What Is Permaculture?

WORKING WITH NATURE HAS FINALLY BECOME A SCIENCE — AND IT WORKS SO WELL IT’S SPREADING WORLDWIDE AS A GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT!

- Angelo Eliades

As organic gardeners, we aspire to garden in ways that are sustainable and ecologically sound, with minimal environmental impact. We seek to work with nature rather than against her and to treat all life with reverence and respect. These goals and values have been shared by ethical communities worldwide; by people who have lived in harmony with the planet, all the way through human history.

What if we could gather their wisdom and make it accessible to the modern world by systematising it and explaining it scientifically? Imagine if we combined what they knew with our current knowledge of ecology, the scientific study of the relationships of living organisms to one another and to their environment. This would be something very innovative and exciting. Here’s a little secret: it has actually been done ... and it’s called permaculture!

THE REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS

The 1970s were a time of major changes, both good and bad. During this time, we saw the emergence of unsustainable corporate agribusiness, with its heavy reliance on agricultural chemicals and primary focus on profits. This departure from traditional organic farming methods had its consequences: a reduction in food quality, chemical contamination of food and damage to the environment.

Many recognised the dangers of the new direction agriculture was taking, and some dared to challenge it. In 1974, two visionary Australian ecologists, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, realised that the solution was to shift agriculture back towards nature and to go one step further beyond where organic agriculture had already gone.