Holmgren's 12 Permaculture Principles

David Holmgren has formulated twelve basic principles underlying Permaculture. A basic guide to these can be found in Holmgren's free e-book: Essence of Permaculture , A more in depth coverage of the principles is given in his recent book:

Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability (2002).

* Observe and interact. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
* Catch and store energy. “Make hay while the sun shines.”
* Obtain a yield. “You can't work on an empty stomach.”
* Apply self regulation & Accept feedback. "The sins of the fathers are visited on the children unto the seventh generation"
* Use and value renewable resources and services. “ Let nature take its course.”
* Produce no waste. “Waste not, want not. A stitch in time saves nine.”
* Design from patterns to details. “Can't see the wood for the trees.”
* Integrate rather than segregate. “Many hands make light work.”
* Use small and slow solutions. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
* Use and value diversity. “Don't put all your eggs in one basket.”
* Use edges and value the marginal. “Don't think you are on the right track just because it is a well-beaten path.”
* Creatively use and respond to change. “Vision is not seeing things as they are but as they will be.”


This collection is a Work In Progress to illustrate those principles.

London Permaculture is related to Naturewise a group providing Permaculture education in London, UK. Find out about Naturewise’s Permaculture courses here:

www.naturewise.org.uk