> Hey Frank how about this > The real problem in saharasia was a system that measured wealth and social > standing by the number of livestock owned - hence you get massive > overstocking and overgrazing - so the cattle starve and you bring in sheep - > when there is not enough grass to support sheep - the goats will still > thrive until they have ate every bush and shrub to the bare roots - have > seen this in the Australian bush a number of times with ferals - its not the > goats fault - they are the most amazing critters to rejuvenate degraded > range land when they are controlled in the appropriate numbers - too many > uncontrolled and they become the destroyers - desertification is a > management problem pure and simple caused by greed. > Goats are experts at gettin out of control too !! > Lloyd Charles
I certainly agree, Lloyd! What I was objecting to was the characterization of grazing cattle, or even sheep or goats, as necessarily leading to all sorts of inputs and especially so-called 'renovation' or plowing up the pasture. I think we are pretty far removed from the days when the Sahara was the granary of Rome, so it is hard to say what exactly was the sequence of events. Certainly human stupidity, rather than something inherently unsustainable about grassland pastoral systems, is more to blame here. Pave paradise, put up a parking lot. Wo duh! Frank Teuton
