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