This soil is attributed to the complex civilizations that reportedly once thrived in the Amazon. Prior to the onset of diseases brought on by the western settlers, this expansive web of communities is estimated to have totaled over 100 million people. It is speculated that Terra Preta soils are what sustained them in harmony with their ecosystems.

With increasing tropical populations, rising malnutrition and increased deforestation due largely to swidden (slash-and-burn) agriculture, urbanization and other pressures, the rediscovery of Terra Preta techniques will be crucial to creating human sustenance in harmony with our earthly organism. Beyond that, many are looking to Terra Preta for its potential in sequestering carbon and helping reverse associated anthropocentric climate change related to increasing levels of atmospheric carbon.

We have yet to figure out exactly how ancient civilizations produced Terra Preta, but what we do know is that the soils contain high amounts of char-wood (also referred to as bio-char). Char-wood is basically a form of charcoal produced by burning wood or agricultural residues in an environment very low in oxygen. This process is called pyrolysis.

Char-wood, like charcoal, is a carbon source that has extreme stability in soil. In addition, it is extremely porous and therefore offers a large surface area for the formation of stable and long lasting organo-mineral complexes – the chemical bonding of soil organic matter with soil minerals. Terra Preta soils have been found to contain organic matter content that are 50x greater and contain 3x more Phosphorus and Nitrogen as neighboring forest soils. In addition, even the heavy tropical rains do not leach nutrients out of this soil.

Could this mean that the solution to the fertility problems of the tropical regions of the world is as simple as adding char-wood to our mulch and compost? Many scientists believe that its benefits are even far greater with the potential to halt and reverse anthropocentric climate change.

Success [in the replication of Terra Preta techniques] would reduce, or eliminate, the hunger being experienced by about 0.8 billion of the world’s population, most of whom are part of the 75% of the world’s population that live in tropical countries. Converting tropical cropland soils to terra preta would also reduce, or eliminate, the need for shifting cultivators – swidden agriculturists [commonly referred to as slash-and-burn farmers] – to abandon their cropland every three or so years and clear new patches of tropical forest. Success would also create an additional carbon sink large enough to hold all current and future anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions out to around the year 2100. Photosynthesis would draw atmospheric greenhouse gasses into tropical vegetation. Tropical farmers would incorporate such vegetation plus "char-wood" into their cropland soils to create terra preta where the half-life of such organic matter and "char-wood" would be increased to over 5000 years as compared to the normal half-life of 3-30 years. The result would be a large carbon sink. Farmers would be rewarded for their efforts by a doubling or tripling of their soil’s fertility. The net cost of the sink to mankind would be virtually zero. This sink could restore global mean surface temperature to that prior to start of melting of the Greenland ice cap and prior to the shrinking of the bulk of the world’s glaciers." – www.home.windstream.net/bsundquist1/tpgw.html – read full article for a detailed breakdown on how this is possible

There is already is extensive production of wood-char in the region of the Amazon where Planet People Passion’s site is located, but the production is not in any way contributing to the health of the soil. Instead, in this area of the Amazon, most people are cooking with this bio-char. In fact in the city of Iquitos (60km away), nearly 400-500k people cook with his material.

Bags of Wood-char on the street of Iquitos being sold for cooking fuel.

The wood-char is produced in the rural areas, and then shipped to the city where it is burned for cooking. So, wood-char is being created as a commodity in itself without investing it back into the land. Largely because the high profit farmers make on wood-char exports relative to local agriculture profits (and frustrations), many of the farmers have transformed from "slash-and-burn" to "slash-and-char" but this char is not being put into the soil – it is being sold in the cities and exported. Therefore the forest is being cut and left bare and untended, with the small amount of soil previously maintained by the rainforest being washed away and eroded almost instantly.

