On September 24 Bill Mollison (1928), better known as “The Father of Permaculture” died; a man who should be known by all people who seek to live in a more environmentally friendly way and taking advantage of resources in the best way, but also preserving them for the future. Along with David Holmgren, Mollison was the inventor of the term permaculture: they used the word to describe: “An integrated and evolving system of perennial or self-perpetuating plants and animal species useful to man.”
Over time, the concept of permaculture has evolved and expanded. Holmgren himself now described it as: “The conscious design of landscapes that mimic the patterns and relationships of nature, while supplying abundant food, fiber and energy to meet local needs.” In other words, Permaculture is the design of food production systems that do not harm the environment, as intensive agriculture does.
But… Who was this man really? Mollison grew up in Stanley, Tasmania, and dropped out of school at age 15 to help his family. For 10 years he went through many different occupations: fisherman, sailor, trapper, mill employee, tractor driver, forester and naturalist. Although he had no formal education, his eagerness to learn and his infinite curiosity led him to informally incorporate a lot of knowledge about nature and agricultural production, the topics that he was most passionate about.
When he began to discover the networks behind agriculture, and the damage that was being done to the planet in pursuit of better production, Mollison became a radical critic of the industrial and political systems that were destroying, materially and socially, every corner of the planet that he was able to visit. However, he never remained in a mere critical position; as he himself explained: “This opposition is useless, I didn’t want to oppose anything and waste my time. I wanted to come back with just something very positive, something that would allow all of us to live without the total collapse of biological systems.”
Later, in 1954, Bill joined the CSIRO (Wildlife Survey Section) and trained as a researcher there. Studying locust plagues and rabbit diseases, Mollison became familiar with scientific ecology. But it was the idea that we could consciously design sustainable systems that would allow human beings to live within their means and in harmony with wildlife that really motivated him. That idea didn’t have a name yet, so Mollison made it up.
Why Permaculture?
Permaculture means “Agriculture or permanent culture”. The concept refers to a sustainable, continuous, infinite production. Modern agriculture causes serious over-exploitation and soil erosion, causes a drop in productivity due to poor drainage and has a polluting effect by using an excess of fossil fuels, fertilizers and pesticides. It also affects deforestation, spreads nitrates in underground aquifers, and contributes to the loss of genetic diversity of cultivated species and the disappearance of local varieties, among other damage to the planet. Permaculture is the opposite.
For Mollison, an agriculture capable of improving the nutrition of large human populations had to be, at the same time, respectful of the territory and sustainable in the long term. Otherwise, she would be contradicting herself. The harmonic concept of permaculture sought to reach that balance.
In permaculture, fewer materials (and machines) are used, so exploitation is less expensive; it has a beneficial impact on the environment, and fruits, cereals or vegetables of higher quality and genetic singularity are produced. Faced with the large agri-food industry, focused on massive and insatiable performance, permaculture is a true revolution.
Mollison left this world a few days ago, but his message of transformation and the call to produce our food in a respectful and sustainable way is more relevant than ever: while he was leaving us, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world bought the suspected multinational of making the people it feeds sick. Today is the moment in which it is being decided how the next generations will be fed, and many things are at stake. Only with information and awareness will it be possible to change the course that events are taking.