Editing Permaculture (section)

===Methodology===

Permaculture as a popular movement has been largely isolated from scientific literature. Most permaculture literature is non-scientific in nature and is written for non-specialists. Many permaculturalists rarely engage with mainstream research in [[agroecology]], [[agroforestry]], or [[ecological engineering]],<ref name="Ferguson Lovell" /> and permaculture publications rarely cite academic sources.<ref name="Scott">{{cite web |url=http://robscott.net/2010/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Scott2010.pdf |title=A Critical Review of Permaculture in the United States |author=Robert Scott |website=Robscott.net |access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref> In parallel, it was observed in 2007 that few academic papers studied permaculture principles or permaculture farm productivity.<ref name="Scott" /> Going back to Mollison and Holmgren's early publications, permaculturalists have often claimed that mainstream science has an elitist or pro-corporate bias, or that academic institutions are too rigid to study the interdisciplinary approach permaculture proposes.<ref name="Ferguson Lovell" />

This divide has led some to criticise permaculture as [[Pseudoscience|pseudo-scientific]] or to call for a more clear methodology to be used.<ref name="For Sceptics 2021">{{Cite web |date=11 March 2021 |title=Permaculture for Sceptics |url=https://www.permaculturenews.org/2021/03/11/permaculture-for-sceptics/ |access-date=22 July 2021 |website=The Permaculture Research Institute |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421231533/https://www.permaculturenews.org/2021/03/11/permaculture-for-sceptics/ |archive-date=21 April 2021 |url-status=dead<!--?-->}}</ref> Peter Harper has attempted to draw a distinction between "'cult' permaculture", where oversimplified claims are assumed to be true and go untested, and "'smart' permaculture", which acts "more like an immature academic field".<ref name= "Harper Big Rock" /> Some permaculturalists have also observed oversimplification, such as Robert Kourik, who commented that the supposed advantages of "less- or no-work gardening, bountiful yields, and the soft fuzzy glow of knowing that the garden will ... live on without you" were often illusory.<ref name=":13">{{cite web |author=Peter Harper |date=2003 |title=A Critique of Permaculture: Cleaning out the stables |url=http://academia-danubiana.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/2.12.09.01_HARPER-A-critique-of-permaculture.pdf |website=Academia-danubiana.net |access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref>

More recently, permaculture has started to be an object of scientific study. Julius Krebs and Sonja Bach argue in a 2018 issue of [[Sustainability (journal)|''Sustainability'']] that there is "scientific evidence for all twelve [of Holmgren's] principles".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Krebs |first1=Julius |last2=Bach |first2=Sonja |title=Permaculture—Scientific evidence of principles for the agroecological design of farming systems |journal=[[Sustainability (journal)|Sustainability]] |volume=10 |issue=9 |year=2018 |page=3218 |doi=10.3390/su10093218 |url=https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/9/3218/pdf |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2024, Reiff and colleagues stated that permaculture is a "sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture", and that it "strongly" enhances carbon stocks, soil quality, and biodiversity, making it "an effective tool to promote sustainable agriculture, ensure sustainable production patterns, combat climate change and halt and reverse land degradation and [[biodiversity loss]]." They point out that most of permaculture’s most common methods, such as agroforestry,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Castle |first1=Sarah E. |last2=Miller |first2=Daniel C. |last3=Merten |first3=Nikolas |last4=Ordonez |first4=Pablo J. |last5=Baylis |first5=Kathy |date=2022-03-17 |title=Evidence for the impacts of agroforestry on ecosystem services and human well-being in high-income countries: a systematic map |journal=Environmental Evidence |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=10 |doi=10.1186/s13750-022-00260-4 |doi-access=free |pmid=39294716 |bibcode=2022EnvEv..11...10C |issn=2047-2382|pmc=11378871 }}</ref> polycultures,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brooker |first1=Rob W. |last2=Bennett |first2=Alison E. |last3=Cong |first3=Wen-Feng |last4=Daniell |first4=Tim J. |last5=George |first5=Timothy S. |last6=Hallett |first6=Paul D. |last7=Hawes |first7=Cathy |last8=Iannetta |first8=Pietro P. M. |last9=Jones |first9=Hamlyn G. |last10=Karley |first10=Alison J. |last11=Li |first11=Long |last12=McKenzie |first12=Blair M. |last13=Pakeman |first13=Robin J. |last14=Paterson |first14=Eric |last15=Schöb |first15=Christian |date=April 2015 |title=Improving intercropping: a synthesis of research in agronomy, plant physiology and ecology |url=https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.13132 |journal=New Phytologist |volume=206 |issue=1 |pages=107–117 |doi=10.1111/nph.13132 |pmid=25866856 |issn=0028-646X}}</ref> and water harvesting features,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Tong |last2=Wang |first2=Mo |last3=Su |first3=Jin |last4=Li |first4=Jianjun |date=January 2023 |title=Unlocking the Positive Impact of Bio-Swales on Hydrology, Water Quality, and Biodiversity: A Bibliometric Review |journal=Sustainability |volume=15 |issue=10 |pages=8141 |doi=10.3390/su15108141 |doi-access=free |issn=2071-1050}}</ref> are also backed by peer-reviewed research.