We have always felt that there was a missing link in the production of wood-char. The missing link is the soil! Before, exploring the concepts of Terra Preta, we wanted nothing to do with it – but as Permaculture teaches us, the problem is the solution. Perhaps the system itself is backwards, could an effective process be to create wood-char in the process of cooking rather than use wood-char for cooking? Then this wood-char could be invested in the land for long-term profits rather than sold for short-term profits. Furthermore, how can we create systems of land management where wood-char production is integrated in a food-forest, where the materials required are sustainably harvest and also in a proportion and process that reduces atmospheric carbon rather than adding to it (since the production of wood char does release a certain amount of CO2 in the atmosphere when created).

Planet People Passion is exploring these questions and more in the development of their education site in Peru and in the Permaculture Design Certificate Course June 22 – July 6th lead by Andrew Jones. This course will be an exciting opportunity to be involved in the initial design planning of the site, which will be transforming degraded jungle land into an abundant food forest. In addition there will be a concentration on medicinal plants and the shamanic culture of the region.

All photographs copyright © Craig Mackintosh

My time in Chile was encouraging. It gives me some hope in mankind to see a community rallying together to meet present historical realities. Not all is perfect of course. Not all are fully lucid and fully engaged, and whipping up enthusiasm, ethically, in a way that respects individual choice, is a challenge in leadership and patience (sometimes the shock of an earthquake or other disaster can help a little here…), but the good news is that the needed work at El Manzano has more than begun, and it should beget hope for the rest of us – that it is possible to awaken the people around us to unite around intelligent, historically appropriate plans for transition.

The current indoor classroom, at right

On my way out of the country I stayed in a hotel, on the fifth floor. While lying on the bed I felt yet another tremor. I think it was the seventh since landing a month prior. This one made me feel more uncomfortable than most, despite being one of the smallest. I coudn’t help but feel more vulnerable in a large structure, and surrounded by a city dependent on centralised supply lines. I felt that if I’m to face disaster, I’d far prefer to experience it within a community that’s progressed to some degree in taking back control of its needs, like at El Manzano.

Although the team at El Manzano promise to send us updates, my personal series will end with this post. I hope you enjoyed the series, and have come away with a better grasp of the scope of the work happening with PRI Chile (Eco Escuela El Manzano). I also hope that those considering venues for their permaculture training will put this developing permaculture university onto their short list. You will learn a great deal, in very pleasant environs, and your tuition fees will support the development of what is fast becoming an excellent template for sustainable development. We would like support such endeavours on every continent, so that they can in turn help establish and support regional satellite projects. In this way we can raise the profile of permaculture – taking it out of a purely academic or idealistic ‘concept phase’, and pushing it into mainstream consciousness as a practical, viable alternative to our present political, economic and consumer madness.

I thought I’d close more pictorially – showing images of the area to further motivate prospective students to consider Eco Escuela El Manzano as an excellent place to learn. Although the base of a healthy society – indeed, the central platform upon which it must be built – is sustainable agriculture, the great news is that at places like El Manzano it’s possible to learn, and contribute to, even more than that. On the foundation of sustainable agriculture, El Manzano is attempting to erect a structure of mutually beneficial community interactions that include other key components of a truly permanent culture – including participatory democracy and sustainable economics – elements students would do well to observe along with their on-the-ground training, so they can take these concepts home with them too.

Anyway, I’ll leave you with a few photos from areas near El Manzano:

Thanks to all the El Manzano team for spending some time with me and giving me opportunity to share your work with the world. Please keep doing what you’re doing!

Amazon rainforest boundary

Observing the thriving and abundant rainforest, it is hard for some to comprehend why neighboring agriculture in the region experiences quite the opposite affect, but the answer is quite simple – it’s all about the soil.

In simplistic terms, due to constant high temperature and moisture levels, and associated microorganism, fungal and insect life – the decomposition of organic matter in these regions is extremely rapid. In a healthy forest, this thin layer of organic matter is quickly cycled. In the Amazon, 80-90% of the biomass lives above ground. In the temperate regions of the world this ratio is reversed.

Source

Root systems are shallow and widely spreading, allowing the biomass above ground to grab the nutrients from this thin surface layer. Massive amounts of organic matter produced by the forest allow this cycle to be maintained as the forest is constantly mulching itself and recycling. In addition the thick canopy serves the dual role of protecting the delicate and thin soil on the forest floor from the heavy rain.

