Macedonian Refugee Camps Earth Restoration with Permaculture an amazing story
Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson
lakinroe at silcom.com
Tue Oct 17 07:41:04 PDT 2000
Hi everyone
Just returned from a 3 Day Permaculture Course in Louisiana with Bill
Mollison one of the founders of Permaculture. At the Course a group of
Macedonian made a presentation at the course with Australian Permaculture
Teacher and Designer Geoff Lawton who had done the permaculture design for
the Refugee Camp Restoration Cegrane refugee camp in Macedonia. Please read
below from the webpage http://www.rudina.org.mk/english.htm and hear there
words of the Macedonian and how they have inter grated permaculture into
their community as a result of Geoff help in the project. The idea is to
present a new model of land restoration and community help in areas that
suffer war and other human problems. The North West Louisiana Commerce
Center in Minden Louisiana www.nwlcc.com where the course took place is an
15,000 acre defense base once had arms manufacturing which is being
converted to an Eco-industrial Park, and a Permaculture design and teaching
facility. And A place for humans around the world to come and get
Permaculture training so they can repair the earth and rebuild their
communities after natural and man made disasters like war . Training to
put people on the ground all over the world with knowledge and training
before disaster hit.
HERE IS THEIR WORDS FROM THEIR WEBPAGE
The war in Kosovo began in March 1999, bringing a chaotic situation to
the Balkan region. More than 250,000 ethnic Albanian refugees poured
into the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. Some were
accommodated in temporary camps in northwestern Macedonia, and
others stayed with host families in towns and villages. The camps were
commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in
cooperation with the Macedonian government. CARE International in
Macedonia managed the 2 largest refugee camps: Cegrane and
Stenkovic II.
Rudina Project - The Rudina site
At the height of the crisis an estimated 47,000 refugees were sheltered
and fed at the Cegrane refugee camp. This camp, located at Rudina
Mountain in the Municipality of Cegrane, was the largest in Macedonia
and provided temporary accommodation to the greatest number of
refugees in one camp since World War II. An additional 4000 displaced
people were accommodated in the municipality in private homes.
The campsite occupied the 51ha former municipal rubbish dump site
above the villages of Cegrane and Forino. The site is now called Rudina
after Rudina Mountain which towers above it. In Albanian language,
Rudina means the dry place.
CARE International in Macedonia managed the campsite through to its
closure in October 1999, and is managing the ongoing rehabilitation
project.
Rudina Project - The rehabilitation process
Once a peace agreement had been reached for Kosovo and most
refugees returned to their homeland, rehabilitation of the vacated
campsite was addressed. UNHCR, in company with concerned Non
Government Organisations (NGOs), undertook to rehabilitate the site so
that it would benefit the environment and assist in the economic
recovery of host communities.
The Rudina Campsite Rehabilitation Project is designed to be
implemented over five work Phases. The intention is to create a
sustainable Permaculture demonstration and teaching centre, and
establish an understanding of Permaculture throughout Macedonia.
Permaculture, derived from permanent agriculture, is a design method
oriented toward developing sustainable solutions for agriculture and all
other aspects of land and resource management.
The project also aims to link with interested groups throughout the
Balkans where other communities might benefit from information about
sustainable agriculture, waste management and energy efficient
construction practices.
The Project has encouraged a number of civil society initiatives,
including the strengthening of local NGO groups, assistance with
municipal projects, and creating avenues for schoolchildren AND WOMEN
to be involved in the project.
Schoolchildren work on the site and on their own school grounds,
establishing links with other schools through information partnering.
Womens teams have been active participants in the site design and
implementation. This way, the project has also support the participation
of women in community decision-making.
Rudina Project - Why a permaculture solution
Permaculture is a system of design that seeks optimum results within a
set of ethical guidelines.
The principal ethical guideline is that outcomes must be sustainable.
That means that solutions must take into account their impacts and
outcomes, and be capable of continuing without degrading the
environment. Existing methods and technologies are always given first
right of inclusion in preparatory design plans, as local people have often
solved similar problems in their own communities. Solutions and
outcomes are then weighed against both scientific evidence and
practical experiences from around the world, before the final design
process commences.
