What Is Permaculture?

Permaculture is a way of bringing together in a sensible system: yourself & your community, with whatever bit of land/space that you are tending. It can be as small as a window with sprouts or as large as a farm or a bioregion. It can be in the city, the suburbs or in the country.

Permaculture addresses the way we live on this planet in a graceful & healthy way, respecting the plants & animals around us, & leaving the biosphere in a more productive & healthy state than we found it.

Permaculture (permanent agriculture/culture) is the use of Ecology as the basis for designing integrated systems of food production, housing, technology, & community development. The objective is to produce an efficient, low-maintenance, productive integration of plants, structures & people, to obtain on-site stability & food self-sufficiency in the smallest practical area.

Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive systems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable social order. Permaculture goes beyond sustainable agriculture in its emphasis on small decentralized & hands-on individual ( as opposed to corporate) commitment to the land. Conceptually it goes easily beyond the scope of agriculture to include community economics, design methods, ecological preservation, appropriate energy use, & strategies for the creation of an “alternative global nation.”

"Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive systems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of the landscape with people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way."

Graham Bell, The Permaculture Way

"Permaculture is the use of ecology as the basis for designing integrated systems of food production, housing appropriate technology and community development. It offers a practical, creative approach to the problems of diminishing resources and threatened life support systems now facing the world."

Simon Henderson, Cortez IS, BC

"Permaculture is a holistic approach to landscape design and human culture. It is an attempt to integrate several disciplines, including biology, ecology, geography, agriculture, architecture, appropriate technology, gardening and community building."

Guy Baldwin, Cortez Is, BC