Download - Permaculture Intro
Permaculturea Way of Life
ByMaria Luisa Guerra
Mendocino Ecological Learning Center – M.E.L.C.
Agenda• Environmental & Social Context• Permaculture• Urban & Rural Approaches• Local Permaculture in Willits, CA.• Questions & Discussion
Why the emergency?
….the harmful consequences….• High dependency on fossil fuels• Separation from food production• Toxicity• Overuse and over pollution of
watersheds, for drainage and electricity
• Dependence from outside• Power of corrupted corporations
& governments• Ecosystemic malfunctions (disruptions of predators’ reproductive systems)• Increase on pesticides – increase of animals (including humans) birth malfunctions
Abuse and Criminality of Food Systems
• Industrialized cruelty• Growth hormones• Deforestation (cattle
and feed supply)• Pollution• Transportation
Recommended Web Videos
So what?… if now the problem so big, how could I help?…
How about starting by the way we think?
• Consumption (use of resources / waste)• Living/eating decisions (fossil fuel
usage/mileage, local-organically grown)• Unconsciously & deliberately increasing habitat
loss and species extinctions, famine & poverty (abuse of natural resources: construction methods, consumption, waste & pollution, climate)
• Global climate change
… and then start making choices about….
Every individual good act counts!!!
Want to Learn about Options? Want to be part of the Change?Welcome to Permaculture
PermaculturePermanent Agri/Culture
• Definition: is a system for creating sustainable human settlements by integrating ecology and design It takes natural systems as a model and works with nature to design sustainable environments
• History: developed in the ‘70s by Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren.
Permaculture Approaches
To Both Rural & Urban:- Opens door to a simple life
with better quality- Empowering, anyone can
“do it”- Work closely with the earth - Taking responsibility for
how you treat it- Is a synthesis of traditional
knowledge and modern science, applicable to both urban and rural situations
Ethics:Care of the Earth
Care of the People
Return/reinvest the surplus
Setting Limits to Consumption & Population
9 Key Principals of Permaculture• Everything is connected
to everything else. • Plan accordingly. • Let the needs of one be
filled by the other.• Each element has more
than one function.• Each important function
is supported by many elements.
• Place the elements according to how much you use them and how often you have to service them (zone planning).
• Use renewable biological resources wherever possible.
• Use as little energy as possible.
• Create a natural succession of the plants and animals that you grow.
• Maximize edge! Edges are the areas where two different systems meet.
• Permaculture is always poly-culture.
Permaculture Around the World
Sustainable living – local resources
Home scale and regional scale watersheds for cleaning and recycle of nutrients from gray and black water systems…
Urban Food Production
From Living Machines… to Living Classrooms
Local Urban ExampleJason Bradford’s Permaculture Design
• Related to the Willits Economic LocaLization movement - WELL
• Food security and supply for family and community
• Increase of fertility, diversity, drainage, water storage and recycling, vertical use of gardens, animal husbandry…. and so much more!!!!
Local Rural ExampleM.E.L.C. Permaculture Design
• Founded in 2003, the Mendocino Ecological Learning Center (MELC) is a nonprofit educational organization, demonstration site and ecological reserve.
• MELC offers free (no charge) education to the public, in the areas of Ecological Design, Permaculture, Organic Agriculture, Localization and Sustainable community development.
• The center is located in Willits, central Mendocino County, on 31 acres of second and third growth forest lands
…and after thoughtful and proactive observation and land study…
Some Principles of Permaculture at MELC
Everything is connected to everything else, Each element has more than one function, Each important function is supported by many elements, Use renewable biological resources, Create a
natural succession of the plants and animals, Permaculture is always poly-culture
Further Info & 2007 Calendar
M.E.L.C
4651 Bear Canyon Rd.
Willits, CA 95490
707- 456-0779
Check our Website for2007 Calendar
www.melc.us
• Plant Sales• Garden volunteer days
• Workshops• Weekend courses• Summer Camps