[permaculture] Conservation Land Trusts & Permaculture; Do they mix?

kevin s k.skvorak at verizon.net
Wed Jan 3 13:13:47 EST 2007


hi joe and all,

as far as working with existing land trusts go, i believe there is a 
great need for creative, and thoughtful easement models that address 
these needs.   i think this has been somewhat neglected (as of now) 
by most folks working in the field, though there are a lot of 
easements crafted around language of "sustainable agriculture" which 
would often cover much permaculture activity

i would recommend posing your question on one of the land trust listserves:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/NACLTNetwork/

http://www.lta.org/resources/listserv.htm

i am sitting here just now working on some bylaws for a new community 
land trust we are putting together in NY

we think a clt model, with the 'right' mission, is ideal for securing 
landbases for needed permaculture work to happen.  there isn't many 
out there yet

here is some of our words so far to give you some idea:


Our Community Land Trust is dedicated equally to the principles of 
sustainable design, equitable human relationships, and ecological 
restoration.

We are sometimes asked the question; "why another land trust when 
there are others already established?"

We recognize Conservation Land Trusts do a great service in 
protecting land from inappropriate and destructive development 
practices. They are successful in their strategies of protecting open 
land in the region, most often by effective partnerships with private 
owners through tax reductions and other financial incentives.  We 
support the efforts of conservation organization like this, and they 
are badly needed to protect crucial habitat. They do not however 
address the fundamentals that create the development pressure on the 
land, and that is the potent mix of private, speculative land 
ownership, enormous debt, and the global financial markets that are 
the engines behind so much destructive development practices.

Community Land Trusts were developed to address the problems left 
unanswered by Conservation Land trusts. Community Land Trusts 
effectively address the financial pressures that fuel land 
speculation, and offer opportunities for those who otherwise couldn't 
afford it to have access to homes, and even building personal equity 
on community held held.  The CLT movement has made important strides 
forward in addressing the underlying inequity in land ownership, 
often in urban communities with the greatest need for community 
controlled affordable housing.

  Community held, community controlled land is an ideal sustainable 
model for meeting peoples basic needs for secure housing, and access 
to the land especially in current times of increased inequity, and 
what appears to be long term economic decline. 

There are not, however, enough Community Land Trusts taking into 
account all of the long term issues of human sustainability facing us 
in this unprecedented time of global climate change, an accelerating 
ecological crisis, and a high energy society facing energy decline. 
We feel that there is a need for a new CLT that specifically 
addresses the full range of human and ecological needs that 
Permaculture principles and design intend to meet.


we hope to be up and running in the next few months

peace,
kevin



re:

>
>Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 10:46:25 -0500
>From: coldestsnow at aol.com
>Subject: [permaculture] Conservation Land Trusts & Permaculture; Do
>
>  I wonder if anyone has experience with an existing land trust and 
>the implementation of permaculture planning. What, if any, are 
>sensitive issues? Are there ways around them?
>  Do most trust managers know about permaculture? What is their 
>general perception of it?
>
>  I would like some input to help local land owners in Massachusetts 
>gain some productivity from their "protected" property.
>
>  Thank You All, it is a pleasure to be a part of this group.
>
>  Joe
>



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