Another major ethical guideline for Permaculture design in our project
is that stakeholders are entitled to a leading position in making
decisions about the future of their communities. In this way the local
communities and stakeholders are actively involved in the design and
management process throughout.
Demonstrations of a range of vegetation and technologies are also
important to a Permaculture solution. Examples include:
· Companion planting: Plants can be planted in company to
help each other. Some plants produce chemicals and nutrients
which assist the survival and the capacity of surrounding plants
to grow, fruit, or flower. Some plants may help ward off
insects or diseases for their neighbours, some might provide
shade, shelter or support for others. There are many reasons
for companion planting. The systems are drawn from the
experiences and histories of gardeners and farmers from
around the world.
· Experimental work with introduced species. At the Rudina
site we would like to give Macedonian farmers the opportunity
to see exotic plants from all over the world such as herbs,
timber species and vegetables. Some of these plants may do
well, some may not. Farmers can at least witness the plants in
action to see if there are any they may wish to adapt for their
own businesses. Results of these trials will be posted on this
website from time to time.
· Integrated pest control will be demonstrated through
companion planting, through the preparation and use of
organic pesticides, and other techniques that are inexpensive
and sustainable.
· Humane Management of Animals, Fish and Insects is an
important component of any Permaculture Centre. At Rudina
we demonstrate such things as sustainable chicken
management. The chook clock is a system of yards
surrounding a central chicken house, in the shape of a clock
face. The yards are dog and cat proof, and are seeded with
legumes, and grasses. The chickens are allowed into one yard
at a time to feed and socialise. Normally the flock is put into
the same yard for about two weeks until that yard is becoming
exhausted. The other yards regenerate their foliage while
resting. In this way each yard of a seven yard clock gets
twelve weeks of rest before being used again. That is
sufficient time for germination of the seeds. The yards are
worked by the chooks and the soil improved by aeration and
manuring. The following year the chickens can be moved on to
another clock, and the old yards used for vegetable beds. The
year after the yards can be worked again by chickens, and so
on.
· Water management techniques will be demonstrated as
the site develops. A drip irrigation system has been installed.
Solar pumps, impact pumps, pelton wheels, and other
solutions will be installed to help local farmers and shepherds
seek sustainable solutions in dealing with issues of stream
cleanliness, irrigation, and moving water around a site.
· Waste management and recycling is also being
developed to
demonstrate farm and community level management and will
provide examples to help people find solutions for their
environments.
1. Dry waste is collected for reuse on
site or for
sale to recycling companies.
2. Paper and cardboard are readily
usable on site,
whereas glass and aluminium are
normally sold.
3. Wet or compostable waste, is placed
in windrows
to be composted into fertile soils for
use around
the site.
Local and National Government bodies support the project
because of the unique contribution that the Permaculture
demonstration approach brings through the unification of
diverse but connected themes. All seed and plant material to
be imported for the project will be shared with Macedonian
agricultural insitutions and research bodies. Plants will be
trialled so that local farmers can witness the potential for
inclusion on their farms, waste management and recycling
practices can demonstrate examples of avenues for
generating income and employment, and research materials
are available for further investigation.
Rudina Project - The first phase
Funded by the Austrian Government and running from October to
December 31 1999, the first Phase was the time when rehabilitation of
the former refugee camp began. Rubbish was cleared from the site, and
the construction of 13 Swales (which represents 7.2 km of swales in
total) was completed. Swales are earth trenches excavated along the
contour with an attendant mound from the excavation on the down side
of the slope. Swales trap overland water flow, and store it in the
underlying soils. The swales on the Rudina Project can hold 40 million
liters of water, and have removed the danger of flooding the school and
villages at the bottom of the site.
During this initial Phase the project team accomplished the pre-winter
planting of more than 18,000 seedling trees. Most were planted on the
swale and interswale areas. On the southern side of the site a
greenhouse has been constructed for seeds for spring planting. In the
first Phase we also conducted the first and the second 72-hour
Permaculture Design Courses, with total of 18 Permaculture Design
Certificates awarded. Most of the participants of the courses have
gained the skills necessary to be employed in the Project.
The site is surrounded by a trenched fence to protect orchards, young
plants, and the site. This perimeter is planted with locally grown wild
roses, and is called a Ha Ha fence.
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