Editing Permaculture (section)

=== Foundational ethics ===

The ethics on which permaculture builds are:{{sfn|Mollison|1988|p=2}}<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=Holmgren |first=David |title=Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability |publisher=Holmgren Design Services |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-646-41844-5 |page=1}}</ref>

# "Care of the Earth: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply".{{sfn|Mollison|1988|p=2}}
# "Care of people: Provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence".{{sfn|Mollison|1988|p=2}}
# "Setting limits to population and consumption: By governing our own needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles".{{sfn|Mollison|1988|p=2}}

Mollison's 1988 formulation of the third ethic was restated by Holmgren<ref name=":14"/> in 2002 as "Set limits to consumption and reproduction, and redistribute surplus" and is elsewhere condensed to "''share the surplus"''.<ref name=":5">{{cite journal |last=Rhodes |first=Christopher J. |date=2015 |title=Permaculture: regenerative - not merely sustainable |journal=Science Progress |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=405 |doi=10.3184/003685015X14467291596242 |pmid=26790178 |s2cid=31694833|pmc=10365330 }}</ref>

Permaculture emphasizes patterns of [[landscape]], function, and species assemblies. It determines where these elements should be placed so they can provide maximum benefit to the local environment. Permaculture maximizes [[synergy]] of the final design. The focus of permaculture, therefore, is not on individual elements, but rather on the relationships among them. The aim is for the whole to become [[Emergence|greater than the sum of its parts]], minimizing [[waste]], human labour, and energy input, and to and maximize benefits through [[synergy]].<ref name="Edible Forest Gardening">{{cite web |title=Edible Forest Gardening |url=http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101061331/http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/ |archive-date=1 November 2011 |access-date=5 April 2012}}</ref>

Permaculture design is founded in replicating or imitating natural patterns found in ecosystems because these solutions have emerged through evolution over thousands of years and have proven to be effective. As a result, the implementation of permaculture design will vary widely depending on the region of the Earth it is located in. Because permaculture's implementation is so localized and place specific, scientific literature for the field is lacking or not always applicable.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ferguson |first1=Rafter Sass |last2=Lovell |first2=Sarah Taylor |date=1 April 2014 |title=Permaculture for agroecology: design, movement, practice, and worldview. A review |journal=Agronomy for Sustainable Development |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=251–274 |doi=10.1007/s13593-013-0181-6 |issn=1773-0155 |s2cid=15089504|doi-access=free |bibcode=2014AgSD...34..251F }}</ref> Design principles derive from the science of [[systems ecology]] and the study of pre-industrial examples of [[Sustainability|sustainable]] land use.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last1=Veteto |first1=James R. |last2=Lockyear |first2=Joshua |date=2008 |title=Environmental Anthropology Engaging Permaculture: Moving Theory and Practice Toward Sustainability |url=https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1556-486X.2008.00007.x |journal=Culture & Agriculture |volume=30 |issue=1–2 |pages=50–53 |doi=10.1111/j.1556-486X.2008.00007.x |via=AnthroSource|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="David Holmgren 1997">{{Cite web |last=Holmgren |first=David |year=1997 |title=Weeds or Wild Nature |url=http://holmgren.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/23_weeds_or_wild_nature.pdf |access-date=10 September 2011 |publisher=Permaculture International Journal}}</ref>

A core theme of permaculture is the idea of "people care". Seeking prosperity begins within a local community or culture that can apply the tenets of permaculture to sustain an environment that supports them and vice versa. This is in contrast to typical modern industrialized societies, where locality and generational knowledge is often overlooked in the pursuit of wealth or other forms of societal leverage.<ref name="Mollison on people">{{Cite web |last=Mollison |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Mollison |title=A quote from Permaculture |url=https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10593799-the-tragic-reality-is-that-very-few-sustainable-systems-are |access-date=27 December 2022 |website=www.goodreads.com}}</ref>

{{blockquote|The tragic reality is that very few sustainable systems are designed or applied by those who hold power, and the reason for this is obvious and simple: to let people arrange their own food, energy and shelter is to lose economic and political control over them. We should cease to look to power structures, hierarchical systems, or governments to help us, and devise ways to help ourselves. - Bill Mollison<ref name="Mollison on people"/>}}