PERMACULTURE: A Designer's Manual

by BILL MOLLISON with Reny Mia Slay and Andrew Geeves

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New hardcover book, 576 pages. Second edition, published 2004

Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable social order.

Permaculture design is a system of assembling conceptual, material and strategic components in a pattern which functions to benefit life in all its forms. The philosophy behind permaculture is one of working with, rather than against, nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtlessaction; of looking at systems in all their functions, rather than asking only one yield of them; and of allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolutions.

This is the definitive Permaculture design manual in print since 1988. It is the textbook and curriculum for the 72-hour Certificate course in Permaculture Design. Written for teachers, students and designers, it follows on and greatly enlarges on the initial introductory texts, Permaculture One (1978) and Permaculture Two (1979) both of which are still in demand over twenty years after publication. Very little of the material found in this book is reproduced from the former texts. It covers design methodologies and strategies for both urban and rural applications, describing property design and natural farming techniques.

Topics include: Designer's Manual * design methods * understanding patterns in nature * climatic factors * water * soils * earthworks and their use in earth repair * techniques and design strategies for both urban and rural applications * the temperate climates * dry lands * cold climates * humid cool climates * humid tropics * trees and their energy transactions * aquaculture * waste management * energy efficient architecture * legal strategies and trusts * effective working groups * right livelihood * money and finance * ethical investment * bio-regional organisation * effective aid

About the author

Bill Mollison (born 1928 in Tasmania, Australia) is a researcher, author, scientist, teacher, naturalist and has been called the 'father of permaculture', an integrated system of design co-developed with David Holmgren that encompasses not only agriculture, horticulture, architecture and ecology but also economic systems, land access strategies and legal systems for businesses and communities. Bill is the legendary Permaculture teacher, promoter and designer who has, over 26 years of non-stop travelling, designing, teaching and writing, personally planted the seeds of Permaculture in over 120 countries. Bill is the founding director of The Permaculture Institute, the first and longest running Permaculture Institute in existence. His other books include

• Permaculture One: A Perennial Agriculture for Human Settlements, with David Holmgren (1978)

• Permaculture Two: Practical Design for Town and Country in Permanent Agriculture (1979)

• Permaculture - A Designer's Manual (1988)

• Introduction to Permaculture (1991, Revised 1997)

• The Permaculture Book of Ferment and Human Nutrition (1993, Revised 1997, reprinted 2011)

• Travel in Dreams: An Autobiography (1996)

• The Permaculture Way: Practical Steps To Create A Self-Sustaining World, with Graham Bell (2005)

• Smart Permaculture Design, with Jenny Allen (2006)

Permaculture: A Designer's Manual by Bill Mollison