Permaculture in South Africa and Maine

Andrew Watkins, who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa from 2000-2002, will show examples of permaculture in Lesotho and mid-coast Maine.  He will discuss how Permaculture principles apply to agriculture, building, water management and energy. Since moving to Maine Andrew has been a volunteer at the Newforest Institute and in 2008 received his Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) through the Institute. 

Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable human habitat based on patterns in nature. Many of the design principles mimic the way a forest ecosystem functions.

Coined by Bill Mollison in 1978, the word "permaculture" stands for both "permanent agriculture", which focuses on the production of food and other necessities and "permanent culture", where food production is integrated with sustainable energy, intermediate technology and appropriate transportation and building infrastructures.

The Newforest Institute is an educational non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration of mutually sustaining relationships between people and the land. Located on 300 acres of forest, fields, edible forest gardens and permaculture gardens in mid-coast Maine, Newforest employs education, land restoration and economic development projects, to nurture the creative capacity needed to build a future grounded in ecological integrity, economic viability and cultural vitality.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information call the library at 338-3884 ext 10. For more information about the Newforest Institute visit their website at www.newforestinstitute.org.