permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <london@sunsite.unc.edu>]

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 15:42:12 +1000
From: "Seed Savers, Australia." <seedsave@om.com.au>
To: london@sunsite.unc.edu
Subject: Re: Some information on European Pc groups (fwd)

Dear friend,
That is what we do if it can be useful contact to further  your project.
michel fanton


This is a catch up letter to tell you about Seed Savers' latest movements
and work.

In October we responded to an invitation for our co-Director, Michel
Fanton, to represent The Seed Savers' Network at the first international
course on in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity in Dehra Dun in
the foothills of the Himalayas at a long-established forest institute.

In contrast to ex situ conservation, where seeds are collected by
scientists and kept in special gene banks out of reach of farming groups,
in situ conservation keeps the plants within the very environment where
agricultural biodiversity grows and still evolves. The farmer- breeder
selects and conserves seeds by saving and replanting them each year in
her/his own fields and gardens.

Representatives of hundreds of community action groups that actively
conserve and network their own ancestral rice varieties, scholars and
formal sector plant breeders from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
Pakistan and the Philippines shared their know -how.

Vandana Shiva, Director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology
and Ecology and organiser of the course requested that The Seed Savers'
Network participation focus on long term conservation through community
seed banking. As a result a South Asian Network for Ecological Agriculture
and Plant Conservation has been formed.

Michel met with many participant in the week long course. Some are working
with tribal groups in marginal areas. Many also work on harvesting non-wood
forest products sustainably instead of the trees themselves.

A week later and in a completely different environment in Fort Myers,
Florida, USA, Michel was teaching a course on seed production and seed
networking and guest speaker at a four day conference for worldwide
agricultural missionaries. Nearly one hundred Christian aid organisations
including World Vision, Heifer Projects and World Neighbours attended.

Our own mission was to enlighten participants on how indigenous communities
can make an inventory of their local plant resources and how to revitalize
indigenous practices of seed selection, storage for the success of
household food security projects and market gardening.

In between, Michel had meetings in Auroville near Madras, India, about
setting up a seed network in South India with a number of traditional
farmers groups, in Washington on participating in a Haitian project on food
production and in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on sourcing funding to support
indigenous groups participating in seed programmes.

During this month, meanwhile ... Jude Fanton was a keynote speaker at the
Autralasian Permaculture Convergence, ran Seed Savers Tenth Annual
Conference with our team of volunteers, taught a six day course on
preparing volunteers for overseas projects and two weekend workshops and a
seminar for overseas agencies in Melbourne. On the Australian home front
too we have commenced a one year pilot programme surveying and planting
local heritage fruit and nut trees in schools.

>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997 00:33:34 +0200
>From: Its van der Es <its.vanderes@pi.net>
>To: niamh joyce <N.P.Joyce@hw.ac.uk>
>Cc: permaculture@listserv.oit.unc.edu
>Subject: Re: Some information on European Pc groups
>
>Hi there !
>
>I'm an environmental engineer, currently studying the web on
>permaculture issues.
>I am examening the possibilities for setting up a permaculture
>information center in Holland, as there is not one existing yet. So I am
>currently doing research on:
>- who are occupying with permaculture in Holland (who is who);
>- how do they work (who does what);
>- what are they focussing on (how do they do that);
>- would they want to participate in such an institute (if yes, in what
>way);
>- why did their efforts not result in such an institute yet ?
>I found quitte some answers to these questions, reading the permaculture
>sites on the web and talking to the Dutch Permaculture avant-garde.
>So I am now making plans to create a business-plan with Fransje De Waard
>and hopefully others that are actually active on promoting permaculture.
>
>I allso found out that there are now (at least) 3 initiatives to set up
>an ecovillage in Holland. In one of them, the Dutch permaculture Centre
>could be located best.
>For further information you can contact me at:
>
>Its van der Es
>Brederodestraat 54-I
>1054 MX  Amsterdam
>Holland
>003120-6893079
>its.vanderes@pi.net

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The Seed Savers' Network, Box 975,
Byron Bay, NSW 2481, Australia.
Tel only: 61 266 857 560
Tel and Fax also: 61 266 856 624
Email: seedsave@om.com.au
World Wide Web: http://www.om.com.au/seedsave
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