Woodland Theme
Led by Tomas Remiarz
Contact via Permaculture Association Britain or tomasremiarz@cooptel.net
Format: Model of Ice age using people & chairs; talk on forest & people history; go round on current issues; think & listen about solutions + feedback to whole group
Overview
Objective of the workshop is to find out how effective the permaculture community is in protecting the forest of the earth and to make concrete suggestions on how permaculture can become more influential in this process in the future.
Session 1: The state of the worlds forests. Overview of the state the worlds forests, and analysis of current opportunities and threats regarding forests.
Session 2: Our place in the woods. Participants share experience in sustainable forest practice and come with positive examples of relevant permaculture projects addressing the opportunities and threats discussed in session 1.
Session 3: Forest of the Future. Participants will explore how examples from session 2 can be used in their own projects. Further the international networks and policies for forest protection and sustainable management will be discuss and how permaculture can connect with them.
Summary
We discussed the interaction of forest ecosystems and people the world over throughout history. We then looked at current trends, opportunities and threats related to forest systems, and discussed possible solutions to some of the issues.
Key points
- Most woodland above 45degrees North is younger than 12,000 years, having emerged after the last ice age. Vegetation, animals and humans migrated south, available space contracted and interaction intensified. Equatorial and southern hemisphere forests are much older and provide a refuge for species during the ice ages. Consequently, northern temperate and boreal forests are less diverse and less stable than tropical forests.
- Since the last ice age, people have influenced every forest system on earth. Human cultures can roughly be divided in those who managed to integrate themselves with forest systems (rainforest cultures, tribes of boreal forests, also Chinese and medieval Central European culture) and those who exploited woodland beyond its limits (Easter Islands, Mesopotamia, Mediterranean and Central Asia). Driving factors in forest destruction have been grazing and use of wood as fuel.
- Today all forest ecosystems are under stress. Primary cause of this is human activity – tropical, temperate and boreal old growth forest is being logged and replaced, if at all by monoculture plantations. Diseases and pests are transferred between continents. The resilience of forests to these is weakened by disruptions indigenous species webs and patterns of interaction. Global warming has increased growing seasons. Soil is also lost as a consequence.
- In many countries, especially the Western world, the culture of interaction with woodland is lost. There is however a growing awareness of the need to protect the existing forests and in some parts of the world woodland cover is increasing – partly by abandonment of grazing land, partly by conscious efforts of planting and natural regeneration (Britain, New Zealand).
Vital for saving and restoring forests is to get the communities to see their value to them – a task of education. Strategies like community supported woodlands, forest banks (managing forests on the owners’ behalf), food forests and the restoration of woodland trades & wild foods can help in this. Changes in agriculture in Europe & Australia mean that there are more incentives for landowners to switch to forestry.
[Scribe: Anita Aggarwal/Tomas Remiarz]