not grazes). These units are rotated annually.
This from Osmond's observation is a simulation of the community herding that was characteristic of the Shona hamlets of Zimbabwe in the 16th to the 18th Century. See the pages on the New Idea being practices by the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute.
The Southern African region faces an ever-worsening water crisis. In general, this problem is not being adequate confronted and combated. One crucial dimension of the problem that seems particularly neglected is water-shed management
Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute 54 km north of Masvingo City along the Beitbridge-Masvingo-Harare Highway in Chatsworth Intensive Conservation Area in the Masivingo Province of Zimbabwe (GPS coordinates S19o35.80’, E 30o46.21’,).
Sustainable Grazing Management for Semi-arid Rangelands: By Osmond Mugweni (Founder and Executive Director) ELP 2008 Fellow; ASHOKA Social Entreprunuer and Fellow since 2003; Leadership for Environment and Development (LEADer) Southern Africa Zimbabwe Cohort 4; MSc Ecology and Sustainable Development University of Edinburgh 1992/93; BSc Geography and Psychology UNISA; Certificate in Holistic Resource Management Centre for Holistic Resource Management Alberqueque New Mexico State USA 1986 and First Class Diploma in Agriculture Chibero Agricultural College Norton Zimbabwe.
The Project evolving at the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute located at Number 12 Northdale Farm in Chatsworth Intensive Conservation Area of Gutu District of Masvingo Province is demonstrating the Indigenous Shona Knowledge on Grazing and Land Management In the Shona culture and belief system, the land evolved with herding grazers and the absence of one results in the destruction or extinction of the other. Numbers game had no role to protect vegetation then. The conventional grazing management belief that “too many animals cause overgrazing” is a misconception of the semi-arid savannah environments of Southern Africa where these environments evolved with thousands of herding grazers such as wildebeest, buffalo, elephants with their predators’ lions, leopards, cheetah and hyena. When animals intensively grazed for short periods (at most a month) they left and came back after one or two seasons.
Predators (lions, leopards, cheetah, hyena etc) controlled the timing of rangelands use by grazers as they kept the grazers bunched and moving.
The Shona believe that overgrazing is caused by inadequate recovery period for grazed plants. They view that in conventional grazing management overgrazing is due to continuous grazing or rapid rotational grazing cycles where the plants are continuously exposed to the animals or grazes too soon in a rapid grazing cycle.
The scale up and replication of the work done by Osmond at Razi/Charinge in Chivi District, Musoni in Buhera District and Triangle Ranch of the 1986 to 1993 error that has been disrupted by the land reform is what the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute is championing and wants to be reality to the whole society for more information visit www.njeremoto.org and http://njeremotoblogspot.com ).
Hence time controlled grazing combined with high animal impact and herding behaviour produces multi-species of healthy, tight plant communities with a good age distribution, which would support many other life forms on such a land. This seems to be the desirable productive, ecologically stable and sustainable system to be promoted for the future management of semi arid and arid Grazing Lands worldwide.
This Solution for Semi-arid rangelands degradation (i.e.): Time controlled grazing based on Indigenous Shona Grazing Management Practices as promoted by the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute of; Heavy stocking rates for short period followed by long recovery periods. Land divided into adequate units such that 1/3 of the area is grazed in early summer, 1/3 in late summer and 1/3 receive full summer recovery period (not grazes). These units are rotated annually is the cure of Land Degradation, Desertification of the watersheds as well as an adaptation and mitigation measure for the negative impacts of Climate Change in our Region. As this is simulation of the community herding that was characteristic of the Shona hamlets of Zimbabwe in the 16th to the 18th Century.
The Southern African region faces an ever-worsening water crisis. In general, this problem is not being adequate confronted and combated. One crucial dimension of the problem that seems particularly neglected is water-shed management.
Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute 54 km north of Masvingo City along the Beitbridge-Masvingo-Harare Highway in Chatsworth Intensive Conservation Area in the Masivingo Province of Zimbabwe (GPS coordinates S19o35.80’, E 30o46.21’,).
The Project evolving at the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute located at Number 12 Northdale Farm in Chatsworth Intensive Conservation Area of Gutu District of Masvingo Province is demonstrating the Indigenous Shona Knowledge on Grazing and Land Management In the Shona culture and belief system, the land evolved with herding grazers and the absence of one results in the destruction or extinction of the other. Numbers game had no role to protect vegetation then.
The conventional grazing management belief that “too many animals cause overgrazing” is a misconception of the semi-arid savannah environments of Southern Africa where these environments evolved with thousands of herding grazers such as wildebeest, buffalo, elephants with their predators’ lions, leopards, cheetah and hyena. When animals intensively grazed for short periods (at most a month) they left and came back after one or two seasons.
