INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE

Transcription

1 INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE Permaculture A Muslim Aid Australia initiative to Do The Right Thing Right! By: Abdurahman (Alex) McCausland Permaculture Expert & Hassan Elsetohy CEO Muslim aid Australia

2 Content Why Permaculture? The desperate need to Permaculture What is Permaculture? Principles of Permaculture

3 We are in desperate need to wake up and do the right thing before it is even more late. The danger of: - Pollution - Pollution

4 The danger of: - Pollution - Removal of Echo Systems - Deforestation - Desertification - Drought - Pollution Deforestation

5 The Danger of: - Pollution - Removal of Echo Systems - Deforestation - Desertification - Drought - Rivers Run Dry Euphrates, Iraq Pollution Deforestation

6 The danger of: -Pollution - Removal of Echo Systems - Deforestation - Desertification -Drought - Soil Erosion -.. Pollution Deforestation Soil Erosion

7 We are in desperate need to wake up and do the right thing before it is even more late. The danger of: - Pollution - Soil Erosion - Drought & Desertification - Depletion of Resources - Impact on Ethics -

8 There is no Life Here!

9 We are in desperate need to wake up and do the right thing before it is even more late. The danger of: - Pollution - Soil Erosion - Drought & Desertification - Depletion of Resources - Impact on Ethics - and much more Corruption has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned, that He (God) may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return (by repenting to God and begging His Pardon)... (Ar-Rum:41) Because of our own doings!

10 What is Permaculture An integral part of the solution

11 The main principles in Permaculture link directly to Islamic principles Submission: The action of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another, In this case, Allah, The Creator Sustainability: A characteristic of system of which energy output is more than the energy input. Dunya: Literally 'closer' or 'lower': The temporal world and its earthly concerns and possessions as opposed to the eternal spiritual realm, or the hereafter. Ecosystem: The community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system BioSphere: The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed the zone of life on Earth, a closed system, and largely self-regulating

12 The Permaculture elements link directly to Islamic principles AMANAH (TRUST): A trust is created by a settlor, who transfers an asset to a trustee. The trustee manages the asset for the trust's beneficiaries. Stewardship (Khilafa): An ethic that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. Its concepts can be applied to the environment, economics, health, property, information, theology, etc. Civilisation: A complex state society characterized by urban development, social stratification, symbolic communication forms (typically, writing systems), and a perceived separation from and domination over the natural environment. Civilizations are often further defined by centralization, the domestication of animals and plants, specialization of labor, ideologies of progress (and supremacism), monumental architecture, taxation, societal dependence upon agriculture, and expansionism.

13 It stands to reason that: A culture (س ن ن ) which fails to respect the function of the natural system put in place by the creator (SWT) to sustain it: a) Breaks the trust placed in by Allah SWT b) Fails in its stewardship c)erodes the foundations of its own sustenance d)cannot persist in existing in such a way indefinitely

14 Permaculture is an Ethical Design Science that leads to Methods and Patterns to facilitating sustainable human habitations and societies within productive landscapes EARTH CARE FAIR SHARE PEOPLE CARE Permanent (Agri)culture Bill Mollison and David Holmgen, 1979

15 Earth Care is through Preserve and maintain eco-system functions Sustain the water and nutrient cycles Protect soil and promote soil building Preserve and utilise bio-diversity Promote sequestration of carbon into terrestrial & aquatic habitats (soils, forests, swamps & grasslands)

16 People Care through respecting and fulfilling basic human need, where Islam adds the spiritual needs Narrated Anas: The Prophet said, "None of you will have faith till he wishes for his brother what he likes for himself." (Bukhari #2, Hadith #12)

17 Fair share through re-distribution of surplus, re-inventing and returning this surplus And He it is who causes gardens to grow, [both] trellised and untrellised, and palm trees and crops of different [kinds of] food and olives and pomegranates, similar and dissimilar. Eat of its fruit when it yields and give its due [zakah] on the day of its harvest. And be not wasteful. Indeed, He does love the wasters [al-an aam 141] And the likeness of those who spend of their (excess) possessions, seeking to please Allah and to strengthen their souls, is as a garden, high and fertile: heavy rain falls on it but makes it yield a double increase of harvest, and if it receives not Heavy rain, light moisture sufficeth it. Allah seeth well whatever ye do. (Al Baqarah 265)

