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Cutting Edge > Permaculture
 In the 1960s and '70s Bill Mollison (pictured below, right) and David Holmgren (pictured left) developed the concept of permaculture (derived from the words "permanent," "agriculture" and "culture"). They did so in response to what they saw as rampant unsustainable development throughout the world—especially in the agricultural sector where chemical pollution and topsoil loss was reaching alarming proportions.
In 1978, the seminal work "Permaculture One" was written, with Permaculture Two to follow a year later. By 1981, the graduates of the first permaculture workshop set out to make a difference in the way the planet was being developed. Since then, Mollison and countless others have spread permaculture principles throughout the world while developing thousands of sustainable systems and creating an evolving model for ecological design and development.
A Seeds of Change exclusive interview with Bill Mollison
Recently declared "Ecologist of the Century" in Australia, Bill Mollison  conceives permaculture as the "conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems" and "the harmonious integration of landscape and people..." permaculture design, he points out, stems from "protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labour": In short, its goals are energy and water conservation, sustainable local food production and regional self-reliance. As conceived by Mollison, permaculture is nothing less than a "sustainable earth-care system" capable of providing our food, energy, shelter, and other needs while conserving the world's resources.
On July 25, 2001, Scott Vlaun, editor of the Seeds of Change eNewsletter, interviewed Bill Mollison as he visited our New Mexico Research Farm.
Click here for the full interview.
To browse the Permaculture books available in our bookstore, click here.
PERMACULTURE LINKS AND RESOURCES
Permaculture Instititute
www.permaculture.org
Scott Pittman Permaculture Consulting
pci@permaculture-inst.org
EcoVersity
www.ecoversity.org
Permaculture Activist
www.permacultureactivist.net
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
www.oaec.org
Bullock's Permaculture Portal
www.permacultureportal.com
Heathcote Community
www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/permaculture-page.html
Permaculture Institute of Northern California
www.regenerativedesign.org
Barking Frogs Permaculture
http://www.barkingfrogspermaculture.org
Tucson Audubon Society
http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/education/index.htm
Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute
www.crmpi.org/about.htm
Wikipedia
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture
Permaculture House in New South Wales, Australia
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/earth/handouts/nimbin.htm
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