Zone 5 is minimally impacted wilderness areas, which are commonly influenced by selection of native species most useful for sporadic harvest, but otherwise left to resemble natural ecosystems as closely as possible. Because each zone can be based on different types of ecosystems with different inputs and dynamics it pays to mark out clearly from the start where each zone fits into the overall property design.
The permaculture zone 5 is a wilderness area that has little intervention by people except for foraging or hunting and perhaps in New Zealand, pest and weed control. There is no limit to the size of this zone and ideally it should be linked to other remnant native forests to provide a larger and more continuous habitat.
While zone 5 could be located on the outskirts of a typical farm and incorporate existing reserves, it can also be extended within a farm as windbreaks, planting along streams, ponds, river and wetlands and also for privacy barriers or scenic areas for reflection and beauty. Where possible these plantings should aim to act as wildlife corridors by proving a link between other larger areas of wildlife habitat and provide a means for wildlife to spread between areas.
The challenge in New Zealand with incorporating native plantings with exotic productive species is that they come very different ecosystems and the native plants can act in an allopathic way to deter growth of other plants by sending chemicals into the soil that they react negatively to. Due to this it is advisable not to inter-plant native species with productive exotics.
The other difference with New Zealand any many other places around the world is that in New Zealand there are very few edible native plant foods, which makes adopting the structure and function of a New Zealand forest incompatible with the creation of a food producing landscape. however many useful specie of game can be foraged within a typical New Zealand forest (even if they represent introduced species - pigs, deer, rabbits, pheasants and in some areas peacocks and turkeys).
While zone 5 could be located on the outskirts of a typical farm and incorporate existing reserves, it can also be extended within a farm as windbreaks, planting along streams, ponds, river and wetlands and also for privacy barriers or scenic areas for reflection and beauty. Where possible these plantings should aim to act as wildlife corridors by proving a link between other larger areas of wildlife habitat and provide a means for wildlife to spread between areas.
The challenge in New Zealand with incorporating native plantings with exotic productive species is that they come very different ecosystems and the native plants can act in an allopathic way to deter growth of other plants by sending chemicals into the soil that they react negatively to. Due to this it is advisable not to inter-plant native species with productive exotics.
The other difference with New Zealand any many other places around the world is that in New Zealand there are very few edible native plant foods, which makes adopting the structure and function of a New Zealand forest incompatible with the creation of a food producing landscape. however many useful specie of game can be foraged within a typical New Zealand forest (even if they represent introduced species - pigs, deer, rabbits, pheasants and in some areas peacocks and turkeys).
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