permaculture

[Scott Pittman <pci@permaculture-inst.org>]

I would suggest that you get in touch with Ali Sharif and Carlos Miller who 
have been doing tropical permaculture in Manuas for the past five plus 
years.  They have a demonstration site on the edge of Manaus and a huge 
favela which is awe inspiring permaculture.  They also have an incredible 
inventory of tropical fruit and timber plants.
Scott


> 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