Has everyone heard of Holistic Management? Its a technique for land management developed by Allan Savory. I first came across it when I watched a video of a presentation he gave.
I also went to a workshop with Allan's son Roger back in 2013. He is based in Queensland now and has a company called Savory Grassland Management. Anyway, it was a one day workshop and really gave me a lot to think about, and since then I had been planning on getting the book (Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision Making), but never quite got around to it until Fiona from Life at Arbordale Farm texted me last year to say she had found TWO copies at the Lifeline book sale for $7 each. And so I finally got the book and that is a very long introduction to this post, which I intend to be a series reviewing each section of the book, which goes into more detail about the concepts covered in the course I attended.
Holistic management began as a technique for management of land, but Allan thinks its useful more broadly as a management tool. Personally I think its more suited to land management specifically and would probably be more useful and less confusing if we just acknowledged that instead of trying to make it fit other situations. I find the framework to be a little over-complicated, and it reminds me of when someone has had such a clever idea that they can't dumb it down enough to explain it to other people. Allan is a smart guy and he's really come up with some important and unique ways of understanding land management in dry ("brittle") climates. The uptake of holistic management is disappointingly low considering how powerful it could be in climates that desperately need it (as I'll explain later).
I am hoping to summarise the key points of each chapter here every few weeks to make sure I understand them, make them more accessible, to get you interested and encourage you to find out more for yourself. The following image from the book is an overview of the holistic management framework. It won't make much sense at the moment, but gives you an idea of the topics that I'll go over in future posts. Holistic Management incorporates very similar ideas to permaculture, Peter Andrews and Joel Salatin, but it is specific to dry climates, which are a challenge to conventional land management practices.
I think this book really deserves to be read in detail, which each section considered carefully and insights discussed. I will do this over the next few months as I finish reading the sections and try applying what I learn. I know my Pete won't read the book, but if I can pick out key points I can get him familiar with the concepts and interested in trying these ideas at Cheslyn Rise.
Have you heard of Allan Savory and Holistic Management? Have you read the book or tried any of the techniques? What do you think?
(I've included some Amazon affiliate links below to the books mentioned in this post - if you're in email or RSS you'll have to click over to my blog to see the links)
I can't find the exact one now, but there are a few on Youtube that give a good introduction. I've included one below, (which you can find here if you're reading this in email or RSS feed).
I also went to a workshop with Allan's son Roger back in 2013. He is based in Queensland now and has a company called Savory Grassland Management. Anyway, it was a one day workshop and really gave me a lot to think about, and since then I had been planning on getting the book (Holistic Management: A New Framework for Decision Making), but never quite got around to it until Fiona from Life at Arbordale Farm texted me last year to say she had found TWO copies at the Lifeline book sale for $7 each. And so I finally got the book and that is a very long introduction to this post, which I intend to be a series reviewing each section of the book, which goes into more detail about the concepts covered in the course I attended.
Holistic management began as a technique for management of land, but Allan thinks its useful more broadly as a management tool. Personally I think its more suited to land management specifically and would probably be more useful and less confusing if we just acknowledged that instead of trying to make it fit other situations. I find the framework to be a little over-complicated, and it reminds me of when someone has had such a clever idea that they can't dumb it down enough to explain it to other people. Allan is a smart guy and he's really come up with some important and unique ways of understanding land management in dry ("brittle") climates. The uptake of holistic management is disappointingly low considering how powerful it could be in climates that desperately need it (as I'll explain later).
I am hoping to summarise the key points of each chapter here every few weeks to make sure I understand them, make them more accessible, to get you interested and encourage you to find out more for yourself. The following image from the book is an overview of the holistic management framework. It won't make much sense at the moment, but gives you an idea of the topics that I'll go over in future posts. Holistic Management incorporates very similar ideas to permaculture, Peter Andrews and Joel Salatin, but it is specific to dry climates, which are a challenge to conventional land management practices.
I think this book really deserves to be read in detail, which each section considered carefully and insights discussed. I will do this over the next few months as I finish reading the sections and try applying what I learn. I know my Pete won't read the book, but if I can pick out key points I can get him familiar with the concepts and interested in trying these ideas at Cheslyn Rise.
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| The Holistic Management Model (from Holistic Management, Savory, A (1999) |
Have you heard of Allan Savory and Holistic Management? Have you read the book or tried any of the techniques? What do you think?
(I've included some Amazon affiliate links below to the books mentioned in this post - if you're in email or RSS you'll have to click over to my blog to see the links)
Hi Liz, I have watched at least one of Alan Savory's presentations on Youtube though it was probably over a couple of years ago now, so to be honest i can't remember much other than that I thought it was really good.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're going to do an in depth review of this book. I ran across the title some time ago and put it on my Amazon wish list, but it never seems to come to the top of the list. Maybe it will now! I'm always interested in gleaning whatever tidbits I can from others.
ReplyDeleteSome years we have wet summers, some years they are dry. This is a droughty summer, so I'm worried about water and keeping all our vegetation alive. I'll be interested in watching his videos.
I watched a video of his, which was more about promoting Savoy's work, as it was relatively new then. Gauging by the diagram, it looks way more complicated than any of the permaculture diagrams I've seen, illustrating the 12 principles. I'm always interested in learning new things though. So maybe you can translate a little more, as you get to reading the book :)
ReplyDeleteEven though he focuses on brittle climates I am hoping to apply some of his ideas in NZ.
ReplyDeleteI have the book and have watched quite a few videos but at 75 and with memory problems I have found it difficult coming to grips with the how to implement aspect.
ReplyDeleteI'm on 23 acres of hilly land, mostly in pasture, and also have the issue of scepticism from family members. I think that Holistic Planning, including setting the holistic goal and learning to manage stock/pastures holistically, to be keys to our success in the long run.
Looking forward to sharing more of your journey.
Hello liz! I recently read Allan Savorys holistic management and began doing the same thing as you (Writing about the chapters and sections) in an attempt to better understand and internalize the information in my personal journal. I happened across your blog and am heartened to learn that I'm not the only one finding it slightly difficult to swallow. I very much like your point about it being such a clever idea that its difficult to dumb down. Although it seems like there are people trying. (https://holisticmanagement.org/) is an organization that's trying to utilize and spread the ideas in a more user-friendly way. Though my interest is in land management and regeneration, I am currently not in charge of or responsible for any land, and so I am currently attempting to apply the principles of holistic management to my personal life. I think this is possible, though whether or not it is more trouble than its worth is yet to be seen. But the idea of a holistic goal something anyone can benefit from, and a way of thinking that includes the essential environmental process that support us is essential for the survival of humanity. Now whether or not you need holistic management to achieve that way of thinking is perhaps debatable.
ReplyDeleteAnyway i found your blog post very interesting and refreshing. So thank you.
warmest regards. Matthew McWitz