permaculture

["Ivone" <florar@terra.com.br>]

I think I like that image "Tarzan the Buddha"!

Was starting to get a litttle concerned over the generalisations within this
theme. Yes I have visited "spiritual centres" whose awareness of ecology was
on a par with the gauchos (the cattle farmers from south that are now
destroying the amazons to grow hamburgers - not reknowned for environmental
intelligence!!!!). I have also visited other spirirtual centres whose day to
day practices in terms of environmental responsibility outdid the practices
of many of the residents of the famous Crystal Waters Permaculture Village
(from which I am a refugee!!). So guess we need to concider each example on
their merit.

Personally, I am involved with a very religous "espirita" group, who also
have a environmental association which has members internationally and which
is protecting areas for conservation in amazonia (over 8000 ha. of
seringal), mata altantica, cerrado and cerradão. It has received recognition
nationally for its waste recycling compaigns, its work in environmental
eductaion (especially with youth) and international conferences on water
resources.

Guess I am just glad to have found a sensible balance of these aspects in my
life. And with more time and study who knows - Trazan the B uddha ????, or
"Mestre Crocadile Dundee".

And a little plug. I am currently preparing a project to create a
Permaculture Research Centre at the seringal site mentioned above. We will
be creating a demonstration/education centre, largely to help the local
small scale farmers (who currently cut the forest down, plant crops for
three years, then, when the grass "sape" overtakes the area they just sit
and wait for the next government food handout - no more slash,burn and run -
not many places left to run too! - in official government terms this process
is called - land reform - a concept the World Bank forced on us). The centre
will investigate the use of permaculture within tropical climates, and will
place a strong emphasis on zone 5 - through extraction of non-timber product
s, such as rubber, brasil nut and oil of copaiba. SO, give me a few months
to get the threads together and then I´ll be calling for volunteers to come
and DO IT - amazonia, no electricity, no cell phones, but we have "onças"
(leopards) and "sucuri" (water pythons). Anyone GAME?

Skye
(somewhere near the Acre/Amazonas border) - my GPS has run out of
batteries!!!

----- Original Message -----
From: Rick Valley <bamboogrove@cmug.com>
To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, November 04, 2002 1:07 PM
Subject: Re: [permaculture] Tarzan the Buddha (WooWoo Vs. Can-Do)


>
>
> > From: Claude William Genest <genest@together.net>
>
> > I also
> > visited two spiritual/yoga centers ( one for the "One Earth conference
which
> > I've wrtitten about)..... As concerned and spiritual and sensitive as
these
> > good folk are, I was amazed to see acres of lawn, old fashioned light
bulbs,
> > SUV's in the parking lot and mountains of organic food scraps being
thrown
> > away.....   For all their spirituality, the places, practices and
actions (
> > as far as sustainability goes)  were still nothing if not old school
> > paradigm.....
>
> YEAH! I've been there!
> I think this is part of what makes me nervous about defining zone "0" as
> inside yr. head.
>
> And my inner cynic from Missouri keeps on reminding me that the person who
> talks all about the fairies and their needs in a design situation is
> actually feeding their personnal need for control & manipulation. (*My*
> fairies don't buy their clothes from Victoria's Secret)
>
> Even so, I do feel a loneliness in not sharing my spirituality more (lots
to
> learn there)
> and, I'd like to put in a plug for Naka-Ima, the tag for the emotional &
> communication workshops done at Lost Valley and a community in Nelson, BC,
> as being quite permacordial- very grass-roots, little reliance on
> charismatic individuals.
>
> As well as a connected, sensitive designer doing a better design, a
designer
> with ample communication skills will accomplish much, much more.
>
> "You can't do any worse" only works, I think, if you are learning from
your
> mistakes (and sharing them publicly, which I see rarely, even in Pc
circles-
> and there are some massive mistakes around! -none of 'em mine, mind you!)
> Right? Roight!
>
> -Rick
>
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