How does permaculture work? - Page III

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                    That all sounds like common sense actually, O'BREDIM is a

                     method of planning ahead and making changes that will

                     integrate well. Lets explore further with:

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                    Zones. In permaculture zones classify three dimensional areas according to the amount of human attention needed to maintain the sustainable function of each zone.

 

Zone 0 - The house, or home centre. Here permaculture principles would be applied in terms of aiming to reduce energy and water needs, harness natural resources such as sunlight, and generally creating a harmonious, sustainable environment in which to live, work and relax in.

 

Zone 1 - Is the zone nearest to the house, the location for those elements in the system that require frequent attention, or that need to be visited often.

 

Zone 2 - The vegetable and herb garden, larger scale composting and maybe bee hives.

 

Zone 3 - Is the area where crops are grown, both for domestic and trading purposes. Would include orchards. After establishment, care and maintenance requirements are fairly minimal providing mulches, etc. are used. Watering and weed control is once a week or so.

 

Zone 4 - Is semi-wild. Used for timber production from coppice managed woodland and for the placement of aquaculture ponds should they be desired.

 

Zone 5 - The wilderness. There is no human intervention here apart from

the observation of natural eco-systems and cycles. It's an acknowledgement that not all space needs to be developed or affected by human hands. Here is where we learn the most important lessons of the first permaculture principle of working with nature, not against it. As shown, with forethought in the design of the area being worked on, zone 5 can be brought near to zone 0 or any selection of zones.

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There are also jokes in permacultural circles to think about "Zone 00", meaning your own head or the user using the zone but this term is extremely inconsistent as broken down by Toby Hemenway on this page so rather not.

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Here's a great graphic exploring the permaculturist's headspace from permies.com. (Click the image to zoom.)

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