Global Ecovillage Network/Solution Library/Food forests

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Designing a food forest as a sustainable form of agriculture and food production, while preserving water and rehabilitating the soil, by imitating the natural eco-systems of the forest.

Food security, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, permaculture.

There are successful experiences around the world in designing agricultural systems as an imitation of natural eco-systems. The idea is simple yet elegant: by implementing ecological principles in agriculture, we can design a system that functions sustainably like a natural eco-system, and at the same time yields products that are useful for humans, like an agricultural system.

Some main characteristics of a food forests are:

• High level and a variety of production of food, fiber, animal feed, fertilizing material, medicinal plants and more.
• Preserving a diversity of species.
• Capacity for regeneration, self-fertilizing and self-maintenance.
• High resistance to drought, disease and pests.
• Aesthetic value: a diverse and rich environment with natural aesthetics.

These characteristics make food forests one of the most useful and sustainable strategies for producing food, while preserving water and rehabilitating the soil.

• Seeds, Food & Soil.
• Water Cycles.

• http://permaculturenews.org/2011/10/21/why-food-forests/*
• http://www.bayadaim.org.il/ok*
• http://www.bayadaim.org.il/55t*