Once this biomass above ground is removed for traditional agriculture purposes, a rapid soil depleting chain of events follows. Without the humus build up due to the rapid decay, there is nowhere for nutrients to be held in the soil and structure is poor. Heavy rains, now pounding the exposed earth, leach nutrients and wash away the tiny layers of fertility that do exist. The infamous swidden (“slash-and-burn”) practices are a result. Farmers cut and then burn the forest in order to add minerals into the soil, but due to the reasons explained above, the land will only support cultivation for 1-3 years, after which time the fertility is gone and the land must be left fallow for up to 10-20 years. Farmers will continue to clear and burn land in cycles, eventually returning to their first plot too burn and plant again. Such patterns are arguably sustainable by small populations over vast areas of forest, particularly if Terra Preta practices are incorporated, however, when time cycles between cultivation shorten, the net result is forest and soil degradation.

To further aggravate the problem, when chemical or organic fertilizers are applied to these unstable tropical soils, these nutrients have no organic matter to attach to and are thus leached in to the ground water at an even higher rate, thus throwing off the delicate balance of the neighboring forest that are still intact. With populations increasing and forest rapidly decreasing (largely due to these techniques) this is clearly not a sustainable model. There’s got to be a better way and the solutions we find will be crucial to the health of our planet.

This difference between temperate and tropical soil fertilities is often seen as the reason why nations in temperate climates tend to be more advanced than tropical nations. Some tropical soil types cannot support anything but the most simple civilizations. This difference in soil fertilities, in combination with the higher population growth rates in tropical nations, probably explains why the bulk of the world’s hunger is found in tropical nations. Today about 75% of the world’s human population resides in tropical climates. This population (about 4.5 billion) is growing significantly faster than human populations in temperate climates, and about 0.8 of these 4.5 billion do not have enough to eat, and many more are malnourished. – Bruce Sundquist

The forest demonstrates the systems that work. Inspired by the abundant designs in nature, Planet People Passion has plans to develop Forest Garden techniques to create abundant systems on a recently acquired 40 acres of degraded land in the Amazon, about 60km outside of Iquitos. The Permaculture Education Center is being established in collaboration with a Peruvian based Non-Profit, The Amazonian Institute for the Preservation of the Rainforest and Indigenous Cultures which will soon be based on this land.

The project will launch, and start up cost will be funded through a Permaculture Design Certificate Course, June 22 – July 6th, lead by Andrew Jones where students will have the opportunity to collaborate in the design of the center’s early planning and at the same time immerse in the cultural treasures of the region made possible through the 10 years of shamanic apprenticeships and work by co-founder Roman Hanis.

Co-Founders, Cynthia Robinson and Roman Hanis, seek to create a model for carbon negative living, which provides abundance for the living communities on all levels. The vision is to implement a multi-layered agro-forestry model, which also incorporates and nurtures the preservation of ancestral shamanic traditions, medicinal plant, as well as exploration on ancient techniques of Terra Preta ("black earth") where ancient cultures successfully developed large areas of thick fertile soil. These ancient traditions hold the keys in both quite literally creating a sustainable foundation and then nurturing the life stemming from it.

It is crucial that we spend our energy creating small living models that are able to explore and evolve organically as we learn and live. It is through these living models that we will truly be able to collaborate with indigenous communities and pool our wisdom together. And it is through these living models that we connect to the languages of nature and develop our own intuitive knowing.

Since the first Permaculture Design Course in 1972, this course has been taught thousands of times around the world. This internationally recognized course is based on the teachings of movement founder Bill Mollison and all chapters of the text, Permaculture: A Designers Manual. The course gives an in-depth understanding of the design process and the main elements involved. The course also gives many ideas and inspiration for further study in specific disciplines that can integrate with a productive property of any scale.

The course results in a certificate, which is a prerequisite for the Permaculture diploma that is available after 2 years of documented, applied work in the field.

