[Scpg] The Overstory #94--Permaculture

Sun Nov 11 01:18:54 PST 2001

dont ya just love the name?...

Subj:    The Overstory #94--Permaculture
Date:   Tuesday, October 30, 2001 12:09:52 PM
From:   overstory at agroforester.com
To:     DrRoley at aol.com

From:   overstory at agroforester.com (The Overstory)
To: DrRoley at aol.com (Bill Roley)

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Overstory #94 -  Permaculture 

by Steve Diver

Contents:

: A PERSONAL NOTE FROM BILL MOLLISON

: INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE

: PERMACULTURE DEFINED 

: CHARACTERISTICS OF PERMACULTURE 

: THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF PERMACULTURE 

: THE ETHICS OF PERMACULTURE 

: THE PRINCIPLES OF PERMACULTURE DESIGN 

: PERMACULTURE RESOURCES 

: ORIGINAL SOURCE

: ABOUT THE AUTHOR

: WEB LINKS

: RELATED EDITIONS OF THE OVERSTORY

: UPCOMING PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE BY BILL MOLLISON

: PUBLISHER NOTES

::::::::::::::

A personal note from Bill Mollison--

©2000 Bill Mollison

I have been vitally concerned about the environment for over thirty years,

first as a scientist and naturalist, later as a vigorous campaigner against

environmental exploitation.

As a child I lived in a sort of dream, and I didn't really awaken until I

was about twenty-eight years old. I spent most of my early working life in

the bush or on the sea. I fished and hunted for my livelihood. It wasn't

until the 1950s that I noticed large parts of the system in which I lived

were disappearing. First fish stocks became extinct. Then I noticed the

seaweed around the shorelines had gone. Large patches of forest began to

die. I hadn't realised until those things were gone that I'd become very

fond of them; that I was in love with my country.

This discovery shifted the emphasis of my work in the late 1960s. This lead

to the development of the "Permaculture Concept", a strategy which focuses

on sustainable design for urban and rural properties. Permaculture, or

PERMAnent CULTURE, is the conscious design of agriculturally-productive

ecosystems and energy conserving settlements which have the resilience,

dynamic stability and diversity of natural systems, like forests or

grasslands. Such systems provide for their own needs, do not pollute or

exploit, and are therefore sustainable in the long term.

Permaculture design is taught in a 72 hour, two-week intensive course, as a

series of strategies which draw on traditional knowledge and modern

technology. Graduates of these courses can then teach others, or can design

for themselves or others. Permaculture information has thus been freely and

quickly disseminated. There are approximately 250,000 Permaculture

graduates worldwide, and many thousands more who use Permaculture texts and

information. There are very few countries which do not have a Permaculture

group, association and indigenous teachers teaching in their own languages.

All of this has been achieved entirely independent of government and

institutional support. There are no expensive showcase sites; rather the

sum total of many people working in their backyards, farms, schools,

community gardens, projects and villages.

The impetus for all the work I do has been the desire to leave our children

gardens, not deserts. I see the great challenge of sustainable agriculture

is to produce the food and fibre needed while sustaining fertile soils;

maintaining supplies of clean water, and protecting and enhancing

biological diversity and the health of ecosystems. Societies can meet this

challenge by supporting vital ecosystems, farmers in their roles as

producers and stewards and urban conservation groups. 

::::::::::::::

INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE

by Steve Diver

The word "permaculture" was coined in 1978 by Bill Mollison, an Australian

ecologist, and one of his students, David Holmgren. It is a contraction of

"permanent agriculture" or "permanent culture."

Permaculture is about designing ecological human habitats and food

production systems. It is a land use and community building movement which

strives for the harmonious integration of human dwellings, microclimate,

annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, and water into stable,

productive communities. The focus is not on these elements themselves, but

rather on the relationships created among them by the way we place them in

the landscape. This synergy is further enhanced by mimicking patterns found

in nature.

A central theme in permaculture is the design of ecological landscapes that

produce food. Emphasis is placed on multi-use plants, cultural practices

such as sheet mulching and trellising, and the integration of animals to

recycle nutrients and graze weeds.

However, permaculture entails much more than just food production. Energy

efficient buildings, waste water treatment, recycling, and land stewardship

in general are other important components of permaculture. More recently,

permaculture has expanded its purview to include economic and social

structures that support the evolution and development of more permanent

communities, such as co-housing projects and eco-villages. As such,

permaculture design concepts are applicable to urban as well as rural

settings, and are appropriate for single households as well as whole farms

and villages.

