Permaculture is an approach to design that mimics the relationships found in natural ecologies. It operates by a set of principles: care of the Earth, care of people, and sharing surplus. Any design that is based on these principles will promote sustainability.
Permaculture Design began in the 1970s as a principle and was coined by Bill Mollison. He was upset by modern society’s industrial methods of food production and distribution, which he believed was destroying Earth’s ecosystems. Permaculture became a movement focusing on training people to design their environments so they could become self-sustainable agricultural systems.
Permaculture in the high desert has completely different challenges and design guidelines than in other ecological systems. In the high desert water is the key component to all forms of sustainability. Most permaculture design implementation requires a certain amount of energy and resource input before the system can ultimately “take care of itself.” It can be implemented successfully on the smallest or the largest of sites as long as the sustainable cycle is intact.