Permaculture is sustainable, and reparative, land use design. The result is agriculturally productive ecosystems which are diverse, stable and meet human needs (materials, energy, shelter, food, water and more). Working with nature rather than against nature means maximizing results and minimizing work. Asking many functions from each element and providing many supports for each element creates a stable system. The land and its occupants are integrated harmoniously.

Permaculture design can be applied to any scale of project from small yard to entire countries. The beneficial relationships between the elements are emphasized. The wastes become resources. Productivity and yields increase and environments, and stability, are restored.

Topics Covered:

• Design methods
• Understanding patterns in nature
• Trees & their energy transactions
• Forest establishment
• Food forests
• Climatic factors
• Temperate zones
• Humid tropics
• Dry land strategies
• Islands
• Aquaculture
• Water harvesting
• Waste management
• Soil biology, creation and erosion control
• Energy efficient architecture
• Legal strategies and trusts
• Earthworks & their use in earth repair
• Strategies for urban and rural environments
• Effective working groups
• Money and finance
• Bio regional organization
• Ethical investment
• Effective aid

Planting on swales

Meet the Instructors:

Matt Whittley
After much exploration into alternative fuels, alternative building and organic farming, Matt heard about Permaculture. The pursuit of Permaculture became an immediate obsession. Within 2 weeks Matt found himself sitting with Permaculture founder Bill Mollison in Bocas del Toro, a Caribbean island off the coast of Panama, for a Permaculture for Islands course. During this time Matt was offered a position to work with Bill and Lisa Mollison in Tasmania, Australia, an offer he could not refuse. Matt, and his wife Julia, moved to Tasmania and worked closely with Bill and Lisa, creating a 72 hour DVD series. The time spent with Bill and Lisa personally, and the exposure to the video teaching, gave Matt and Julia a truly comprehensive understanding of Permaculture.

Matt and Julia went on to work with Geoff Lawton on his next DVD about Soil Biology. They also went on several consultations with Geoff, often dealing with earth dam construction, water harvesting and site design, including a 1500 acre property.

Since leaving Australia, Matt has been working full time in the field for permaculture. He is currently living in Panama and starting a demonstration site for permaculture design and education.

With a background and passion for teaching Matt is able to relate complex concepts to people with a wide variety of backgrounds. He also has an extensive photo and video library to help demonstrate examples.

Matt and Julia mix cob

Julia Breitenfeld
Julia has spent a year travelling around Australia, working and learning directly from Bill and Lisa Mollison in Tasmania and Geoff Lawton in New South Wales. Most of her time was spent gaining practical experience in the garden and on the fields. Julia has become intimately familiar with the soil micro-universe and the importance of the soil food web. Healthy soils equal healthy plants equal healthy people.

Julia holds a Permaculture Design Certificate, from a course taught by Bill and Geoff in Melbourne. Julia now lives in Panama, Central America, with her husband Matt, and together they have dedicated their lives to designing properties to produce optimum health not only for the people but also for the health of the planet. Julia understands that the key to restoring vitality and life is incorporating fundamentals such as seed saving, appropriate technologies, water harvesting and restoring soil biology. Sustaining the soil is not enough, we need to be creating it; regeneration is the goal. Let’s make more soil together!

Julia’s enthusiastic approach is inspiring and will excite you to learn and explore more about all aspects of life; your own life and the life in the soil that supports all life around you.

Course Details:

The PDC in May will be at W.I.S.E (World Institute for Sustainability and Education). It is an intensive 10-day course (72 hours), in the beautiful Osa Mountains of South Eastern Costa Rica. Accommodations are basic cabinas with wooden floors and screened sides. Cots are provided but please bring your own bedding. All meals are provided, including snacks. Food is based on local fare, catering to omnivores and vegetarians.

The PDC in June will be at Tanglewood Wellness Center in Central Panama, 90 minutes from Panama City. This beautiful retreat is located in the mountains, a short drive to the beach. The retreat offers comfortable rooms (double occupancy) with 2 single beds, mosquito netting, a ceiling fan, locking closets, electricity and a private bathroom with shower. Organic cotton linens and towels are provided. All meals served at Tanglewood Wellness Center are Raw Vegan. You can expect simple meals and snacks with an abundance of high quality, fresh, local produce prepared by Tanglewood’s experience staff. Tanglewood is located close to a town with some restaurants for those who prefer hot breakfasts or dinners. Please note: Individuals are responsible for any meals outside of Tanglewood Wellness Center.