"Integrated farming" and "ecological engineering" are terms sometimes used

to describe permaculture, with "cultivated ecology" perhaps coming the

closest. Though helpful, these terms alone do not capture the holistic

nature of permaculture; thus, the following definitions are included here

to provide additional insight.

PERMACULTURE DEFINED

1.    Bill Mollison:

Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable human

environments.

2.    The Permaculture Drylands Institute, published in The Permaculture

Activist (Autumn 1989):

Permaculture: the use of ecology as the basis for designing integrated

systems of food production, housing, appropriate technology, and community

development. Permaculture is built upon an ethic of caring for the earth

and interacting with the environment in mutually beneficial ways.

3.    Lee Barnes, former editor of Katuah Journal and Permaculture

Connections, Waynesville, North Carolina:

Permaculture (PERMAnent agriCULTURE or PERMAnent CULTURE) is a sustainable

design system stressing the harmonious interrelationship of humans, plants,

animals and the Earth.

To paraphrase the founder of permaculture, designer Bill Mollison:

Permaculture principles focus on thoughtful designs for small-scale

intensive systems which are labor efficient and which use biological

resources instead of fossil fuels. Designs stress ecological connections

and closed energy and material loops. The core of permaculture is design

and the working relationships and connections between all things. Each

component in a system performs multiple functions, and each function is

supported by many elements. Key to efficient design is observation and

replication of natural ecosystems, where designers maximize diversity with

polycultures, stress efficient energy planning for houses and settlement,

using and accelerating natural plant succession, and increasing the highly

productive "edge-zones" within the system.

Permaculture adopts techniques and principles from ecology, appropriate

technology, sustainable agriculture, and the wisdom of indigenous peoples.

The ethical basis of permaculture rests upon care of the earth--maintaining

a system in which all life can thrive. This includes human access to

resources and provisions, but not the accumulation of wealth, power, or

land beyond their needs.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PERMACULTURE

*    Permaculture is one of the most holistic, integrated systems analysis

and design methodologies found in the world.

*    Permaculture can be applied to create productive ecosystems from the

human-use standpoint or to help degraded ecosystems recover health and

wildness. Permaculture can be applied in any ecosystem, no matter how

degraded.

*    Permaculture values and validates traditional knowledge and

experience. Permaculture incorporates sustainable agriculture practices and

land management techniques and strategies from around the world.

Permaculture is a bridge between traditional cultures and emergent

earth-tuned cultures.

*    Permaculture promotes organic agriculture which does not use

pesticides to pollute the environment.

*    Permaculture aims to maximize symbiotic and synergistic relationships

between site components.

*    Permaculture is urban planning as well as rural land design.

*    Permaculture design is site specific, client specific, and culture

specific.

THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF PERMACULTURE

Permaculture is not limited to plant and animal agriculture, but also

includes community planning and development, use of appropriate

technologies (coupled with an adjustment of lifestyle), and adoption of

concepts and philosophies that are both earth-based and people-centered,

such as bioregionalism.

Many of the appropriate technologies advocated by permaculturists are well

known. Among these are solar and wind power, composting toilets, solar

greenhouses, energy efficient housing, and solar food cooking and drying.

Due to the inherent sustainability of perennial cropping systems,

permaculture places a heavy emphasis on tree crops. Systems that integrate

annual and perennial crops--such as alley cropping and agroforestry--take

advantage of "the edge effect," increase biological diversity, and offer

other characteristics missing in monocultural systems. Thus, multicropping

systems that blend woody perennials and annuals hold promise as viable

techniques for large-scale farming. Ecological methods of production for

any specific crop or farming system (e.g., soil building practices,

biological pest control, composting) are central to permaculture as well as

to sustainable agriculture in general.

Since permaculture is not a production system, per se, but rather a land

use and community planning philosophy, it is not limited to a specific

method of production. Furthermore, as permaculture principles may be

adapted to farms or villages worldwide, it is site specific and therefore

amenable to locally adapted techniques of production.

As an example, standard organic farming and gardening techniques utilizing

cover crops, green manures, crop rotation, and mulches are emphasized in

permacultural systems. However, there are many other options and

technologies available to sustainable farmers working within a

permacultural framework (e.g., chisel plows, no-till implements, spading

implements, compost turners, rotational grazing). The decision as to which

"system" is employed is site-specific and management dependent.

Farming systems and techniques commonly associated with permaculture

include agroforestry, swales, contour plantings, Keyline agriculture (soil

and water management), hedgerows and windbreaks, and integrated farming

systems such as pond-dike aquaculture, aquaponics, intercropping, and

polyculture.

Gardening and recycling methods common to permaculture include edible

landscaping, keyhole gardening, companion planting, trellising, sheet

mulching, chicken tractors, solar greenhouses, spiral herb gardens, swales,

and vermicomposting.