Predators (lions, leopards, cheetah, hyena etc) controlled the timing of rangelands use by grazers as they kept the grazers bunched and moving.
The Shona believe that overgrazing is caused by inadequate recovery period for grazed plants. They view that in conventional grazing management overgrazing is due to continuous grazing or rapid rotational grazing cycles where the plants are continuously exposed to the animals or grazes too soon in a rapid grazing cycle.
The scale up and replication of the work done by Osmond at Razi/Charinge in Chivi District, Musoni in Buhera District and Triangle Ranch of the 1986 to 1993 error that has been disrupted by the land reform is what the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute is championing and wants to be reality to the whole society for more information visit www.njeremoto.org and http://njeremotoblogspot.com ).
Hence time controlled grazing combined with high animal impact and herding behaviour produces multi-species of healthy, tight plant communities with a good age distribution, which would support many other life forms on such a land. This seems to be the desirable productive, ecologically stable and sustainable system to be promoted for the future management of semi arid and arid Grazing Lands worldwide.
This Solution for Semi-arid rangelands degradation (i.e.): Time controlled grazing based on Indigenous Shona Grazing Management Practices as promoted by the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute of; Heavy stocking rates for short period followed by long recovery periods. Land divided into adequate units such that 1/3 of the area is grazed in early summer, 1/3 in late summer and 1/3 receive full summer recovery period (not grazes). These units are rotated annually is the cure of Land Degradation, Desertification of the watersheds as well as an adaptation and mitigation measure for the negative impacts of Climate Change in our Region. As this is simulation of the community herding that was characteristic of the Shona hamlets of Zimbabwe in the 16th to the 18th Century.
In the Shona culture, the land evolved with herding animals. Hence the absence of one results in the destruction of the other. The conventional grazing management belief that too many animals cause overgrazing is a misconception of the semi-arid savanna environments of Southern Africa where these environments evolved with thousands of herding grazers such as wildebeests and buffalo.
ReplyDeleteThe Shona believe that overgrazing is caused by inadequate recovery period for grazed plants. Further, they believe that in conventional western grazing management practice overgrazing is a result of domesticated animals overstaying on the same piece of land (continuous grazing) or returning too soon to the grazed area (rapid rotational grazing systems).
Osmond Mugweni defines Holistic Resource Management as a way of managing all of the resources in any terrestrial ecosystem to produce a desired goal. Its aim is to develop among Resource Managers a way to process information into a very specific action process that is driven by identification of common goals and the mental discipline needed for an individual and an organisation to get there. Osmond's experiences with the approach is that it gives the managers the sense that there are thinking processes that can be applied to solve problems i.e., mental discipline that can, in fact, renew and reinvigorate environments. The three part goal that drives the holistic management includes the values of the people managing the resources, along with the things they need to produce to meet those values and the future resource base that would sustain the production and values.
Pilot work conducted by Osmond Mugweni for the period 1986 to 2002 which was refined during the Ashoka Stipend period of Sept 2002 to August 2005, as regards time controlled grazing; overgrazing, rest and animal impact in semi-arid/brittle environments/rangelands can be summarized as:
1)Overgrazing weakens or even kills individual plants which reduces the ability of such plants to provide soil cover. Over-rest also produces this. The noted difference is that under overgrazing the plants are often of many age groups, while under over-rest the plants are usually old and dying with fewer young plants.
2)High animal impact causes many plants to grow with tight plant spacing. On the other hand, no animal impact causes ever-increasing spaces between plants on capped soil surfaces.
3)Overgrazing with low animal impact and no herding behaviour causes large bare areas to develop, similar to what is produced by effects of over-rest.
4)Overgrazing combined with high animal impact, which is common in Zimbabwean Communal Areas, accompanied by herding behaviour, results in tight low vigour plant communities of a near mono-culture with a high proportion of growing leaf and young plants.
5)Time controlled grazing combined with high animal impact and herding behaviour produces multi-species of healthy, tight plant communities with a good age distribution, which would support many other life forms on such a land. This seems to be the desirable productive, ecologically stable and sustainable system to be promoted for the future management of Communal Grazing.
Sustainable Grazing based on Holistic Resource Management Principles.
The Solution for Semi-arid rangelands degradation: Time controlled grazing based on Indigenous Shona Grazing Management Practices. Heavy stocking rates for short period followed by long recovery periods. Land divided into adequate units such that 1/3 of the area is grazed in early summer, 1/3 in late summer and 1/3 receive full summer recovery period (not grazes). These units are rotated annually.
This from Osmond's observation is a simulation of the community herding that was characteristic of the Shona hamlets of Zimbabwe in the 16th to the 18th Century. See the pages on the New Idea being practices by the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute.