Laying out stakes on contour

Costs:

Costa Rica – 10-day intensive course at WISE: US$1,195. Partial Scholarships are available to those booking at least 30 days in advance and submitting 500 words about how they’re planning on using their skills to help their local communities. Fees include basic shared accommodations (2 per cabina, shared bathrooms), 3 meals per day plus snacks, and a PDC. This is an intensive course so please be prepared for full days of activities and learning.

Panama – 14-day course at Tanglewood Wellness Center: US$2,295. Discounts are offered to those booking in advance. $1,995 for bookings received by April 15, $2,095 for bookings received by May 1, $2,195 for bookings received by May 15. Fees include very comfortable accommodations (2 per room, private bathrooms), 3 raw vegan meals per day plus snacks, and a PDC. Field trips will be taken to local places of interest. Lots of time for learning, relaxation and rejuvenation in the gorgeous, serene setting of Tanglewood Wellness Center.

Please contact Matt Whittley at mattwhittley (at) mac.com for more information about what to bring and how to sign up. We look forward to seeing you in the Tropics.

Click here for information on the PDC being taught at W.I.S.E., Costa Rica.

Click here for information on the PDC being taught at Tanglewood Wellness Center, Panama.

But its pretty damn close and at the very least it’s an excellent addition to what you learned in your own PDC, or just a great permaculture resource in general. I first heard about these audio recordings of Bill from Geoff Lawton during my PDC. He said that Jeff Nugent (permacultureplants.net) audio recorded Bill teaching a PDC back in 1983 and it was the actual PDC Geoff attended. He said he would listen to them in the car all the time and that they were just a great resource to have.

I looked it up online and found Jeff Nugent’s website (click here) and saw that you could buy a dvd of mp3 files for $40 US. I ordered one and have been listening ever since.

The amount of information Bill manages to pack into each sentence is amazing. There are so many things I would hear while listening that would make me think, “I don’t remember learning that”. But taking a PDC is such an information overload it is really difficult to absorb everything at the time. So having the ability to essentially take a PDC over and over again at your own pace and so you can really absorb the info is priceless.

Now unfortunately with the nature of permaculture there are those individuals that want everything for free. I remember reading a thread on PRI’s forum where Jeff Nugent was defending himself for charging the $40 for the audio recordings. Now most rational people who actually do things instead of sitting on the sidelines criticizing would appreciate the amount of time that goes into recording, editing, and producing nearly 50 hours of audio. And remember this was recorded in 1983 on tapes and edited reel to reel in actual time.

I challenge any of those folks who take issue with the $40 dollar price tag to record, edit and produce 50 hours of audio and see if you still feel the same way.

Something to take note of if you import the mp3s onto your computer. The audio files are labeled 1a and 1b, 2a and 2b, etc… because they are corresponding to side a and b of a tape. So when I first imported the files into itunes they got put all out of order, perhaps this was simply my error, but I ended up renaming the files 1 thru 59 and now they are all in the right order. There is also a pdf of course notes included that correspond to the side a and b naming system so my renaming causes a slight issue with this. But truthfully I never really used the corresponding notes so its not really a big deal for me.

So if you want to hear Bill in his prime I highly recommend purchasing the dvd. And I would also like to thank Jeff Nugent for making these available and at such a reasonable price.

Click here to open a 390kb PDF of details.

For more information please contact calgarypermaculture (at) gmail.com

Permaculture Calgary website: www.permaculturecalgary.org

SOPI provides a unique blend of permaculture education, new model demonstration and what we call Culturequake education. Our book, Culturequake: The Restoration Revolution and future courses describe how we got to where we are now, what the obvious impacts are and then how to design new community and economic models that blend what has worked well in the past with what we have today.

