Frequently Asked Questions
What is Permaculture Design?
The philosophy of Permaculture is to reduce the impact that human settlements have on non-renewable and renewable resources, while creating an abundant living environment, catering to the needs of all living creatures.
Permaculture is a science developed through the observation and analysis of natural systems. Through this analysis set structural patterns common to all natural systems emerge. Permaculture design then applies these “Patterns” to the development of sustainable human settlements, harmoniously integrating landscape and people while providing food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.
What does Sustainability mean?
In the Oxford dictionary, sustainable is defined as; ” Support, bear the weight of, esp. for a long period.”
This definition can be taken into the context of our lives. Sustainability, therefore, refers to the development of ecological, economic and social systems that will promote and enhance life, without depleting the earth’s limited and precious resources. It embraces the capacity to be more self-sufficient and to protect the diversity of life on earth, which inturn is essential for our own survival.
Is there really an environmental crisis?
There is an abundance of evidence highlighting the contemporary ecological degradation occurring around the planet. Agricultural and Industrial pollution, de-forestation and soil erosion are issues that are becoming widely publicised, yet there are many other “symptoms” related directly to a deteriorating environment. Issues relating to public health, global standards of living and social cohesion are all connected with environmental issues.
Many people remain disconnected from their environment and increasingly unaware of the basic fuctioning of global ecosystems. This trend is increasing as the world’s population is rapidly urbanising, the majority of humans now living in cities for the first time in human history.
In turn we lead increasingly consumptive lifestyles and buy all our primary needs; energy, food, shelter and goods from global sources. While remaining uninformed of the enormous impact our everyday actions have on global ecological, economic and social systems. It is possible to start reversing the current environmental crisis by adopting sustainable living practises; Permaculture Design can be a powerful tool in the development of sustainable human settlements.
Why is soil erosion such a problem?
Soil erosion and land degradation are perhaps the greatest environmental issues facing most regions and societies at this time. Although irrevocably linked to deforestation and pollution problems, soil erosion is bigger than the sum of these two crises combined. All agricultural practices depend on a stable and productive soil for their long term sustainablility. . Soil erosion leads to the gradual loss of fertility in the landscape. Soil is a living entity that is formed gradually through ecological and geological processes.
Soil degradation is then the loss of production and inturn the loss of dependent plants and animals. Land degradation is not a new phenomenum, human societies have been degrading environments through their cultural practices for thousands of years. Perhaps the root cause of soil erosion is mankinds general lack of understanding of the complex natural systems that constantly interact to produce dynamic and stable global ecosystems
Today the scale of the impact is greater due to
· exploding human populations, and
· unsustainable agricultural practices and
· urban development.
What is ‘Monoculture’ ?
Monoculture is the production of a single crop on a large scale (eg; sugar cane) and is today used throughout the world as the main agricultural production technique. Soil erosion can easily occur in these systems due to their ecological simplicity and the constant disturbance of soil structures. Another result of ecological simplicity is the susceptibiliuty of monocultural crops to disease and attack from predators. Consequently, most monoculture farms need to use pesticide, fungicide and fertilizers to enable crops to grow and prosper.
The use of these chemicals further undermines the holding structure of soil, making it increasingly susceptible to erosion. . Historically, when food became a commodity to own and sell, soil erosion problems increased exponentially along with the ownership of huge industrial mono-crops by large corporations.
Today soil erosion is evident throughout most agricultural lands worldwide. Its effects contribute to high levels of salinity, blue green algae in waterways and the degradation of coastal reef ecologies. In the 1960’s there were over 12 major food crops. Now there are only six, and these are increasingly being produced on marginal and damaged lands. This becomes a significant issue when you consider that one of the basic survival needs for human beings is a stable and diverse range of food sources.
Is it expensive to implement Permaculture Design Principles?
From designing and implementing a small home and garden retrofit, to the inception of large-scale development projects, Permaculture design principles can be less or no more expensive than standard building, landscape and agricultural techniques. The design principles can be applied on any scale, from multi million dollar urban developments to small scale home gardens in developing nations. The long term economic, social and ecological benefits of any designed development are exponential over time.
I realise there are problems globally, but what can I do?
Every action we initiate in our daily lives has enormous repercussions on global social, economic and ecological systems. The interconnectedness of all systems means that we as individuals are far from powerless, in fact we are literally creating the world around us through our constant choices. What we choose to eat, drink and purchase and where these items are grown and manufactured are direct daily links to global practices. The first step then is to be conscious of the repercussions of our own daily actions and begin to alter them if we really wish to afford global change.
Why do we need Permaculture design?
To begin to consciously DESIGN all aspects of our complex human settlements is a straightforward but revolutionary . Through design we can develop practical and achievable solutions to reversing the current trend in bio-diversity and environmental degradation.
At present each individual on earth will use an average of 7 acres in land to provide their physical needs. The calculations used to devise these figures are called an ‘ecological footprint’. In the industrialised nation this average increases to around 30 acres of land. Some calculations of Sustainable Ecological footprints offer only approximately 1.5 acres of land per person of resources . Present day figures then are highly unsustainlable and alternative systems of settlement must be found. The use of Permaculture design techniques can concretely help to reduce our ‘ecological footprint’.
What about economic growth?
Permaculture Design.com.au believe that the major priority for global policy systems is to promote “economic development” rather than the present philosophy of continuous “economic growth”.
“Growth” means to increase in size by constant assimilation and accretion of materials. When something grows it gets physically bigger. This philosophy can be seen in the present direction of our urban settlements, agicultural practices, population and even our own bodies.
By contrast, Permaculture Design is primarily concerned with economic, social and ecological development. “Development” being the realisation of potential, the evolution towards a greater, fuller or better state. The Design process favouring qualitative improvement over quantative expansion. The goal being true human and global “progress”.
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