Introduction
to Permaculture:
Concepts
and Resources
(from ATTRA- National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service)
Index
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 perma-culture, 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 is a design system for creating sustainable human environments.
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.
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 is: the design of land use systems that are sustainable
and environmentally sound; the design of culturally appropriate systems
which lead to social stability; a design system characterized by an
integrated application of ecological principles in land use; an international
movement for land use planning and design; an ethical system stressing
positivism and cooperation.
In the broadest sense, permaculture refers to land use systems which
promote stability in society, utilize resources in a sustainable way
and preserve wildlife habitat and the genetic diversity of wild and
domestic plants and animals. It is a synthesis of ecology and geography,
of observation and design. Permaculture involves ethics of earth care
because the sustainable use of land cannot be separated from life-styles
and philosophical issues.
Permaculture is a practical concept which can be applied in the city,
on the farm, and in the wilderness. Its principles empower people to
establish highly productive environments providing for food, energy,
shelter, and other material and non-material needs, including economic.
Carefully observing natural patterns characteristic of a particular
site, the permaculture designer gradually discerns optimal methods for
integrating water catchment, human shelter, and energy systems with
tree crops, edible and useful perennial plants, domestic and wild animals
and aquaculture.
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.
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 life-style), 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 cropssuch as alley cropping and agroforestrytake
advantage of "the edge effect," increase biological diversity, and offer
other characteristics missing in monoculture 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
agro- forestry, 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 integra-tion of
hydroponics with recirculating aquaculture), and solar aquatic ponds (also
known as Living Machines) play an important role in permaculture designs.
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. ...includes all living and non-living things-plants, animals, land,
water and air
...promotes self-reliance and community responsibility-access to resources
necessary for existence
...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.
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 disciplinesecology, energy conservation,
landscape design, and environmental sciencethese principles are
inherent in any permaculture design, in any climate, and at any scale. 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.
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.
Introduction to Permaculture. 1991. By Bill Mollison and Reny Mia
Slay. Tagari Publishers, Tyalgum, Australia. 198 p.
Permaculture One: A Perennial Agriculture for Human Settlements,
3rd Edition. 1987. By Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Tagari Publishers,
Tyalgum, New South Wales, Australia. 127 p.
Permaculture Two: A Practical Design for Town and Country in Permanent
Agriculture. 1979. By Bill Mollison. Tagari Press, Stanley, Australia.
150 p.
Permaculture: A Designer's Manual. 1988. By Bill Mollison. Tagari
Publications, Tyalgum, Australia. 576 p.
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. 2001. By Toby
Hemenway. Chelsea Green Pub. Co., White River Junction, VT. 222 p. The Permaculture Way: Practical Ways to Create a Self-Sustaining World.
1992. By Graham Bell. Thorsons, London. 239 p.
The Permaculture Garden. 1994. By Graham Bell. Thorsons, London.
170 p.
Permaculture: A Beginner's Guide. 2001. B Graham Burnett. Land
and Liberty, Westcliff On Sea, Essex, England. 60 p. Permaculture in a Nutshell. 1993. By Patrick Whitefield. Permanent
Publications, U.K. 75 p.
Earth User's Guide to Permaculture. 1994. By Rosemary Morrow and
Rob Allsop. Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, NSW Australia. 152 p.
Getting Started in Permaculture. 1998. By Ross and Jennifer Mars.
Candlelight Trust, Hovea, Western Australia. 96 p.
Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants. 1998. By Stephen
Facciola. Kampong Publications, Vista, CA. 713 p.
Designing & Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally. 1986.
By Robert Kourick. Metamorphic Press, Santa Rosa, CA. 370 p.
Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture. 1987. By J. Russell Smith.
Island Press, Washington, D.C. 408 p.
The Permaculture Book of Ferment & Human Nutrition. 1993. By
Bill Mollison. Tagari Publications, Tyalgum, Australia. 288 p.
Introduction to permaculture
Permaculture defined
Characteristics of permaculture
The practical application of permaculture
The ethics of permaculture
The principles of permaculture design
Books on permaculture
A few good books for the permaculturist's bookshelf
Introduction
Permaculture Defined
Characteristics of PermacultureÝ
ÝSource:
Pilarski, Michael (ed.) 1994. Restoration Forestry. Kivaki Press, Durango,
CO. p. 450. Reprinted with permission from the author.
The Practical Application
of Permaculture
The Ethics of Permaculture
The Principles of Permaculture
Design
Permaculture Resources
Books on Permaculture
The Best of Permaculture. 1986. By Max O. Lindegger and Robert Tap.
Nascimanere Publishers, Nambour, Australia. 136 p.
Urban Permaculture. 1993. By David Watkins. Permanent Publications,
U.K. 152 p.
A Few Good Books for the
Permaculturist's Bookshelf
Forest Gardening: Cultivating an Edible Landscape. 1996. By Robert
A de J Hart. Chelsea Green Pub. Co., White River Junction, VT. 234 p.
How to Make a Forest Garden, 3rd Edition. 2000. By Patrick Whitefield.
Permanent Publications, East Meon, Hampshire, England. 168 p.
Water for Every Farm: Yeoman's Keyline Plan. [Date]. By Ken B Yeomans
and P.A. Yeomans. Keyline Design, Southport, Queensland, Australia. 261
p.