The Ghana Permaculture Nwodua Tree Nursery Project – Saving Lives, Granting Livelihoods, and Restoring Eco-systems
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Deforestation, Education Centres, Food Plants - Perennial, Global Warming/Climate Change, Health & Disease, Nurseries & Propogation, Society, Trees, Village Development — by Paul Yeboah November 1, 2011
The Ghana Permaculture Nwodua Tree Nursery was created in 2007, as a means of community income and to fight desertification, erosion, and diversion of water flow by roads, through reforestation. A collaborative effort of youth, women, and men founded the community nursery, and all members of the community reap the success of the profit as well as the natural environment benefits of tree planting. The nursery started as a small production and soon blossomed into something larger, achieving the current production of over 96,000 seedlings per year.
Comments (1)Ethiopia’s Strawberry Fields Eco-Lodge – A Call for Participation
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Project Positions — by Alex McCausland October 28, 2011
Permaculture in Ethiopia stands on the edge of a sea of possibilities. This is a virgin land. The mighty plains of Abyssinia rise out of the Eastern Sahara, to become rolling fertile uplands, worked by farmers in the primeval mode that the modern westerner can only dream about nowadays, caricatured by the Shire in Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings. It is a land where people live in little circular grass-roofed huts and make hay stacks with wooden pitch forks to feed their cattle through the dry season. They plough the deep fertile soils with oxen and sow a variety of crops, of which their most beloved is their own indigenous endemic grain t’eff, used to make the national staple food, injera.
Comments (5)The PRI Restarts the Permaculture Teacher Registry
Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Education Centres, Networking Sites, News, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 19, 2011
Short Version
If you’ve been waiting to apply to be a PRI PDC Teacher, we are now ready to receive your application (English only at this point — but read the rest of the post below to find out more about other languages). To apply, simply log into the Worldwide Permaculture Network, ensure you’ve clicked on the ‘Click if you are a PDC Teacher‘ link on the right side of your profile, and then click on the ‘Apply to be a PRI PDC Teacher‘ link.
Long Version
In March 2010 Bill and Lisa Mollison’s Permaculture Institute (PI) ceased taking applications for their long-running permaculture teachers’ registry. As many immediately recognised, this left a gaping hole in the permaculture garment — one which needs to be filled if the movement is to maintain a reasonable standard of recognised education.
Accordingly, when the registry ceased, the Permaculture Research Institute (PRI) was suddenly flooded with "What now?" emails, and requests that we step in and take over the role of processing and verifying applications from permaculture teachers. This call came because existing teachers, and prospective teachers, all want to ensure that their students have confidence in the courses they’re committing their fees to.
Before I share what we’ve sought to do to fill this void, I will try to expand a little more on the above about why we believe having a globally recognised teachers’ registry is important and why we’ve been working hard to answer the many calls to facilitate this need.
Comments (19)Gold Coast Permaculture – Serious About Working With Local Waste Streams
Community Projects, Compost, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Material, Rehabilitation, Society, Soil Biology, Soil Conservation, Urban Projects, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Vanessa Fernandes October 18, 2011
The creation of soil biology and composting and the generation of soil health and fertility as the foundation of regenerative agriculture is a major part of any organic or permaculture design gardening process. It is no different at the Gold Coast Permaculture site at 270 Ferry Road where the creation of soil is a major priority for the group as we expand our operations to include a large community garden and double the size of our urban agriculture demonstration block.
In order to achieve this, Gold Coast Permaculture has decided it really should walk the talk. So, some of our members with both the organisational and “do” capability have been out connecting with different businesses in the community and tapping into waste streams. As a result, over 40 cubic metres of compost has progressively been started over the last three months with the first five metres being ready for use by mid-October. This is no mean accomplishment given that the only inputs outside of the composting materials are minimal numbers of bodies and compost forks.
Two of the four compost windrows built solely from local waste streams
Warren Brush: “Permaculture and Peacemaking in a Thirsty World” (IPC10 Presentation Video), Plus Permaculture Outreach in Kenya
Aid Projects, Alternatives to Political Systems, Community Projects, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, People Systems, Presentations/Demonstrations, Social Gatherings, Society, Village Development — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 14, 2011
Warren Brush presents at the Tenth International Permaculture Conference
(IPC10), Amman, Jordan, September 2011
Photograph © Craig Mackintosh
I consider it a privilege to be a friend of Warren Brush, and it’s been a pleasure to see his rapid development in all things Permaculture. In his presentation at the IPC10 (Amman, Jordan, September 2011) Warren took on the topic of peacemaking — in his trademark style of very interesting storytelling, using examples from nature to teach us lessons and including examples from his experiences with indigenous peoples, and from conflict zones in Africa.
