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Permaculture – the idea of living lightly on the planet – has been around for half a century. For some, it’s a sustainable and environmentally friendly way of living. For those living in countries devastated by climate change, it can be the difference between life and death.
For Word Forest, permaculture is an initiative that’s grown along with the trees that we and the local communities in Kenya have been planting and nurturing for many years.
In this series of three articles, we explore the 12 principles of permaculture and how the communities in Kenya are using permaculture to live securely on the land. In this article, we introduce the origins of permaculture and the first six principles, which focus on the bottom-up perspective of elements, organisms and individuals.
How Did Permaculture Start?
Bill Mollison and David Holmgren created the permaculture concept at the University of Tasmania in 1974. They developed 12 principles that provide the foundation for the design and upkeep of diverse and resilient ecosystems. These systems provide sustainable food and resources for communities while staying within nature’s limits and creatively adapting to the ecological reality of the world we live in.
David Holmgren’s book, Permaculture Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, describes the 12 permaculture principles in detail. Here’s a summary of the first six.
The Permaculture Principles 1-6
Principle 1: Observe and Interact
Taking the time to observe and understand our environment before acting is the foundation of permaculture design.
We look at factors such as the topography of the land, the climate, soils, vegetation, water and the natural processes and cycles. By learning about the ecosystem and its patterns, we can develop sustainable systems that meet the needs of people and animals. We can do that best by working with nature, not against it!
Principle 2: Catch and Store Energy
By capturing and storing energy, we can take advantage of resources when they are abundant so that we have reserves to sustain us in times of scarcity and disruption.
Energy comes in various forms, such as sunlight, wind, rainwater, and biomass. We can store solar energy in batteries, collect rainwater to provide irrigation for future crops and save seeds in seed banks. Planting a forest creates a biomass that is a living store of building materials, fuel, nutrients and water.
Principle 3: Obtain a Yield
Obtaining a yield is fundamental to the success of permaculture projects. Nothing will succeed if people have to work on an empty stomach!
This principle is at the heart of any permaculture initiative. A yield means producing something tangible, whether it’s food, money, creating wildlife habitats or building a community. Systems that provide rewards will flourish while those that don’t will decline and die.
We need to make wise choices to ensure that everything we do will contribute to a yield. For example, instead of growing ornamental plants, it’s better to plant trees that deliver produce in the form of food, fuel or building material.
Principle 4: Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback
We each need to recognise our limitations and accept responsibility for our own consumption and waste. We must be prepared to set boundaries and make improvements to the way we live for the benefit of others and the planet.
By acting on feedback – whether from nature or other people – we can continuously improve systems. In this way we can minimise mistakes and develop ecosystems that are robust and resilient.
Principle 5: Use and Value Renewable Resources
Renewable resources are those that are replenished and replaced by natural processes over a reasonable time period and are used in preference to finite resources such as fossil fuels. Renewables include solar energy, wind power and bio-based materials like plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms.
In permaculture, our aim is to use resources sustainably so we reduce our ecological footprint. For example, we can develop forestry, fishing and farming practices that ensure the resources continue to flourish year after year. We can take advantage of natural phenomena, such as planting an orchard downslope from a forest to take advantage of the continual drift of nutrients and water down the hill.
We can rediscover simple and sustainable practices, such as using sun and wind to dry clothes, rather than a tumble dryer.
Principle 6: Produce No Waste
Nature produces no waste – the output from one process becomes an input to another. We need to follow this lead by treating our environment with care and finding imaginative ways to use the waste from one part of our system as a resource for another part.
Permaculture ethos is to reduce, reuse, repair and recycle. In a world of abundance, we need a collective mind shift to live more lightly on the land, using only what we need and reusing waste – like buying second hand clothes, composting leftovers and recycling greywater.
By carefully maintaining tools and equipment, we can prevent major waste or repair work later.
Next time…
In the second article of this series, we cover the second set of the 12 principles, which emphasise the patterns and relationships that emerge through system self-organisation and co-evolution.
Alison Walton
