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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 permaculture principles and how the communities in Kenya are using permaculture to live securely on the land. This part covers the second six principles.
The Permaculture Principles 7-12
David Holmgren’s book, Permaculture Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability, summarises the 12 key permaculture principles. The first six principles focus on the bottom-up perspective of elements, organisms and individuals. Here we summarise the second six principles, which emphasise the patterns and relationships that emerge through system self-organisation and co-evolution.
Principle 7: Design From Patterns to Details
Designing from patterns to details means that we need to understand the big picture before we move to the specifics.
The first permaculture principle, observe and interact, helps us to learn about the land and environment. From there we can decide how to best design resilient and adaptable systems that will meet the permaculture ethics and principles.
Recognising patterns in different contexts means we can apply them in new situations – perhaps at a different scale – and benefit from existing knowledge and experience to build new systems that work.
Principle 8: Integrate Rather Than Segregate
We need to develop cooperative and interdependent relationships between all parts of a system, including plants, animals, people and infrastructure. Each part should serve the needs and accept the products of other parts.
For example, chickens scratching under forage forests can harvest litter for downslope garden systems, while plants in animal pastures can contribute to soil improvement and biodiversity. Grazing livestock can control weeds without needing pesticides and growing nitrogen-fixing plants near crops can reduce the need for artificial fertilisers.
The more relationships and interconnections between parts of the systems, the stronger, more productive and more resilient each system becomes.
Principle 9: Use Small and Slow Solutions
Using small and slow solutions flies against the belief in many societies that large-scale, fast and centralised systems are best.
The opposite is often true. For example, cars may be convenient but they clog up roads and cause pollution. In forestry, fast-growing trees are often short-lived, while the growth of slower ones may accelerate later, with greater crops produced over the long term. Livestock that are fed concentrated nutrients, growth hormones and antibiotics can suffer more disease, develop antibiotic resistance and have a lower life expectancy than more naturally raised animals.
Small and slow solutions can be better for the environment and create more resilient and stronger local communities.
Principle 10: Use and Value Diversity
Diversity is key to conserving and enriching native and human habitats. While monocultures are at risk from disease and pests, diversity strengthens resilience – if one element of a system fails, others will thrive.
Permaculture design aims to develop a diversity of different systems and structures to reflect the landscape, cultural context and community. Examples include planting trees to provide different ecological roles at different ages, and the successive planting of vegetables to spread yields throughout the year.
Principle 11: Use Edges and Value the Marginal
We need to be open to all parts of our environment – hedgerows as well as fields, tidal estuaries as well as the sea, dusk as well as daylight.
Edges are often diverse and productive areas. For example, the boundary between a forest and a field is ideal for plants and animals that benefit from both environments. Living soil is the interface between the non-living mineral earth, the atmosphere and the biosphere. Only a limited number of hardy species can thrive in shallow, compacted and poorly-drained soil. Cultivating this edge to produce deep, well-drained and aerated soil ensures that it supports productive and healthy plant life.
By seeing the edge as an opportunity rather than a problem, we can benefit from those elements seen as providing a minor contribution to a function or system. In doing so, we can create more productive species and habitats.
Principle 12: Creatively Use and Respond to Change
Change can be an opportunity rather than a threat. A creative response is to use iterative design as the way to find the right balance between stability and change.
Nature is constantly evolving and growing. Its response to events such as forest fires and floods can teach us lessons about how to become more flexible, agile and adaptable. Successful businesses are the ones who learn from mistakes and adverse events to grow and thrive. Sticking to rigid plans and goals isn’t the right answer when conditions around us change in unexpected ways.
By observing and understanding the ecosystem around us, we can respond and adapt to events – even if our course of action has to change from what we originally planned.
Next time…
In the third and final article of this series, we look at how the communities in Kenya use permaculture methods to live sustainably on the land.
Alison Walton