In the Shona culture, the land evolved with herding animals. Hence the absence of one results in the destruction of the other. The conventional grazing management belief that too many animals cause overgrazing is a misconception of the semi-arid savanna environments of Southern Africa where these environments evolved with thousands of herding grazers such as wildebeests and buffalo.
ReplyDeleteThe Shona believe that overgrazing is caused by inadequate recovery period for grazed plants. Further, they believe that in conventional western grazing management practice overgrazing is a result of domesticated animals overstaying on the same piece of land (continuous grazing) or returning too soon to the grazed area (rapid rotational grazing systems).
Osmond Mugweni defines Holistic Resource Management as a way of managing all of the resources in any terrestrial ecosystem to produce a desired goal. Its aim is to develop among Resource Managers a way to process information into a very specific action process that is driven by identification of common goals and the mental discipline needed for an individual and an organisation to get there. Osmond's experiences with the approach is that it gives the managers the sense that there are thinking processes that can be applied to solve problems i.e., mental discipline that can, in fact, renew and reinvigorate environments. The three part goal that drives the holistic management includes the values of the people managing the resources, along with the things they need to produce to meet those values and the future resource base that would sustain the production and values.
Pilot work conducted by Osmond Mugweni for the period 1986 to 2002 which was refined during the Ashoka Stipend period of Sept 2002 to August 2005, as regards time controlled grazing; overgrazing, rest and animal impact in semi-arid/brittle environments/rangelands can be summarized as:
1)Overgrazing weakens or even kills individual plants which reduces the ability of such plants to provide soil cover. Over-rest also produces this. The noted difference is that under overgrazing the plants are often of many age groups, while under over-rest the plants are usually old and dying with fewer young plants.
2)High animal impact causes many plants to grow with tight plant spacing. On the other hand, no animal impact causes ever-increasing spaces between plants on capped soil surfaces.
3)Overgrazing with low animal impact and no herding behaviour causes large bare areas to develop, similar to what is produced by effects of over-rest.
4)Overgrazing combined with high animal impact, which is common in Zimbabwean Communal Areas, accompanied by herding behaviour, results in tight low vigour plant communities of a near mono-culture with a high proportion of growing leaf and young plants.
5)Time controlled grazing combined with high animal impact and herding behaviour produces multi-species of healthy, tight plant communities with a good age distribution, which would support many other life forms on such a land. This seems to be the desirable productive, ecologically stable and sustainable system to be promoted for the future management of Communal Grazing.
Sustainable Grazing based on Holistic Resource Management Principles.
The Solution for Semi-arid rangelands degradation: Time controlled grazing based on Indigenous Shona Grazing Management Practices. Heavy stocking rates for short period followed by long recovery periods. Land divided into adequate units such that 1/3 of the area is grazed in early summer, 1/3 in late summer and 1/3 receive full summer recovery period (not grazes). These units are rotated annually.
This from Osmond's observation is a simulation of the community herding that was characteristic of the Shona hamlets of Zimbabwe in the 16th to the 18th Century. See the pages on the New Idea being practices by the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute.
The Southern African region faces an ever-worsening water crisis. In general, this problem is not being adequate confronted and combated. One crucial dimension of the problem that seems particularly neglected is water-shed management
ReplyDeleteNjeremoto Biodiversity Institute 54 km north of Masvingo City along the Beitbridge-Masvingo-Harare Highway in Chatsworth Intensive Conservation Area in the Masivingo Province of Zimbabwe (GPS coordinates S19o35.80’, E 30o46.21’,).
Sustainable Grazing Management for Semi-arid Rangelands: By Osmond Mugweni (Founder and Executive Director) ELP 2008 Fellow; ASHOKA Social Entreprunuer and Fellow since 2003; Leadership for Environment and Development (LEADer) Southern Africa Zimbabwe Cohort 4; MSc Ecology and Sustainable Development University of Edinburgh 1992/93; BSc Geography and Psychology UNISA; Certificate in Holistic Resource Management Centre for Holistic Resource Management Alberqueque New Mexico State USA 1986 and First Class Diploma in Agriculture Chibero Agricultural College Norton Zimbabwe.
The Project evolving at the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute located at Number 12 Northdale Farm in Chatsworth Intensive Conservation Area of Gutu District of Masvingo Province is demonstrating the Indigenous Shona Knowledge on Grazing and Land Management
In the Shona culture and belief system, the land evolved with herding grazers and the absence of one results in the destruction or extinction of the other. Numbers game had no role to protect vegetation then.
