Return to the savanna: How grazing restores the land and reawakens our human roots

Nate Chisholm is in a lifelong exploration of the savanna ecosystem—the landscape in which the first human societies evolved, and some of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Savannas are where we learned to hunt and gather. Ironically, as human beings developed technology, starting with stone tools, we altered these landscapes by over-hunting large animals, leading to degradation of the land and eventually the loss of most of the savannas themselves.  According to Chisholm, the degradation of land through technology is the root of all our modern problems—but we can return to balance by restoring savanna landscapes, and restoring the savanna roots of our own psyches.  Chisholm is a livestock grazer,  with a background in forestry and ecologically based land management. He started two ranching businesses in the US and is currently living in Kenya and working on a book called Savanna.