Permaculture has its origins and strongest foundations in Australia, but it is also a global movement with projects and groups in hundreds of countries. Its inclusion in The Macquarie Dictionary is an indication of its status in Australia as almost a household word.
In Australia and other affluent countries, permaculture has provided the environmentally aware with an ethical and environmental design framework for personal and household self-reliance, rural resettlement and community development. In many less affluent countries of Asia, Latin America, Africa and Oceania permaculture has focused on provision of basic needs using and restoring local resources. mainly through development projects.
Rosemary Morrow’s decades of teaching and activism span the local and the global aspects of permaculture in rich and poor countries. Over those decades her classic permaculture book, Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture, has inspired and guided many on their permaculture journey and been used by many teachers of Permaculture Design Courses as their primary recommended text.
Now fully revised, updated and extended in the context of the climate emergency, the book title has evolved to Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture. This emphasises the original vision and potential of permaculture to provide for our needs in ways that regenerate, rather than simply conserve nature. For folks in kindred networks and movements focused on restoring nature, this new edition shows how apparently human-centred utilitarian design methods, strategies and techniques can simultaneously achieve the goals of earth restoration, human wellbeing and justice. While grounded in decades of grassroots practicality, this book shows how permaculture is a vital expression of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
As a practical permaculture design manual, it is especially useful for planners and community designers in addition to home owners. While based on temperate regions, it is applicable much more widely. Rosemary’s strong ethical sense and practical experience of the global context make this book valuable to those in very different climates and cultures. But Rosemary’s decades as a teacher of permaculture and trainer of permaculture teachers, makes Earth Restorers Guide an idea text for those studying permaculture, whether in broader sustainability studies in institutions, on Permaculture Design courses or self education in any context.
Permaculture is sometimes understood as the work of the co-originators and sometimes that of one man, Bill Mollison. In fact, a diversity of people have contributed to its foundations, growth and spread, including Rosemary Morrow. With Earth Restorer’s Guide to Permaculture, Rosemary consolidates her substantial and ongoing contribution to the understanding and application of permaculture as a design system for living lightly and yet abundantly on this earth.
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As always, Melliodora Publishing is committed to printing in Australia. To cover some of our printing and production costs we are looking for help from the permaculture community to contribute to our crowd support campaign. So please do contribute if you are able, to help us get this essential book into the hands of those who are ready to make change.
David Holmgren
Co-originator of permaculture
Melliodora
Djaara Country
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