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The Permaculture ethics are the starting place for making decisions when beginning a permaculture design. Different permaculture teachers have expressed these ethics in different ways.


Prime Directive[edit | edit source]

Bill Mollison expressed the Prime Directive of Permaculture as:

"The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children."

Jen Mendez of the Permie Kids Podcast has expanded upon the original:

"The only ethical decision is to take an active, whole-systems-thinking approach to learning and life. As authentic, fully-realized communities we have the means to care ourselves, others and the earth.

Bill Mollison[edit | edit source]

Care of the Earth[edit | edit source]

Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply

There are three concurrent and parallel responses:

  1. Care for surviving natural assemblages
  2. Rehabilitate degraded or eroded land
  3. Create our own complex living environment

Care of People[edit | edit source]

Provision for people to access those resources necessary to their existence

Setting Limits to Population and Consumption[edit | edit source]

By governing our own needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles

David Holmgren[edit | edit source]

  1. Earth Care - Rebuild natural capital
  2. People Care - Look after self, kin and community
  3. Fair Share - Set limits and redistribute surplus

A Policy of Responsibility (to relinquish power)[edit | edit source]

The role of beneficial authority is to return function and responsibilty to life and to people; if successful, no further authority is needed. The role of successful design is to create a self-managed system.

External Links[edit | edit source]

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Authors Ethan
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Translations Russian
Related 1 subpages, 3 pages link here
Aliases Permaculture Ethics
Impact 853 page views
Created March 5, 2015 by Ethan
Modified March 2, 2022 by Page script
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