Life at Zaytuna – Part I
Bird Life, Breeds, Community Projects, Social Gatherings, Society, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh
Profuse apologies for the lack of posts over the last week. I’ve been organising and actioning travel to PRI’s headquarters – Zaytuna Farm in northern NSW – from where I live in Europe. Now that I’m here, I hope to give you better insights into the life and developments on the farm and with the training centre that makes its home here.
Zaytuna’s straw bale buildings at sun-up
Yesterday I felt like the walking dead, after 45 hours of travel from door to farm. As such, I went out like a light in the very early evening. My otherwise deep sleep was broken intermittently by sounds I’m not accustomed to hearing, like Blue (an Australian stumpy tailed cattle dog) keeping our farm animals and crops safe by chasing off foxes and/or kangaroos; kookaburras – the ‘laughing jackass’ – were seemingly mocking me as I tried to slumber, as were various other frogs, insects and birds that work the night shift in this neck of the woods. I’m sure I’ll soon be attuned to them, and won’t hear them at all after a while.
Comments (6)Posted on: June 14, 2009
The ‘Sustainable (R)evolution’ Book Project
Aid Projects, Alternatives to Political Systems, Bio-regional Organisations, Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, DVDs/Books, Demonstration Sites, Eco-Villages, Education Centres, News, People Systems, Urban Projects, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh
Have you ever wished, when explaining to someone about permaculture, you had a visual, easily accessible book that demonstrated what it is all about, and what the world could look like if permaculture design systems became mainstream thinking?
We’ll – we’re making that book.
The Permaculture Research Institute is getting behind a project that would see the creation of a large format book that profiles, with creative writing and quality photographs, some of the many successful Permaculture projects underway around the world. The purpose of this page is to solicit your help with the same.
The final version is unlikely to look like this, but it gives you an idea….
Posted on: May 7, 2009
Osama Bin Lowrider: It’s All the Same Culture
Alternatives to Political Systems, Consumerism, Eco-Villages, Economics, People Systems, Population, Society, Village Development — by Chuck Burr
Our political discussions and media coverage are far too shallow to be useful. We must go deeper and much further back to understand the world today and learn how to get where we want to go.
Almost everyone misunderstands what culture is. Most think it is soda pop, pop stars, blue jeans, language, and TV. Some think it is capitalism, communism, or progressivism. Some see culture as Western culture or Eastern culture.
Look at the motorcycle picture. The motorcycles will fool you. All of the people above belong to the same culture, as does a soccer mom in a Chicago suburb. Keep guessing. This makes a huge difference in how we understand what is happening today and where we are going.
Comments (1)Posted on: April 28, 2009
Maldivian Homegardens – A stable farming system in a fragile environment
Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, Medicinal Plants, Plant Systems, Village Development — by PIJ
PIJ #58, Mar – May 1996
By Dr Danny Hunter
Editor’s Note: This decade-old article spotlights local indigenous knowledge found in the Maldives – a land today threatened by rising seas. The Maldive Islands have the unfortunate title of having the lowest highest point in the world – only 2.3 metres.
The atolls of the Maldives represent a delicate and unique ecosystem that is highly sensitive to changes resulting from human, climatic and environmental activity. Within this fragile ecosystem a number of indigenous farming systems have evolved that are ecologically and culturally sustainable. Of these, the homegarden has been the most enduring and diverse.
The Maldives is an archipelago made up of about 1200 islands that are scattered in a line running for 800km southwest of the tip of India. Although the total area of the country occupies 90,000km2 of Indian Ocean, its land area is a tiny 300km2.
Comments (0)Posted on: April 13, 2009
Community-Based Rainforest Restoration Work is Huge Success in Borneo
Aid Projects, Biodiversity, Community Projects, Deforestation, Demonstration Sites, Food Forests, Global Warming/Climate Change, Plant Systems, Regional Water Cycle, Rehabilitation, Soil Erosion & Contamination, Trees, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh
In his twenty minute talk, Willie Smits (a Dutch forestry scientist who emigrated to Indonesia 20 years ago to help the country grow trees) explains how a chance encounter with a dying baby Orangutan changed the direction of his work – culminating not only in his creating the biggest orangutan rehabilitation center in the world, but also in restoring large tracts of rainforest in a community-based endeavour that is bringing work and prosperity to the people too.
The word ‘Permaculture’ is never mentioned in the following TED presentation, but the project that is the subject of this talk certainly contains many elements of Permaculture design. Among the spectacular results of the project is a documented cooling in local climate, increased cloud cover and rainfall, and a rapid increase in biodiversity of flora and fauna.
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Posted on: March 30, 2009
Building a Sustainable Economy
Alternatives to Political Systems, Bio-regional Organisations, Economics, Financial Management, People Systems, Society, Village Development — by Marcin Gerwin
Editor’s note: Marcin’s post is very relevant as the world seeks an alternative to the current disaster of globalisation.
