permaculture

["Eugene F. Monaco" <EFMonaco@compuserve.com>]

Message text written by INTERNET:permaculture@listserv.oit.unc.edu
>The discussion about non-natives always amuses me.  As an European
originated descendent who works with Native Americans, I am always amused
how the discussion of "those" invasive weeds, etc. seems to forget how much
mixing of the globe has gone on over the last couple of hundred years, as
well as over millions of years.
Is there such a thing as "good" and "bad" species?  Is eradication
realistic, or is it just another way to divert resources (money, time,
fossil energy, chemicals) from more important work?<

I don't think it's so much a question of eradication vs. letting invasive
species wreak havoc as it is a question of balance.  Mother nature has her
ways of balance as we all know: the predators of rabbits, for example, are
balanced by the population of the rabbits; and the fox catches the weakest
rabbit keeping the species strong.  My understanding is that wehuman
animals have our role to play in the forest ecosystems--that of the
caretaker.  We harvest the weakest deer to strenghten the herd, and we beat
back invasive species when they threaten to take over.  I wouldn't go so
far as to eradicate--that has a gestapo sound to it IMO--but balance is
what it's all about; that's our reason for being here, at least on one
major level.

In permaculture, we're seeking to recreate the forest ecosystems in our
little abandoned parking lots, using species that we are familiar with as a
starting point.  As we tune in more and more with the way of nature, those
species we choose will evolve toward what mother nature naturally puts in a
forest.  As our understanding of the forest grows, so too will our
understanding of invasive species and how best to balance things in our
role as the caretaker, or more accurately, the caregiver.

Gene Monaco
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East Tennessee Permaculture  (EFMonaco@compuserve.com)
Herbs, consultations, & training for total health and environmental
sustainability
PO Box 11851, Knoxville, TN  37939      (423) 457-4354
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