Permaculture describes an agricultural approach that relies on the immediate natural surroundings and ecological system to create usable farming goods and produce sustainably.
It’s a long-term strategy that considers the regional environment and utilises these indigenous ecosystems’ natural stability and diversity to create more harmonious landscapes that protect the planet and produce functional products.
Like Nepal and Cameroon, some governments have taken permaculture more seriously, integrating it as part of their agricultural strategy. If your country’s government hasn’t encouraged permaculture, here are seven reasons why they should.
Permaculture can be used as a soil erosion control method
Permaculture is a solution for many common agricultural challenges, such as erosion. Many areas have faced unnatural erosion due to harmful farming practices and natural forces like rainwater.
What was once a highly eroded and depleted area can become its own thriving ecosystem with a bit of TLC. To start turning an eroded area into a permaculture wonderland, laying down regenerative seeds from suppliers like Granite Seed is an excellent first step. Human intervention can restore what industry and natural disasters have devastated using permaculture.
Permaculture relies on natural fertilisers
Where other agricultural systems use chemical fertilisers and pesticides to protect and nourish produce, permaculture uses more natural methods, such as manure, to ensure proper nutrients without the risk of creating chemical-resistant crops.
Permaculture reduces pollution
Permaculture spaces are entirely self-sufficient and, when appropriately run, shouldn’t produce any pollution at all. Compared to traditional agriculture, where there’s soil, water, and air pollution, permaculture adds to the immediate environment with its thriving plants and richly developing ecosystem while actively reducing pollution.
Permaculture nurtures community values
Tending to permaculture spaces instil strong community values in those who care for them. It integrates principles of only using and taking what you need, helping and sharing with others, and caring for the Earth.
Permaculture protects natural ecosystems and habitats
Whereas traditional agriculture can destroy natural ecosystems for the sake of high production, permaculture is the exact opposite. Permaculture leans into the natural ecosystems already present and builds off of them, nourishing them with plants and native species that naturally thrive in these areas to create a flourishing environment.
Permaculture is a sustainable agricultural concept
Some agricultural areas can only be helpful at certain times due to weather and other environmental factors. Still, permaculture is a permanent fixture that can thrive from spring to winter. Even though there may be some challenges and issues that arise in practice, the overall idea of permaculture represents a crucial sustainability upgrade that the world needs.
Permaculture can be self-sufficient
Permaculture doesn’t necessarily require more work. When done correctly and carefully, it can be self-sufficient, as it will naturally nourish itself with its thriving ecosystem that works together. It also allows those who create permaculture spaces to rely on the land to provide what they need, establishing a stronger connection between humans and the Earth.
Final thoughts
Permaculture just might be the agriculture of the future. Interestingly, permaculture used to be the agriculture of the past, when humans relied on what naturally grew and thrived around them to sustain them. Many countries and governments are returning to the permaculture train, and if yours isn’t, maybe these seven reasons will be enough to change that.