Democracy first
 Tiger’s nest in Bhutan Photo: Thomas Wanhoff |
In 1994 the government of Haiti lifted tariffs and allowed imports of cheap, subsidized rice and other crops from abroad. This policy was recommended by the International Monetary Fund and urged by the U.S. government (1). Over the years this tiny change in policy led to an estimated 830,000 job losses, it damaged food security and rural livelihoods, and eventually led to food riots and hunger in 2008 (2). If people in Haiti were to decide by themselves on their country policy, would they choose the recommendations of the IMF that brought them into starvation? Would people of Ecuador allow toxic pollution in the Amazon for the sake of Chevron Texaco profits? Would people in India accept genetically modified seeds of cotton that caused crop failures, spiral of debt and hundreds of farmer suicides? And would people in the USA support bailing out banks with their own money in a way that is not transparent and does not lead to the recovery of the financial system? They wouldn’t. These things happen around the world because we still don’t have true democracy, where people set the rules for themselves.
Comments (5)Posted on: February 6, 2009
Cold, High and Dry: Traditional Agriculture in Ladakh
Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, People Systems, Society, Village Development — by Nick Wilson
PIJ #49, Dec1993 – Feb 1994
Manjushri, the embodiment of wisdom, hark!
The Gods, the Lhu, and owner spirits of the Mother Earth, hark!
May a hundred plants grow from one seed!
May a thousand grow from two!
May all the grains be twins!
- Ladakhi sowing song
Ladakh lies at the western end of the Tibetan Plateau, tucked north of the Himalaya between Tibet and Kashmir. The people are mostly of Mongol stock, with strong, weather beaten faces that are prone to crease into wide smiles at will. Administratively part of India, Ladakh’s culture is much more Tibetan, particularly in the practice of Mahayana Buddhism that infuses all aspects of life. Religious practices are pure Tibetan, and secular culture, though distinct, is similar.
Pushed skyward by the colossal force of India moving north into Asia, virtually all of Ladakh is above 3000m (the capital, Leh, is at 3500m). The Himalaya blocks nearly all the rains from the south, creating a desert in the rain shadow, with most areas receiving only about 100mm (4 inches) a year.
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Reality Check one two…one two
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, Energy Systems, Ethical Investment, Land, Project Positions, Village Development — by Eric Seider
If you were to get up and walk to the sink and turn on the faucet, there is a pretty damn good chance that water will come out. And if it didn’t you’d be surprised to say the least, more likely pissed off and annoyed at the inconvenience. You’d then wonder who is to blame for this unacceptable turn of events. I mean it is your god given right as a human being to expect water to come out of the tap when you need it….right?
Well…..Salaam Alaykum. Welcome to Jordan.
Beduoin Camp, Dead Sea Valley, Jordan
It doesn’t work like that here.
Comments (5)Posted on: January 26, 2009
Street Orchards for Community Security
Biological Cleaning, Community Projects, Conservation, Food Forests, Food Plants - Perennial, Land, Potable Water, Regional Water Cycle, Rehabilitation, Roads, Soil Conservation, Storm Water, Trees, Urban Projects, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling, Waste Water, Water Contaminaton, Water Harvesting — by Brad Lancaster
© Brad Lancaster, www.HarvestingRainwater.com
 Fig. 24.The heat island effect. An excessively wide, exposed, solar-oven-like residential street in Tucson, Arizona absorbs the sun’s heat during the day like a battery, then radiates it out at night. This local warming effect has raised summer temperatures in Tucson by 6°F (3°C) since the 1940s, which contributes to global warming since the higher temperatures result in people using air conditioners more, which are powered by electricity generated through the burning of coal. Note that no shade trees are planted in the public right-of-way along the street, leaving street and sidewalk baked. All runoff is drained off site leaving the development dehydrated. Reproduced with permission from “Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 1" |
My view of public streets was radically changed when I heard ecovillage designer Max Lindigger tell a story of an insightful walk he took with his grandfather. “Look there,” said his grandfather, pointing to condominiums being built on the once forested slopes above his village in the Swiss Alps. “That’s where we grew and gathered food during the war. The forests were common land, a reserve of community resources. What commons remain? Where will we grow and gather our food in the next catastrophe?”
I then looked at my Sonoran desert city of Tucson, Arizona and asked myself, “Where are my community’s forests, our commons? Where would we get our food in times of need?”
Comments (5)Posted on: January 19, 2009
Greenhouse Effect
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Village Development — by Allison Ford
As The world warms, the dry areas of the globe are growing even drier. in Jordan, some villages are already working on what to do when the rain stops coming. Words by Allison Ford. Photography by Josh Estey/CARE. Originally published in Jo Magazine.
The last time rain fell in Bayoudeh was February 10. The land has only gotten dryer since then. People in and out of Jordan like to talk about how water poor the country really is, but 2008 arrived to prove it with a vengeance.
