Zones
An essential element of permaculture designs is that production systems are suitably matched to landscape features are designed with an awareness of how they change over time to reduce management costs and are inter-connected in beneficial relationships that reflects their natural behaviours. Look for how systems harmonise with landscape features and provide multiple benefits.
Zone planning is a system where the location of an element in a design is determined by how often we need to use the element and how often we need to service the element. This is a basic logical principle, whereby the things you use most often, and the things you must pay the most attention to, are placed closest to the house in the design. Consequently, the things that are used the least often, or that require little or no attention, are placed furthest away in the design, and things that fall somewhere in between are placed accordingly. By situating the most often used or serviced elements in a design closest to the home, it makes it easier to access them. This means less energy is expended to access them, making for a more energy efficient design.
Zone planning is a system where the location of an element in a design is determined by how often we need to use the element and how often we need to service the element. This is a basic logical principle, whereby the things you use most often, and the things you must pay the most attention to, are placed closest to the house in the design. Consequently, the things that are used the least often, or that require little or no attention, are placed furthest away in the design, and things that fall somewhere in between are placed accordingly. By situating the most often used or serviced elements in a design closest to the home, it makes it easier to access them. This means less energy is expended to access them, making for a more energy efficient design.
- Zone 1 is the area closest to the house that requires most frequent management and attention. This zone is most expressive of human creative patterns that do not necessary reflect natural patterns. However, more pleasing designs are often obtained by being guided by natural from and function in the design of these spaces.
- Zone 2 is typically 1-5 acres immediately surrounding the house site and most often is used for orchard production. This space is also great for keeping small fowl or eveln small grazers like sheep if the trees are a mature enough.
- Zone 3 is basically farmland, where the main crops are grown (for personal use and to sell), where orchards of larger trees are located, and where livestock is kept and grazed. Once these areas are established, they only require minimal maintenance and care. Elements that are located in this zone include all the things that require infrequent attention only, such as: orchards of larger trees, main farming crops, pastures and rearing areas for large livestock such as cows and sheep, semi-managed bird flocks, large trees for animal forage – oak trees and nut trees, dams for water storage and drinking water for animals.
- Zone 4 is a part wild/part managed, and its main use is for collecting wild foods, timber production, as a source of animal forage, and pasture for grazing animals. The trees in this zone are managed by allowing animals to browse to control new growth, or by thinning (removing) seedlings to select the variety of trees that will be allowed to grow.
- Zone 5 is an unmanaged wild natural ecosystem, such as bushland, forest or similar natural area, free of human intervention, interference or control. Zone 5 is a wilderness conservation area, and space that provides us with the opportunity to step down from our role of controlling Nature, to one where we can just witness. Nature in its pure form, where we can simply observe the cycles of Nature and learn from what we see. It the place where we can meditate and reconnect with Nature, and come to understand our place in the world.
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Providing a Livelihood
Regenerative does not need to mean that a rewarding salary cannot be obtained from production. Through adoption of successful strategies, a rich and abundant life can be had by all in ways that do not tax negatively upon the environment. Central to the provision of a right livelihood is a sound understanding of finance and business development and marketing to provide enough financial capital for an individual and family not just to survive, but thrive, grow, travel, explore, learn and grow.
If such a livelihood cannot be obtained from a permaculture based enterprise - then there will never be sufficient impetus from people to take up this lifestyle (particularly resource poor young people) who will instead become engaged with and financially committed to quite a different lifestyle and occupation. And if there are not young people adopting a regenerative / Earth focused lifestyle then how will society in general transition towards a future that embraces this as a new way of living.
Permaculture production seeks to produce food of optimum quality and quantity, by holistic management of productive ecosystems. This approach endeavours to make the ecosystems sustainable and non-polluting of the environment, while providing a sustainable income to the producer, families and communities.
Some of the main principles and methods that are employed are:
If such a livelihood cannot be obtained from a permaculture based enterprise - then there will never be sufficient impetus from people to take up this lifestyle (particularly resource poor young people) who will instead become engaged with and financially committed to quite a different lifestyle and occupation. And if there are not young people adopting a regenerative / Earth focused lifestyle then how will society in general transition towards a future that embraces this as a new way of living.
Permaculture production seeks to produce food of optimum quality and quantity, by holistic management of productive ecosystems. This approach endeavours to make the ecosystems sustainable and non-polluting of the environment, while providing a sustainable income to the producer, families and communities.
Some of the main principles and methods that are employed are:
- Foster beneficial processes and interactions such as occur in natural ecosystems, thus encouraging internal stability rather than heavy reliance on external control measures.
- Reduce external control to the absolute minimum required for maintaining the chosen state of production. Inputs used aim to work as far as possible in conjunction with natural cycles, rather than trying to dominate such cycles.
- Achieve cycles/flows of nutrients and materials that have as few losses as possible. This requires the conservation and recycling of nutrients and organic material.
- Sustain and enhance the fertility and life-supporting ability of the production medium, including its biological, physical and chemical components. For land-based production systems great emphasis is placed on the importance of soil organic matter, and soil flora and fauna.
Community
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The heart of permaculture as originally laid out by the founders was Earth care, people care and fair share. Two of these concepts (people care and fair share) highlight the importance of social structures in the design and operation of sustainable landscapes.
It is an unavoidable fact now that the development of landscapes and the rise in population has meant that no landscape has remained untouched by people. Instead the question is if we are to live in a human modified landscape how can we manage that landscape to produce a diverse, nutrient-dense, nutritious diet; within a landscape that nurtures the individual and community and in the process, restores and enhances natural environments to provide a habitat for a diverse range of species natural to that area. The main ideas with development of a community is how to create mutually beneficial relationships between people and create an environment that fosters positive interaction while also is respectful of privacy. The modern society can be thought of being built upon the premise of individuals requiring very little from each other, which results in less social interaction and therefore social structure within communities. |