Allan Savory Quotes

Powerful Allan Savory for Daily Growth

About Allan Savory

Allan Savory (1935–) is a renowned conservationist, ecologist, and holistic grazing management pioneer, whose innovative approach to grassland restoration has garnered global attention. Born in 1935 in Mashonaland, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Savory spent his formative years on a family farm, where he developed an early appreciation for the intricate relationship between people and nature. Following his military service during the Malayan Emergency, Savory pursued a degree in Game Management at Cambridge University. Afterwards, he moved to Africa to work as a game warden, where he witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of human activities on wildlife and ecosystems. This sparked his lifelong passion for conservation and led him to develop his holistic management principles. In 1959, Savory founded the African Conservation Centre in Zimbabwe, an organization dedicated to researching and implementing sustainable grazing practices. His groundbreaking work on understanding the impact of herbivores on grassland ecosystems eventually led him to develop Holistic Management, a decision-making framework that aims to balance the needs of people, livestock, wildlife, and ecosystem health. Savory's major works include "Holistic Resource Management" (1988) and his TED Talk "How to fight desertification and reverse climate change" (2016), in which he proposed a solution for regenerating grasslands as a means of mitiging climate change. His ideas have been widely adopted across the globe, and he continues to work tirelessly towards promoting Holistic Management and advocating for sustainable land use practices. Allan Savory's innovative thinking and dedication to conservation have made him an influential figure in environmental preservation efforts.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The only sustainable solution to the problems caused by grazing livestock is Holistic Management."

Allan Savory's quote implies that the long-term, viable solution to issues stemming from livestock grazing is his approach called Holistic Management. This method encourages sustainable land management practices by considering multiple ecological, social, and economic factors simultaneously. In essence, it proposes a holistic understanding of the environment, animals, and human needs to ensure both the health of the land and the success of livestock rearing in a manner that is both beneficial and sustainable for generations to come.


"Grasslands are not wasting lands, they are the worlds' most powerful carbon sink."

Allan Savory's quote suggests that grasslands, contrary to common misconception, are not barren or wasteful lands, but rather are the world's most potent carbon sinks. This means that these biomes, primarily consisting of grasses, play a crucial role in absorbing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide, thereby mitigating climate change. In essence, this quote emphasizes the vital ecological function of grasslands in our global efforts to combat environmental degradation and promote sustainability.


"Grazing animals are not the problem; it is how we graze them that causes the problem."

The quote emphasizes the importance of proper management in grazing livestock rather than blaming the animals for environmental degradation. Uncontrolled or improperly managed grazing can lead to soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and reduced productivity of pastures. On the other hand, if livestock are managed in a way that mimics the natural behavior of wild herbivores, such as rotational grazing and planned rest periods, they can actually play a vital role in improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, and promoting sustainable land use.


"The only way to do what has never been done before is to be willing to try what has never been tried before."

Allan Savory's quote emphasizes the importance of innovative thinking, courage, and a willingness to take risks in order to achieve unprecedented change. In other words, to tackle complex challenges that have defied conventional solutions, we must be prepared to challenge existing norms and experiment with novel approaches. This mindset is crucial for breakthroughs and advancements in various fields, from science and technology to social innovation and environmental sustainability.


"We can learn from indigenous cultures and their ability to manage lands holistically over thousands of years."

Allan Savory's quote highlights the wisdom and sustainability practices that indigenous cultures have developed through centuries of close relationship with their environment. By managing lands holistically, they consider the interconnectedness of all living things and natural elements, fostering a balance that ensures the long-term health and productivity of ecosystems. This approach can serve as a valuable lesson for modern societies seeking to address ecological challenges such as soil degradation, desertification, and climate change.


People and land need healing which is all inclusive - holistic.

- Allan Savory

Healing, Inclusive, Which, Holistic

The problem with holistic management is it's so profoundly simple, but it's not easy. And it's profoundly simple. You're almost insulting people's intelligence to explain it twice, just about making better decisions of where you want to go in your life, bringing in environmental, social, economic issues simultaneously.

- Allan Savory

Explain, Profoundly, Almost, Holistic

Almost all the knowledge required to produce more food than eroding soil is available today - we just need to use that knowledge within a holistic paradigm - managing agriculture holistically, forming the policies that undergird it holistically.

- Allan Savory

Paradigm, Forming, Almost, Holistic

I spent a lot of my life - 20 years of it - in war, training army trackers and commanding a tracker unit, and then in the Game Department, tracking lions and elephants and poachers. So I've spent literally thousands of hours tracking people or animals, and training others to do it.

- Allan Savory

Training, Game, My Life, Elephants

Agriculture is not crop production as popular belief holds - it's the production of food and fiber from the world's land and waters. Without agriculture it is not possible to have a city, stock market, banks, university, church or army. Agriculture is the foundation of civilization and any stable economy.

- Allan Savory

Civilization, Production, Popular

I've often been asked what drives me, particularly through the last 50 years of abuse, and ridicule. What has kept me going is one word - care. I care enough about the land, the wildlife, people, the future of humanity. If you care enough, you will do whatever you have to do, no matter what the opposition.

- Allan Savory

Through, Abuse, Been, Ridicule

The problem of a rising population destroying more than four tons of soil for every human already alive needs to find its way into corporate board rooms if we are to enjoy future financial, economic and political stability.

- Allan Savory

Alive, Rising, Rooms, Tons

If you dig deep and keep peeling the onion, artists and freelance writers are the leaders in society - the people who start to get new ideas out.

- Allan Savory

Deep, New, Dig, New Ideas

I was so fanatical about trying to save wildlife... I was unable to accept that we couldn't solve this problem of thousands of years, of wherever humans operated, the environment deteriorated.

- Allan Savory

Save, About, Deteriorated, Thousands Of Years

We need to manage holistically, embracing all of our science and traditional knowledge - all sources of knowledge. We can do that from the household to government to international relations.

- Allan Savory

Need, Sources, Our, Relations

Agriculture is the most destructive industry that we have. More than coal mining and other extractive industries.

- Allan Savory

Agriculture, Other, Most, Industries

Now that we've discovered how to actually develop policies and projects holistically, if we can get the barriers out of the way and release the creativity that's in our universities, our farming organizations, amongst our farmers and land managers, we'll be astounded. As I'd like to express it, the human spirit will fly.

- Allan Savory

Discovered, Projects, Managers

Ultimately, the only wealth that can sustain any community, economy or nation is derived from the photosynthetic process - green plants growing on regenerating soil.

- Allan Savory

Green, Wealth, Process, Sustain

People in all walks of life, and especially business, do not want to experience the collapse of cities like New York along with global finance and economy in chaos, but this is what business faces if we continue to attribute climate change to fossil fuels alone.

- Allan Savory

Life, Experience, Global, Faces

Hard systems are everything we're using right now - computers, phones, planes, the clothes you're wearing, the room you're in. Everything there involves 100% use of technology and expertise to make it, and nothing we make - including space exploration vehicles and so on - is complex. Everything we make is complicated. Nothing is self-renewing.

- Allan Savory

Phones, Use, Vehicles, Planes

A good tracker is interpreting all the time, from every little sign, you know? Not just interpreting the age of the tracks but also: Is it wounded? Is it hungry? A good tracker is interpreting a lot.

- Allan Savory

Sign, Wounded, Interpreting, Tracks

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