All in all you should find this a very worthy watch. Please click play below (and stay tuned for the message below the video!):
Comments (7)Geoff Lawton: The Importance of Establishing Self-Replicating Dryland Permaculture Demonstration Sites (IPC10 Presentation – Video)
Aid Projects, Commercial Farm Projects, Community Projects, Conferences, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Networking Sites, People Systems, Urban Projects — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor October 4, 2011
Geoff Lawton speaking at the Tenth International Permaculture Conference
(IPC10), Amman, Jordan, September 2011
Photograph © Craig Mackintosh
After an unintentionally extended lunch break during the IPC10 conference day (dragging 130 hungry people away from their stimulating lunchtime conversations is not an easy task!), Geoff kindly cut his post-lunch talk short so as to put subsequent speakers back on schedule. In the short time left for him, Geoff talked about the great need for training an army of permaculture warriors who can help set up self-replicating permaculture demonstration and education sites worldwide, and shared some of our efforts to help facilitate this. Included in the talk was mention of www.permacultureglobal.com (the Worldwide Permaculture Network), which enables permaculturists to literally put themselves on the map, and network and support each other in many ways — including attracting students and consultancies, donations (for aid projects) and which facilitates and encourages knowledge (and even seed!) transfers between people and sites worldwide. It’s a system that effectively levels the playing field, empowering a new generation of permaculture teachers and consultants to come up through the older growth, break through the canopy, and help us drive permaculture concepts deep into the minds of mainstream citizenry.
Click play below to see Geoff’s talk:
Comments (2)Two New School Permaculture Projects for Ethiopia
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Conservation, Education Centres, Food Forests, Irrigation, Land, Plant Systems, Water Harvesting — by Geraldine Quinlan September 11, 2011
by Geraldine Quinlan, from Ireland, a new intern at the Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge in Ethiopia
1. Gocha
In the morning we visited Gocha Primary School. Before starting work together Tichafa gathered everyone in the classroom. He spoke about the importance of growing food for independence from food aid and eventually to sell at the market for profit whilst also taking environmental action for the school, the immediate community and finally the country. This would create an income for the school.
Comments (3)A Practical Example of How Attitudes Can Be Leverage or Obstacles in Critical Project Development Work
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres — by Alex McCausland August 30, 2011
Editor’s Note: It’s a trend we’re increasingly seeing with permaculture unfortunately — that of the rise of permaculture perfectionists. Many readers have noticed this in comments on this and other permaculture sites, where people are quick to judge and criticise, feeling superior in their own problem-discovering skills, instead of taking pride in helping fledgling projects move forward, by way of encouragement and nurturing. I applaud Alex here for his dogged determination through blood, sweat and tears to keep building his much-needed permaculture demonstration site in one of the most needy parts of the world. I think we can all learn some lessons in humility here, and how to be appropriately constructive. For those who want to support Alex’s project in a more tangible way, consider attending Strawberry Field’s next PDC, starting October 17, 2011.
We ran a Training of Trainers course with Steve Cran at Strawberry Fields here in Ethiopia [editor's note - read much more about Strawberry Fields via Alex's author profile] in July, 2011. The course was not a great hit with many members of the group because they were unhappy with the living conditions at the lodge. Others felt it was over-priced. There was an outbreak of Typhoid amongst the group during the course and that put a big downer on things. Although, all agreed the training was top quality and we all learned a huge amount from the course.
It is true that it didn’t run perfectly for various reasons which I am going to give a detailed account of, from our perspective, over the next couple of weeks, along with more background on the history of the project, how we have got to where we are today, what we are doing now, and perhaps most importantly what we are planning to do in the future.
Comments (11)Jordan Valley Permaculture Project – August 2011 Photo Update
Aid Projects, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Irrigation, Land, Livestock, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Urban Projects, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor
Latifa inspects project development from a unique vantage point
It’s been just over a year since I’ve visited the Jordan Valley Permaculture Project (aka ‘Greening the Desert – the Sequel’) site, and I’m keen to check out progress when I visit next month (September 2011). In the meantime, Geoff, who is in Jordan now to help organise the upcoming Tenth International Permaculture Conference & Convergence (IPC10), has sent through a few pictures I can share today.
Comments (16)Summer Permaculture Tips and Tricks
Commercial Farm Projects, Compost, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Fencing, Food Forests, Food Plants - Annual, Food Plants - Perennial, Irrigation, Plant Systems, Rehabilitation, Seeds, Trees — by Chuck Burr August 19, 2011
by Chuck Burr, Southern Oregon Permaculture Institute (SOPI)
Here are the Summer permaculture tips and tricks from the Southern Oregon Permaculture Institute — enjoy and pass them on.