Um Mubarak increases the yeild of her trees with
mulch, and grows cactuses with gray water.
Posted on: January 14, 2009
Please Help the Palestinian People in a Time of Tragedy
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Developments, Education Centres, Village Development — by Nichole Ross
The Jordan Valley Project site is the triangular section in foreground
As Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip escalate, more and more Palestinian civilians are being displaced by damage or destruction to their homes. The need for refugee shelter has become critical. Geoff and Nadia Lawton are currently working on a PRI project in a Palestinian refugee village in Jordan. The project, known as the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project, is an effort to set up a Permaculture demonstration and education center. Due to the increased influx of refugees that will need food and shelter, this project is essential for survival for these people fleeing to the very arid Dead Sea Valley. Geoff, Nadia and others are working at full speed to get this center established as soon as possible so they can train refugees and impoverished locals to set up similar sustainable systems (food, water, shelter).
Comments (6)Posted on: January 12, 2009
A Better Way of Making a Living for Humanity
Alternatives to Political Systems, Bio-regional Organisations, Consumerism, Eco-Villages, Food Shortages, People Systems, Population, Society, Village Development, peak oil — by Chuck Burr
We are no more able to find our way forward living as Homo modern as we are living as Homo hunter-gatherer. Both ways are blocked. Living today on the infinite growth treadmill as Homo modern results in the death of our planet. Homo sapien has exploded our population to a level that we can no longer run back into the forest to make a living like the Mayan did. So what are we to do?
The question is actually, not “what are we going to do?”, but is “how are we going to make a living?” First lets rule out the obvious, we can no longer make a living as Homo consumer. Peak oil will put an end to our happy motoring and consuming lifestyle before we get the chance to consume the world.
Comments (1)Posted on: January 5, 2009
Letters from Vietnam: The Hmong People – Reclaiming Lost Skills
Aid Projects, Community Projects, People Systems, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh
The Future of the Hmong People
Photos: Craig Mackintosh
It took a few moments for my eyes to adapt to the light. There was a single, clear incandescent bulb hanging just millimetres above my head – hanging from somewhere high in the blackness of the ceiling, from a cable so weathered it looked more like a vine than an electrical cord. But it wasn’t turned on. After all, it was daytime. Below my muddied boots was the hard, earth floor; cool to the touch, with just a hint of dampness. The lady of the house swept dirt outside, which, while necessary, almost seemed nonsensical, since the floor was dirt. The walls were thick, and windowless – also made with packed earth. And unlike most other minority tribes in Vietnam, who normally build their houses on poles, this one was built directly onto the ground.
This home was about as ‘earthy’ as they get.
Comments (7)Posted on: November 6, 2008
The Flaw of Western Economies
Alternatives to Political Systems, Consumerism, Economics, People Systems, Village Development — by Marcin Gerwin
by Marcin Gerwin, Sopot, Poland. Marcin graduated with a Ph.D. in political studies, from the University of Gdansk, Poland, with his thesis: “The idea and practice of sustainable development in the context of global challenges”.
 Cob House Photo, Gerry Thomasen |
Let’s imagine a green and responsible consumer. Let’s call him George. George lives in a sleepy town, near the center and the park where he often goes for a walk with his dog. George built his house with his friends two years ago. It is a very small house, only 320 square feet and it was made with cob – clay mixed with straw and aggregate. The clay for construction was extracted from George’s land behind the house – now you can see a nice pond there with water lilies. George was fortunate enough to find some recycled timber for the roof from the old garage that his neighbors were demolishing. He considered making a turf roof with wild flowers and herbs, but eventually he decided that a slate roof will be more practical because he will be able to collect rainwater from it and use it for watering his garden during warm summer days.
Comments (9)Posted on: November 4, 2008
Letters from Vietnam – Ke Village
Aid Projects, Building, Community Projects, Project Positions, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh
The trip to meet the Ma Lieng people at Ke Village, Vietnam, was a bit like a chapter out of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. For starters, to reach the village I had to get ferried across a chocolate river in something resembling a dugout canoe. And, when I got there, I was met with a tribe of villagers who were almost supernaturally tiny.
The river’s chocolate hue was due to heavy rains flushing the nation’s soil to the sea – also making the river abnormally swollen and swift. Carrying expensive camera equipment in a very suspect-looking vessel, with a freeboard of only a few inches, was disconcerting to say the least – every person’s slightest movement rang alarm bells, and I had to work hard not to overcompensate in our bid to keep the canoe upright.
We made it to the other side, though, our gear dry, albeit with our nerves a little jangled.
Entryway to the Ke Village, home to the Ma Lieng people
So, whew, welcome to the Ke Village. This visit was in stark contrast to our trip to see the Black Thai, at Na Sai, only a few days earlier, as you shall see.
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