Feasta Lecture 2009

Allan Savory argued that while livestock may be part of the problem, they can also be an important part of the solution. He has demonstrated time and again in Africa, Australia and North and South America that, properly managed, they are essential to land restoration. With the right techniques, plant growth is lusher, the water table is higher, wildlife thrives, soil carbon increases and, surprisingly, perhaps four times as many cattle can be kept.

Extracts from Allan Savory’s lecture including 2 segments that focused on the process of using livestock to improve land.

Check out this CNN video  to see how biochar can be produced from organic waste.

Peter spoke about LUCAS, the Land Use and Carbon Analysis System of New Zealand which is used to meet New Zealand’s reporting requirements under Kyoto. LUCAS uses LiDAR, a remote sensing technique, to inventory forests and to derive land-use change maps.

The presentation slides with voice over can be viewed below.

Corinna Byrne , co-ordinator of the Carbon Cycles and Sinks Network, examined the policies needed to get Irish land to absorb CO2 rather than release it. Besides discussing how the large amounts of carbon locked up in peatlands can be safeguarded, she reviewed the role that biochar could play in reducing nitrous oxide and methane emissions and building up the fertility and carbon content of the soil.

Corinna Byrne – Carbon Cycles and Sinks from Feasta on Vimeo.

Recorded on day three of The New Emergency Conference: Managing Risk and Building Resilience in a Resource Constrained World. Held on 10-12 June 2009, All Hallows College, Drumcondra, Dublin 9, Ireland

Click here to view the video that pitches biochar as a climate change solution.