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An Introduction to Permaculture |
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by James Sprunt (mcsprint71@yahoo.com)
Permaculture is a merger of the
words ‘permanent’ and ‘agriculture’. More recently though, it is best
articulated as ‘permanent culture’ because it is not necessarily confined to
agriculture. Permaculture (PC) is
practical design, implementation and maintenance methodology that results in
sustainable, stable living systems. In such a system humans are provided with
food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a resource
sustainable manner. The system can vary in size and complexity from a
household level to a wider, much larger and more diverse ecosystem. In fact,
this is one of the goals of PC: to imitate natural stable ecosystems in the
way that they maintain a balance through diversity and sustainable use of
resources. In some places in Using water as an example: it can
be used as an energy source (micro-hydro electricity), as a drinking source
for humans and animals, as an ecosystem (aquaculture), as an irrigation
source. Permaculture looks at the entire system and decides the best location
for water storage and drainage to suit the system’s requirements. For
example, if located in an area with slope and clay, the best use of the
water’s energy would be to site a dam high up in the landscape so that
gravity irrigation can be utilised and/or micro-hydro electricity. In many instances we want water
(and many resources for that matter) to remain in the landscape/system, to be
recycled and reused as many times as possible without making the system
unstable (e.g. excess water leading to flooding), so that it has a chance to
percolate to the aquifers, slowly and over a longer period recharging the
springs and creeks. In many environments, stable systems have been destroyed
through deforestation and large dam projects with resultant carnage of
increased incidence of droughts and flooding as creeks run dry and then
following rains they flood. Permaculture designs systems to reduce these
catastrophes and return an environment to a more stable, sustainable
existence. Furthermore all of these elements
of the system are located to reduce the amount of work that is sometimes
wasted in achieving sustainability. If too much human energy is required the
system will not be sustained. For example, if a kitchen garden (or any other
element that needs many visits from the human element on a very regular basis)
is situated too far from the house, then that element may be neglected.
Therefore, it should be located close to the house. However, if agro-forestry
is to be part of the system which needs less human interaction i.e. not every
day like the kitchen garden, if can be located further away from the house. If one looks at the present
context of Permaculture
Training Permaculture training can
be conducted in many ways. The most detailed and useful for those wanting to train
others is a Permaculture Design Course (PDC). It is a 72 hour course. Once a
participant has undertaken an approved PDC, he/she is then able to deliver
such a course. However, the more experience one has in the concepts, the
greater the quality of the course. Following a PDC and two years of
applied PC work, students can apply for a diploma of permaculture. A PDC can be conducted in one
block of approximately 10 days (two weeks if weekends are not used) or
completed over a much longer period, for example, for one day per week for 10
weeks. The type of training is dependent upon the goals of the participants. However, there are many elements
of permaculture that could be taught to farmers in
a workshop type format. Once again we should look at the goals and objectives
of the participants to decide which training would be of most value. Although all elements of PC are
interrelated, for training purposes a PDC can be divided into the following
sections: Introduction Looks at the ethics that underpin
PC. These are: Care for the Earth, Care of People, Use
surplus to enhance the first two. Principles
of Natural Systems and Design The guiding principles of PC
design are:
Permaculture design (as different to many other types of design) focuses on function whereby the system aims to be sustainable (providing for its own needs) with good (or surplus) production. Subheadings could include:
Understanding
Patterns in Life Essentially looks at the way in which nature was designed and
produces and attempts to replicate some of these. E.g
in nature there is more diversity where different ecosystems meet (grassland
and forest, Landscape
profiles and design There are many different
landscapes around the world (and indeed in
Climatic
differences As with landscapes, climate has a
big influence on a system. Plants that may be very beneficial in a temperate climate
may have much less use in a tropical one. The three very basic divisions:
cold/hot/dry or temperate/humid/desert.
The cultivated ecology Looks at different methods for:
Other sections which do not need
elaboration could be: Trees and their Energy Water in landscape Integrated pest management Seed conservation and community seed
banking Soils Earthworks and Earth Resources Aquaculture Alternative technology / appropriate
energy conserving technology Waste disposal and recycling Buildings and structures / Energy
efficient housing Strategies of an Alternative
Global Nation |
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