OLD GROWTH TREES

Permaculture: Permanent Agriculture

 

The key principles of permaculture are: using renewable resources/services, optimizing diversity, and creatively responding to change. The essential benefits of operating within a permaculture-designed system: every "waste" becomes a resource, work is minimized, and climate change is reversed by carbon sequestration through soil and plant biomass production. 

 

Each of these permaculture principles can be applied to various spaces in order to create self-sustaining multi-purpose green systems. This is illustrated by the seven layer forest design, which emphasizes using each layer for unique yet interrelated purposes. The roots recycle and disperse nutrient rich soil; shrubs provide shade for animals and healthy produce such as blueberries, raspberries, and currants; the top canopy layer provides massive carbon sequestration potential. Permaculture communities can be planted in any climate where the species used will survive. On top of the normal benefits of permaculture, a system located in Ann Arbor could be used for teaching and research purposes in environmental classes. This would, in turn, allow for further understanding of ecological and permaculture systems.