Burning one hectare of grassland gives off more, and more damaging, pollutants than 6,000 cars. And we are burning in Africa, every single year, more than one billion hectares.

Savory is arguing that large-scale burning of grasslands—often used as a land-management tool—creates a pollution burden that can exceed widely recognized urban/industrial sources. By comparing one hectare of burned grassland to thousands of cars, he reframes “traditional” or “rural” burning as a major, underappreciated driver of harmful emissions, and he emphasizes the scale by citing annual burning across Africa. The claim functions rhetorically to support his broader advocacy for alternative land management (notably holistic planned grazing) as a way to reduce reliance on fire and mitigate environmental damage.