“It is really hard to design new solutions that do not add more unintended consequences and do offer real long-term solutions. Our institutions keep offering more of the same infinite growth, consumer culture, private property, owner–labor separation, dominion–Taker stories.” SOPI is being brave enough to not only say what is wrong with modern culture but also to offer alternatives and to create a platform for people to discuss and develop completely new models.

By combing permaculture with real cultural solutions, SOPI will offer true whole systems thinking. We will teach people how to think a new way, how to see the connections between all of the elements and to act with ethics that emphasize care for the earth, care for people and sharing the surplus. Anything we do will follow these ethics.

For example, we will follow a common-work model that starts by designing landscapes for the sake of the land first and then identify the livelihoods within the land. We will work with nature instead of seeing what we can take from her without giving back.

We need to take education to a new level. Future leaders and the average person are entitled to know how everything is and can be connected. We can no long externalize costs and expenses thereby fowling our nest. Nature is the model—nature is the teacher. To be completely honest, all we have achieved with civilization is a lot of stuff that will soon end up in the dump, an unhealthy and depleted landscape for future generations and a whole society that no longer knows how to take care of ourselves and cannot live without distractions because we are not grounded.

SOPI is for those who want to learn how to and want to put their time and resources towards creating new working alternatives. Creating new models that will out-compete and then replace our current Taker culture will be extremely difficult. But starting with permaculture design skills and where Culturequake leaves off gives us a context of what worked well for a 150,000 generations and where we went wrong during the agricultural revolution.

Courses to New Model

We will be teaching the Bill Mollison Permaculture Design Course, advanced permaculture design and much more. Come take a weekend tour of Restoration Farm. In one place you will see a working permaculture and CSA farm, young food forest, solar electric, greenhouse, rainwater catchment, and green building systems.

Our goal is to develop a program of courses than will become a type of whole systems certification—graduates will be able to think and see the whole big picture and to begin to design new cultural and economic models.

SOPI also offers affordable Permaculture Introduction courses on first Sundays. Restoration Farm and the Village Farm offers a CSA, farm stand and U-pick blueberries. So give us a shout and we look forward to seeing you on the farm.

Ashland Oregon and the Rogue Valley

“Things are happening in the Rogue Valley.” The Rogue and Southern Oregon has among the highest concentration of skills in the country—more permaculturist, herbalist, healers, gleaners, green builders, craftsman and innovators per capita.