Water collection, management, and re-use systems like Keyline, greywater,

rain catchment, constructed wetlands, aquaponics (the integration of

hydroponics with recirculating aquaculture), and solar aquatic ponds (also

known as Living Machines) play an important role in permaculture designs.

THE ETHICS OF PERMACULTURE

Permaculture is unique among alternative farming systems (e.g., organic,

sustainable, eco-agriculture, biodynamic) in that it works with a set of

ethics that suggest we think and act responsibly in relation to each other

and the earth.

The ethics of permaculture provide a sense of place in the larger scheme of

things, and serve as a guidepost to right livelihood in concert with the

global community and the environment, rather than individualism and

indifference.

1.    Care of the Earth

...includes all living and non-living things--plants, animals, land, water

and air

2.    Care of People

...promotes self-reliance and community responsibility--access to resources

necessary for existence

3.    Setting Limits to Population & Consumption

...gives away surplus--contribution of surplus time, labor, money,

information, and energy to achieve the aims of earth and people care.

Permaculture also acknowledges a basic life ethic, which recognizes the

intrinsic worth of every living thing. A tree has value in itself, even if

it presents no commercial value to humans. That the tree is alive and

functioning is worthwhile. It is doing its part in nature: recycling

litter, producing oxygen, sequestering carbon dioxide, sheltering animals,

building soils, and so on.

THE PRINCIPLES OF PERMACULTURE DESIGN

Whereas permaculture ethics are more akin to broad moral values or codes of

behavior, the principles of permaculture provide a set of universally

applicable guidelines which can be used in designing sustainable habitats.

Distilled from multiple disciplines--ecology, energy conservation,

landscape design, and environmental science--these principles are inherent

in any permaculture design, in any climate, and at any scale.

1.    Relative location

2.    Each element performs multiple functions

3.    Each function is supported by many elements

4.    Energy efficient planning

5.    Using biological resources

6.    Energy cycling

7.    Small-scale intensive systems

8.    Natural plant succession and stacking

9.    Polyculture and diversity of species

10.    Increasing "edge" within a system

11.    Observe and replicate natural patterns

12.    Pay attention to scale

13.    Attitude

PERMACULTURE RESOURCES

Four ways to learn about permaculture include: the permaculture design

course, the permaculture literature, the Internet, and permaculture

workshops.

The Permaculture Design Course is the primary vehicle for transfer of

permaculture expertise. The standard course is 72 hours in length and lasts

two weeks. Graduates are issued a permaculture design certificate and are

entitled to use the term "Permaculture" in the pursuit of livelihood and

for educational purposes. Graduates are eligible to continue studies and

become certified permaculture consultants.

The permaculture literature is a rich source of information on a wide range

of topics dealing with land use, plant and animal agriculture, water

management, appropriate technology, energy-efficient and toxic-free

housing, and community design.

Since 1995, the Internet (e.g., World Wide Web and E-mail) has become an

important resource and networking tool in the dissemination of permaculture

information. A selection of web sites is listed below.

Permaculture workshops are commonly held as one to three day events to

provide training on technologies such as vermicomposting, solar

greenhouses, straw bale construction, sheet mulching, and organic

gardening.

: Periodicals and Organizations

The Permaculture Activist

P.O. Box 1209

Black Mountain, NC 28711 USA

828-669-6336

828-669-5068 Fax

pcactiv at metalab.unc.edu

http://www.permacultureactivist.net

The Permaculture Activist is the leading periodical for North American

permaculture. It publishes articles on permaculture, edible landscaping,

bioregionalism, aquaculture, etc, and provides a current listing of

upcoming permaculture design courses. It serves as an important networking

tool in the U.S., Canada, and Central America. Back issues are available.

Permaculture Drylands Journal

Permaculture Drylands Institute

P.O. Box 156

Santa Fe, NM 87504-0156 USA

505-983-0663

505-986-0339 Fax

Pdrylands at aol.com

http://www.permaculture.net/PDI%20Web/PDI.html

Permaculture Drylands Journal (formerly Sustainable Living in Drylands) is

published in April, August, and December by the Permaculture Drylands Educa

tion and Research Institute. It focuses on permaculture concepts and

designs for arid lands, with a heavy focus on New Mexico and Arizona. PDJ

has published articles on straw bale buildings, solar box cookers, dryland

farming, and many other topics of interest; back issues are available. PDI

offers a regular series of Permaculture Design Courses.

Permaculture International Journal

Permaculture International Ltd.

