Alejandro Carrillo is a rancher who is known around the world for restoring vibrant grassland ecosystems to his ranch in the Chihuahuan desert. He was kind enough to let me interview him for my book. For fifteen years he has been using holistically managed cattle and sheep to build soil on his ranch. He mimics the way nature built soil for millions of years – with naturally functioning grassland and savanna ecosystems that include grazing animals to help the plants grow. We had a chat about the possibilities of returning our planet to her original blue/green color and what that would mean for the climate.
Alejandro has shared slides at many farming talks showing that dark topsoil once was over a metre deep in his area. This means that for a long time the Chihuahua desert once supported entire grassland or savanna ecosystems in the not to distant past. When humans first arrived only 15,000 years ago, the area was greener and support abundant animals including wild herds of mastodon, horse, antelope and bison. Back then the region was still in the "rain shadow" of the mountains but was four times wetter so other things affect the water cycle including orbital cycles but also living organisms.
Megafauna posses a superpower that fertilizes savannas and grasslands, helping ecosystems keep soil surfaces cool and infiltrate water. In the absence of once abundant large wild grazing animals, people like Alejandro are using livestock to play an ecosystem supporting role that is reversing land degradation on many holistically managed properties around the world.
Bare soil gets very hot in the sun and this explains why the hottest places on the planet such as Death Valley get as hot as 50 degrees Celsius (120+ Fahrenheit) while green tropical areas even closer to the Equator do not get as hot. Imagine if we could restore green cooling landscapes to desertified land around the globe today. We could have a cooler and kinder future for our grandchildren. Alejandro is making it happen now and the rest of the world needs to follow his fine example of ecosystem restoration. He understands the power of restoring water cycles to entire semi-arid landscapes and how to do it using livestock as a tool. Anyone concerned about biodiversity loss, floods, droughts, and climate change should pay attention for the sake of their children. Thank you Alejandro for making the world better for people now on your ranch and people everywhere in the future.
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