“Permaculture Ethics and Design Principles” by permacultureprinciples.com, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.5 AU.
Permaculture is a design philosophy and set of principles that seeks to create sustainable and regenerative systems inspired by natural ecosystems. The term "permaculture" combines the words "permanent" and "agriculture" or "culture," reflecting its goal of creating enduring and harmonious systems for agriculture and human life.
Key principles of permaculture include:
Care for the Earth: Respecting and working in harmony with the natural environment, recognizing its intrinsic value and the importance of preserving it for future generations.
Care for People: Promoting social equity, fair access to resources, and meeting basic needs for all individuals within a community.
Fair Share: Ensuring that resources are distributed equitably and that excesses are shared with others and reinvested back into the system.
Designing for Sustainability: Creating systems that are energy-efficient, minimize waste, and utilize renewable resources.
Integration and Interconnection: Emphasizing the interconnectedness of elements within a system and seeking to create mutually beneficial relationships.
Permaculture design can be applied to various contexts, such as urban and rural landscapes, farms, gardens, buildings, and communities. It often involves designing productive and diverse ecosystems, utilizing natural patterns and processes, optimizing resource use, and fostering self-sufficiency and resilience.
We at World Unite! are convinced that the comprehensive approach of permaculture represents an excellent solution to many problems of our time, and therefore, we support and promote permaculture.
Permaculture volunteer work and permaculture internships are possible in various locations with us.
Programs that include Permaculture
We designed the grounds of our Mother Nature Camp in Matemwe, Zanzibar based on permaculture principles. When we started the project in July 2022, the area was a sandy terrain with very little vegetation that had been used for monoculture agriculture. By optimizing water usage, implementing composting practices, strategic planting, and concepts such as our evapotranspiration toilets, we are currently transforming the area into a permaculture fruit forest. Our goal is to meet 30% of the vegetable and fruit needs for our volunteers from this forest.
As part of our program activities, we dedicate one day each week to exploring permaculture and sustainable lifestyles with permaculture specialist Antje.
In collaboration with beefriendly, we host a colony of stingless bees on our premises and also introduce solitary bees, which diligently assist us in pollinating our plants.
Another innovative concept on our grounds is our aquaponics system.
Since the end of World War II, intensive industrial agriculture has been practiced in Japan, using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This led to the extinction of the Crested Ibis in the wild, as it could no longer find food due to the use of chemicals in rice fields. Unfortunately, the ibis is just one example of the biodiversity loss caused by industrial agriculture. However, on the island of Sado, there is an interesting and successful reintroduction project for the Nippon-Ibis, where the remaining individuals were bred in captivity and hundreds of birds have been released into the wild, now breeding there again.
To ensure the long-term survival of the bird in the wild, it is however necessary to have a suitable habitat for the Nippon-Ibis, which means agriculture must be conducted in a more sustainable manner.
As part of the Mother Nature Camp on Sado, we engage in various volunteering activities to promote regenerative agriculture.
In Bolivia, as a volunteer or intern at an English-speaking permaculture retreat, you can learn the concept of permaculture firsthand, expand your knowledge, and put it into practice. In addition to diverse activities on the farm, you will also work alongside Bolivian small-scale farmers on measures to restore the water quality of the Mizque River, which is supported by the permaculture project and aims to ensure water supply in the region.
In various countries where we operate, such as Malta, Germany, and Zanzibar, we offer internships and jobs in organic farming. These programs occasionally incorporate permaculture approaches.
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