Ashland, Oregon also offers every amenity from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Southern Oregon University, fine and health dining, independent book stores, many bed and breakfasts and of course beautiful Lithia Park

~~~~~~~~

Chuck Burr is a permaculture farmer, teacher and founder of the Southern Oregon Permaculture Institute and Restoration Farm in Ashland, Oregon.

Visit www.sopermaculture.org to learn about permaculture education in Ashland, Oregon including the Permaculture Design Course, June 13-26.

A 10% discount is available to anyone who brings another person to the workshop. Group discounts are 20% per person for groups of four or more.

Also, please let us know if you are interested in working for us and we might be able to find some way for you to trade your skills.

Scott Howard has taught Cob and Earthbag building since 1999 and 2003 respectively. His experience with diverse climates such as Thailand, Africa, and the US gives great perspective for education in permaculture building methods.

An intensive course like this one is the best way to get your hands in the dirt and see how it is done. Participants will be able to build their own domes after this workshop.

Click here to find out more and to book!

As the time for our design certificate course in Morocco draws near, we have plenty of local people, and some from Warsangeli in Somalia. Warsangeli is a Sultante of peaceful people unfortunate enough to be surrounded by war. Supplies are difficult to get in and people are starving, and drinking dirty water. Permaculture could solve the food and water problems very well.

Current circumstances mean we could not open up courses in Somalia to international students, but a Warsangeli organization in london has secured funding and wants to work with us to spread permaculture there. Inviting a few people from Warsangeli to our course in Morocco would enable us to make much better progress over there.

We do not have enough paying students yet to make the course viable. We’ve been told that many people leave it until the last minute to book, so please, if you’re coming on this course, let us know as soon as possible so that we can confirm it with the African students.

Spring is an ideal time to be doing the course in Morocco, as the weather is fine and warm. This is a wonderful opportunity to get qualified and make a massive difference to the lives of many people by helping us promote permaculture in two areas where there is almost no knowledge of it. (Starting to sound like a missionary!) A lot hinges on the success of this course. As an incentive we will waive the price increase for late booking.

Book here!

Information is the critical potential resource. It becomes a resource only when obtained and acted upon. - Bill Mollison

There is a moment, according at least to Geoff Lawton, when a permaculture student becomes ‘terminal’; forever destined, perhaps, to spout interesting (to some, anyway) facts/theories about ducks and lofty (but totally do-able) plans for future garden designs and/or the ‘edible meadow’, all the while flicking off light-switches everywhere and drying seaweed on the clothesline in between those telltale permaculture dreams….

Well, I can’t say for sure at this stage that we have any new terminals among the 18 students who just completed the first ever Permaculture course in Samoa, (and I dare say the Samoan incarnation of a permaculture addict might differ on specifics) but I definitely saw familiar sparks in a few eyes over the last 2 weeks, which means at least – they are infected!

From the 25th of January to the 12th of February, these 18 brave pioneers (who are also already certified Life Skills coaches) lodged with us in humble but comfortable headquarters in Fagalii, to test out for the first time METI’s Permaculture Demonstration and Training Centre. Personally, I was thoroughly impressed with the participants and their willingness to learn, interact with and use the information made available.

The course was not a certified PDC, but covered all basic design principles and concepts. More culturally specific than the universal PDC, the course focused more on theory than technique because most of the participants have extensive practical knowledge already. (We have found under the cobwebs of western misinformation that the skill and feeling for living naturally/ethically/harmoniously is still very well intact in Samoa.)

All participants received a fully-translated copy of a 50-page booklet which was written over the last 12 months specifically for the islands of Samoa. (Contact me at tamlyn.dae (at) gmail.com for a copy of this document in English or Samoan.)

So, what was learnt? What did the people actually get from this pilot course? Well, first of all, since Permaculture is a totally new term for almost all Samoans, I believe this course was effective in casting the first rays of light and understanding on so important a concept for the islands. I also believe that the information given was almost entirely received with appreciation and affirmation.

Aloema Fretton told me that when her husband, Alesana, who also successfully completed the course, gets back from NZ, they are going to get started on designing their dream permaculture home:

It is a huge relief for us to hear that we don’t have to use chemicals. Before we could only use land for a few years, but now we understand that we can actually increase the fertility of our land over time. It is cheaper and better for us. But I can see that permaculture is not just about us right now, but it is about doing the right thing for the future of our country and the world. My children will benefit from us using permaculture because the land will be fertile; instead of us making money now but destroying the soil and leaving nothing for the next generation.

And here are some photos to really drive the point home (and as evidence that YES, this really happened!):

The beautiful and theatrical ladies perform a highly educational role-play – a very
effective way of communicating information (and bringing some serious hilarity
into the classroom)

A few keen participants listen to a talk by local beekeeper extraordinaire,
Lester Dean, on small-scale beekeeping as a livelihoods project in Samoa
(and learn that keeping bees = double or triple mango and avocado yields!)

‘Designing in harmony with Natural Patterns’ day was a fun one. One student found
this leaf which in its natural context contained at least 4 of the generic pattern
models on the whiteboard.

Seed-saving, an all important aspect of any sustainable growing system.
Here are eggplant, green bean, mung bean and chilli seeds from
our very own demonstration garden

Three cheers for the first batch of compost tea in Samoa! The makeshift
brewer (with this cheap electromagnetic pump) functioned flawlessly.

Getting practical – Uunu returns an unwelcome esi (papaya) tree to the
hungry banana circle.

Leativa and I check out the compost in a practical lesson

Participants set loose in the veggie garden

Information is the critical potential resource. For me, 12 months of work were easily paid off in the split second of seeing those ’sparks’ in response to information given – and I believe that the necessary action will follow. I would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to METI and all people involved in this event, and offer my most sincere blessings for the future of this project, and the work of all those dedicated to creating harmony.