Permaculture: A Designer's Manual, Chapter 1

 Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 The Philosophy Behind Permaculture (1)

1.2 Ethics (2)

1.3 Permaculture in Landscape and Society (6)

1.4 References (9)

SUMMARY: In Chapter 1, Bill Mollison provides a broad overview of the aims and purposes of Permaculture, which he defines as "the conscious design and maintanance of agriculturally productive systems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems." From the outset he integrates the fields of design and ethics, in line with the "great shift of emphasis" from our traditional,  specialized, and ethically neutral focus on the properties and behavior of parts to a systemic and ethically engaged focus on the living Earth as an integrated whole. He cites James Lovelock's Gaia Theory as the inspiration for his own understanding of life on Earth as "a self-regulating, self-constructed, and reactive system, creating and preserving the conditions that make life possible, and actively adjusting to regulate disturbances."  He also draws inspiration from the Australian Aborigines, who see life as an integrated whole, comprising both human and nonhuman being. Based on this understanding, he lays out the ethical foundations of Permaculture: (1) Care for the Earth; (2) Care of People; (3) Setting Limits to Population and Consumption (later reinterpreted as either "Fair Share," "Reinvest the Surplus" or "Future Care.")

In Section 1.3, Mollison goes on to lay out the basic design principles of Permaculture for landscape and society. He boils these down into three mandates: (1) Care for Surviving Natural Assemblies (i.e the "wilderness" areas); (2) Rehabilitate Degraded or Eroded Land; (3) Create our own Complex Living Environment (with as many species as we can save, or have need for). He leaves us with the promise that "the end result of the adoption of permaculture strategies in any country or region will be to dramatically reduce the area of the agricultural environment needed by households and the settlements of people, and to release much of the landscape for the sole use of wildlife and for re-occupation by endemic flora.  Respect for all life forms is a basic, and in fact essential, ethic for all people."

My Reflection:  In this magisterial opening chapter, Bill Mollison makes it abundantly clear that Permaculture is about far more than merely gardening, landscaping, or even homesteading. Rather, it constitutes a radical but essential shift in our basic values--our understanding of ourselves, our purposes in life, and our communities as a part of, not apart from, the living planet which we inhabit--if we are to reverse our wanton destruction of our own biological support system. And the potential benefits of this new (and ancient) way of thinking and designing are vast and universal, applying to every human being and all living things.