18 ECOLOGICAL Three Aspects of Sustainability ECONOMIC SOCIAL

19 Permaculture has origins in the Islamic History The 14 th century Kitāb ibdā al-malāḥa wa-inhā al-rajāḥa fī uṣūl ṣinā at alfilāḥa of Ibn Luyūn (Biblioteca de la Escuela de Estudios Árabes, Granada)

20 Principles of Permaculture

21 Ethics Universal Principles Strategies Techniques Specific

22 Observation There are 7 principles of Permaculture Efficient Use of Resources Ethical Use of Cyclic Energy Processes Working with Nature Multifunction Elements Integrated Diversity

23 1. ALLAH (swt) made a connection between nature & environment, and observation & contemplation, In planning for design we gather all available information on the site, community, economy, project we are designing for. The longer the process of observation, the better. We gather knowledge on the PATTERNS of ENERGY effecting the design-subject over time Environmental energies Biological (life) energies Social-economic (human) energies And within the land are neighboring plots and gardens of grapevines and crops and palm trees, [growing] several from a root or otherwise, watered with one water; but We make some of them exceed others in fruit. Indeed in that are signs for a people who reason. (3) And it is He who spread the earth and placed therein firmly set mountains and rivers; and from all of the fruits He made therein two mates; He causes the night to cover the day. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought. (4) Surat Ar-Ra d

24 2. Use of Cyclic Energy Processes among Elements Elements: Any entity within our designed productive system into which energy and resources flow and which has its own specific: NEEDS, PRODUCTS and FUNCTIONS Energy: is a property of objects, transferable among them via interactions, which can be converted into different forms but not created or destroyed. Industrial City Systems function through linear processes Biological and Natural systems function through cyclical processes Cycles can absorb and dynamically accumulate resources Our objective as Permaculture Designers is: To fulfil the needs of all elements in our design, such that our own needs are fulfilled by their products and functions with minimal reliance on external or destructive energies and resources.

25 In the Energy sector analysis/design, we consider all eternal energies affecting the site to harvest and use constructive energies, while scattering destructive energies

26 3. Maximising the functions of each Element Fence security, fodder, fruit, mulch, wind-break and support for climbing plants Kitchen shade on south side for garden, shelter from wind, rain-water catching surface Chicken eggs, feathers, manure, meat, cultivation, pest-control, alarm clock

27 4. Use of (not just diversity) but Integrated Diversity where Elements interact efficiently Allows multifunction Allows back-up Step by Step; Don t try everything at once! Confers stability Builds productivity Promotes cycling, multifunction Not the random diversity found in some Botanical Gardens for example FORESTS vs. GRAIN FIELDs

28 5. We are here to Work with the creation of ALLAH (Nature) not against it Use of Edges and Natural Patterns Less human intervention Use of Perennials where possible و إ ذ ق ال ر ب ك ل ل م ل ٮ ك ة إ ن ى ج اع ل ف ى ٱ ل ر ض خ ل يف ة ق ال و ا أ ت ج ع ل ف يہ ا م ن ي ف س د ف يہ ا و ي س ف ك ٱلد م ا ء و ن ح ن ن س ب ح ب ح م د ك و ن ق د س ل ك ق ال إ ن ى أ ع ل م م ا ل ت ع ل م ون ( 30 ) و م ا أ ر س ل ن ك إ ا ل ر ح م ة ل ل ع ل م ين ) 107)

29 6. Efficient and Ethical use of Resources Use Biological Resources Preferentially Use Appropriate Technology Design For Self Regulating Systems Five types of resources (according to Bill Mollison) Those which increase by modest use Those are unaffected by use, e.g. redirected water for hydroelectric generation Those which disappear/degrade IF Not USED, e.g. unharvested crops, water runoffs during rain, etc.. Those reduced by use, e.g. fish, coal, oil, etc Those which pollute by use, e.g. large buildings, concrete, radio-actives, etc

30 Time to change course!

31 ALLAH (swt) does not change the state of people until they change within! (13:11), then ALLAH (swt) will give you in abundance Social Cohesion Better Self-Actualisation: Doing the Right Thing, and having time to teach others Actualising your main duty of planet stewardship

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