What is “Permaculture”?

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The word ‘Permaculture’ is derived from a combination of ‘permanent’ and ‘agriculture’ to signify living in a sustainable manner while conducting human activities, especially around food production. The term was coined by two Australian ecologists, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, describing human settlements, agriculture, behavior patterns, and culture as a model based on natural ecosystems. They worked for decades to evolve an agricultural system that views human activities on the land through a much more holistic lens than the more specialized, resource-depleting “green-revolution” system that now dominates so much of the planet.

Utilizing permaculture principles helps to reconnect people with the land that sustains them, empowering ordinary individuals with the tools and information, and perhaps most importantly, the networking of community needed to reduce the impact of each individual’s “ecological footprint” on the planet. The permaculturist becomes sensitized to the natural forces at work in a garden and looks for patterns and solutions that flow with the seasons and indigenous soil, flora and fauna, rather than against that flow. As Heather Coburn puts it in Food Not Lawns: Peace Through Permaculture:

Permaculture, the design system developed by Bill Mollison and others in the early 1970’s, is a way for people who have forgotten their instincts to move toward the peace on earth that is our birthright and our destiny. Permaculture combines practical, systematic design, ancient instinctual practices, and good ol’ common sense, toward more sustainable, ecologically thriving human settlements.

The basis of Permaculture is cooperation, and means an increase in the thinking we do about our surroundings and a decrease in the actions we may take that have potential to disrupt natural systems.

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