1. Permaculture blueberries. After two years of hand-weeding our two acres of blueberries we have let them go wild. The plants are five years old now and can compete with the former hay field grasses with the help of us discharging the mowing trimmings back into the blueberry rows as mulch. The tall grass deters birds from eating berries. Last year we lost our first harvest to birds before we got a Bird Gard Pro and reflective tape from Oregon Vineyard Supply. The blueberries started in fully tilled rows with 3” of fresh sawdust. Wood chips will also do. We also added initially enough soil sulfur to bring the pH down from about 6.2 to 5.2. Prune in the winter to encourage new growth, remove disease and wandering branches. We salted the field with pecan trees. Blueberries are a medium term 15–20 year crop and will be pushed out when the pecans are in full swing, so we have already designed in the succession. Several rows are also capped with Honeycrisp apples.
Permaculture in Nyumbani Village, the Birth of PRI Kenya, and a New Course With Warren Brush
Aid Projects, Aquaculture, Biological Cleaning, Community Projects, Conservation, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Irrigation, Land, Village Development, Waste Systems & Recycling — by Nicholas Syano August 9, 2011
Nyumbani Village, which is a program of the Children of God Relief Institute (COGRI) caring for both HIV infected and affected children, aims to establish a self-sustaining, community-based residential village serving children orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS. This is being achieved through providing a family like settling where the orphans are under stewardship of destitute elderly grandparents in a family like structure and are provided with adequate social support, high quality clinical nursing and counseling, and both educational support and vocational training.
Comments (5)Geoff Lawton Asks for Your Help!
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Conferences, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Presentations/Demonstrations, Social Gatherings, Urban Projects — by Craig Mackintosh PRI Editor August 5, 2011
To assist, please go here and make your contribution to the spread of permaculture in some of the neediest places on earth.
Comments (15)Farm tour of Kin Kin SOULS: Permaculture Demonstration Site (plus, one tip you must know before for setting up your first swale)
Demonstration Sites, Education Centres — by Nicola Chatham August 3, 2011
Tom Kendall may look like your typical pot-smoking hippy, but in fact, he’s one of the most hard-working individuals you’ll meet. He’s dedicated his life to developing a Permaculture demonstration site and educational facility, Kin Kin SOULS: Simple Organic Utopian Living Space, on his 34 acre property.
Comments (23)You Don’t Have to Dream It, You Can Do it! Take a Certified 72-hour Permaculture Design Course in Konso, Ethiopia
Aid Projects, Community Projects, Courses/Workshops, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres — by Alex McCausland July 22, 2011
The ‘master plan’ concept is alive and well in Ethiopia – allowing low-income
locals to have their permaculture training subsidised through the tuition fees
of western students, who in turn benefit from indigenous wisdom
and exciting cultural immersion
This PDC will take place in Konso, south Ethiopia, from October 17 – 30th, 2011, at Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge. It will have a special focus on the application of Permaculture to rural African communities where the successful application of PC is a way to develop long term food security and community empowerment.
Facilitators: Rhamis Kent, Tichafa Makovere, Alex McCausland
Dates: October 17th to 30th
Location: Konso, South Ethiopia
Venue: Strawberry Fields Eco Lodge
Cost: US$1000
Includes: Course fees, food and accommodation for the period of the course
Excludes: Transport, accommodation in Addis, travel insurance etc.
Download Course Info and Application Form: Word doc (400kb) or PDF (130kb), and read on below for more….
Comments (3)Water is life! – Tamera is Creating a Model for Renaturation of Dry Regions
Conservation, Dams, Demonstration Sites, Education Centres, Irrigation, Land, Rehabilitation, Water Harvesting — by Tamera July 19, 2011
by Tamera, Portugal
The Tamera water landscape is a model and an educational project for natural water management and the renaturation of damaged landscapes all over the world and a basis for forestation, horticulture and agriculture in regions threatened by desertification. It is a globally adaptable model which can be applied in all regions in various appropriate forms.
Southern Portugal is threatened by rapid desertification. Forest fires, summer droughts and the loss of biodiversity are symptoms of a widespread loss of valuable land. The vegetation is threatened. Cork oaks and pine trees die in large numbers because the soil, leeched by excessive grazing and poor agricultural practices has lost its capacity to retain water. Erosion washes away fertile soil and what’s left dries up. Simultaneously there is flooding and water damage due to strong winter rainfalls every spring. Desertification and flooding are symptoms of one problem: incorrect water management caused by industrial agriculture, over-grazing, monoculture forestry and deforestation. Portugal´s average rainfall is similar to that of central Europe — yet the desert seems to grow right before our eyes.
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