The conventional grazing management belief that “too many animals cause overgrazing” is a misconception of the semi-arid savannah environments of Southern Africa where these environments evolved with thousands of herding grazers such as wildebeest, buffalo, elephants with their predators’ lions, leopards, cheetah and hyena. When animals intensively grazed for short periods (at most a month) they left and came back after one or two seasons.
Predators (lions, leopards, cheetah, hyena etc) controlled the timing of rangelands use by grazers as they kept the grazers bunched and moving.
The Shona believe that overgrazing is caused by inadequate recovery period for grazed plants. They view that in conventional grazing management overgrazing is due to continuous grazing or rapid rotational grazing cycles where the plants are continuously exposed to the animals or grazes too soon in a rapid grazing cycle.
The scale up and replication of the work done by Osmond at Razi/Charinge in Chivi District, Musoni in Buhera District and Triangle Ranch of the 1986 to 1993 error that has been disrupted by the land reform is what the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute is championing and wants to be reality to the whole society for more information visit www.njeremoto.org and http://njeremotoblogspot.com ).
Hence time controlled grazing combined with high animal impact and herding behaviour produces multi-species of healthy, tight plant communities with a good age distribution, which would support many other life forms on such a land. This seems to be the desirable productive, ecologically stable and sustainable system to be promoted for the future management of semi arid and arid Grazing Lands worldwide.
This Solution for Semi-arid rangelands degradation (i.e.): Time controlled grazing based on Indigenous Shona Grazing Management Practices as promoted by the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute of; Heavy stocking rates for short period followed by long recovery periods. Land divided into adequate units such that 1/3 of the area is grazed in early summer, 1/3 in late summer and 1/3 receive full summer recovery period (not grazes). These units are rotated annually is the cure of Land Degradation, Desertification of the watersheds as well as an adaptation and mitigation measure for the negative impacts of Climate Change in our Region. As this is simulation of the community herding that was characteristic of the Shona hamlets of Zimbabwe in the 16th to the 18th Century.
The Southern African region faces an ever-worsening water crisis. In general, this problem is not being adequate confronted and combated. One crucial dimension of the problem that seems particularly neglected is water-shed management.
ReplyDeleteNjeremoto Biodiversity Institute 54 km north of Masvingo City along the Beitbridge-Masvingo-Harare Highway in Chatsworth Intensive Conservation Area in the Masivingo Province of Zimbabwe (GPS coordinates S19o35.80’, E 30o46.21’,).
The Project evolving at the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute located at Number 12 Northdale Farm in Chatsworth Intensive Conservation Area of Gutu District of Masvingo Province is demonstrating the Indigenous Shona Knowledge on Grazing and Land Management
In the Shona culture and belief system, the land evolved with herding grazers and the absence of one results in the destruction or extinction of the other. Numbers game had no role to protect vegetation then.
The conventional grazing management belief that “too many animals cause overgrazing” is a misconception of the semi-arid savannah environments of Southern Africa where these environments evolved with thousands of herding grazers such as wildebeest, buffalo, elephants with their predators’ lions, leopards, cheetah and hyena. When animals intensively grazed for short periods (at most a month) they left and came back after one or two seasons.
Predators (lions, leopards, cheetah, hyena etc) controlled the timing of rangelands use by grazers as they kept the grazers bunched and moving.
The Shona believe that overgrazing is caused by inadequate recovery period for grazed plants. They view that in conventional grazing management overgrazing is due to continuous grazing or rapid rotational grazing cycles where the plants are continuously exposed to the animals or grazes too soon in a rapid grazing cycle.
The scale up and replication of the work done by Osmond at Razi/Charinge in Chivi District, Musoni in Buhera District and Triangle Ranch of the 1986 to 1993 error that has been disrupted by the land reform is what the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute is championing and wants to be reality to the whole society for more information visit www.njeremoto.org and http://njeremotoblogspot.com ).
Hence time controlled grazing combined with high animal impact and herding behaviour produces multi-species of healthy, tight plant communities with a good age distribution, which would support many other life forms on such a land. This seems to be the desirable productive, ecologically stable and sustainable system to be promoted for the future management of semi arid and arid Grazing Lands worldwide.
This Solution for Semi-arid rangelands degradation (i.e.): Time controlled grazing based on Indigenous Shona Grazing Management Practices as promoted by the Njeremoto Biodiversity Institute of; Heavy stocking rates for short period followed by long recovery periods. Land divided into adequate units such that 1/3 of the area is grazed in early summer, 1/3 in late summer and 1/3 receive full summer recovery period (not grazes). These units are rotated annually is the cure of Land Degradation, Desertification of the watersheds as well as an adaptation and mitigation measure for the negative impacts of Climate Change in our Region. As this is simulation of the community herding that was characteristic of the Shona hamlets of Zimbabwe in the 16th to the 18th Century.