P.O. Box 6039

South Lismore, NSW 2480 Australia

pgould at mullum.com.au

http://www.nor.com.au/environment/perma/index.html

Permaculture International Journal was the leading permaculture magazine

for two decades, yet ceased publication in mid-2000. Permaculture

International Ltd. continues its activities online, with a web page that

features a newsletter, a global directory, an email discussion list,

educational resources, and permaculture events in Australia. Back issues of

PIJ, found in a few libraries here and there, is a goldmine of valuable

information.

Tagari Publications  - Permaculture Institute

31 Rulla Road

Sisters Creek Tasmania 7325 Australia

+ 61 (0)3 6445 0945

+ 61 (0)3 6445 0944 fax

email: tagariadmin at southcom.com.au

The International Permaculture Institute serves as the international

coordinating organization for permaculture activities such as permaculture

design accreditation.

: Books on Permaculture

Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison and Reny Mia Slay. 1991.

Tagari Publishers, Tyalgum, Australia. 198 p.

Permaculture: A Designer's Manual by Bill Mollison. 1988. Tagari

Publications, Tyalgum, Australia. 576 p.

Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway. 2001.

Chelsea Green Publishing Co., White River Junction, Vermont, USA. 222 p.

Earth User's Guide to Permaculture by Rosemary Morrow and Rob Allsop. 2000.

Simon & Schuster Intl.

: On-Line Articles, Fact Sheets, & Proceedings on Permaculture

Permaculture: Design For Living by Bill Mollison. Originally published in

IN CONTEXT #28, Spring 1991:

http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC28/Mollison.htm

Building A Bamboo Farm: Using Permaculture Principles in Bamboo

Agroforestry by Simon Henderson. One of several on-line articles at

Permaculture the Earth: http://www.permaearth.org/bamboo.html

On-line articles on Permaculture the Earth:

http://www.permaearth.org/writings.html

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ORIGINAL SOURCE

This edition of The Overstory is excerpted with the kind permission of

Steve Diver from the full version:

Introduction to Permaculture: Concepts and Resources posted at

<http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/perma.html>.

Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA)

P.O. Box 3657

Fayetteville, AR 72702

Phone: 1-800-346-9140 --- FAX: (501) 442-9842

Web: <http://www.attra.org>

"Characteristics of Permaculture" is from: Pilarski, M. (ed.) 1994.

Restoration Forestry. Kivaki Press, Durango, CO. p. 450.

::::::::::::::

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A permaculture design course graduate, Steve Diver is a technical

specialist in horticulture and agronomy at the Appropriate Technology

Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) program, the national sustainable farming

information center located at the University of Arkansas.

The focus of the ATTRA program is on farming systems that enhance the

economic livelihoods of farm families while sustaining the environment.

ATTRA provides resources and technical assistance to commercial farmers,

including small farmers and market gardeners, in the United States.

Please send updates or additions by e-mail to: steved at ncatark.uark.edu

::::::::::::::

WEB LINKS

See "Permaculture Resources" section above.

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RELATED EDITIONS OF THE OVERSTORY

The Overstory #88--Revegetation Planning for Farm Forestry

The Overstory #44--Integrated Systems Approach

<http://www.agroforester.com/overstory/overstory44.html>

The Overstory #18--Designing Resource Systems

<http://www.agroforester.com/overstory/overstory18.html>

The Overstory #7-- Agroforestry Systems

<http://www.agroforester.com/overstory/overstory7.html>

::::::::::::::

UPCOMING PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE BY BILL MOLLISON

BILL MOLLISON presents Permaculture Design Course -- 11th  to 25th January,

2002

Bill Mollison, founding Director of the Permaculture Institute will present

this valuable course on his home turf, Tasmania. Those who wish to expand

their horizons and experience Bill in action are eagerly invited to bring

their questions and intellect to Tasmania and take this course. Bill

continues to research sustainable system design. He is preparing two books

devoted to this passion, and is in fine form for this course. Student

numbers are strictly limited.

For info and a Course Brochure contact:

Tagari Publications  - Permaculture Institute

31 Rulla Road

Sisters Creek Tasmania 7325

Australia     Ph: 61 (0)3 6445 0945 Fax: 61 (0)3 6445 0944

E-mail: tagariadmin at southcom.com.au

::::::::::::::

PUBLISHER NOTES

Publisher: Permanent Agriculture Resources, P.O. Box 428, Holualoa, HI

96725 USA; Tel: 808-324-4427; Fax: 808-324-4129; E-mail:

<par at agroforestry.net>; Web site: <http://www.agroforestry.net>

Editors: Craig R. Elevitch and Kim M. Wilkinson

Past editions of The Overstory: <http://www.overstory.org>

rights reserved worldwide. For conditions of use please send an e-mail to

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