At the Befinity meeting last Thursday (26th January 2012), permaculture and sustainable development consultant Ezio (“Buzz”) Gori gave an outstanding presentation entitled:
The Relevance of Permaculture to Mitigate Climate Change and the Onset of Peak Oil
At the beginning of the meeting, I read a couple of extracts from the Editorial in the November/December 2011 issue of Odyssey Magazine (www.odysseymagazine.co.za), which are well worth repeating here:
“....there can surely be no question any longer that we really are on the brink of melting the planet down. Now, as far as the planet itself goes, that’s no big deal – Earth has been both much hotter and much colder than currently and many species have come and gone during all that change, but the planet itself was just fine. If a bunch of species die out, new ones will be along shortly (in geological-evolutionary time) to replace them. If we really screw things up, most, even all, of us may die. But the planet will be good. And then some other species will fill our shoes, perhaps literally, even if that takes some millions of years. No problem. Except for us, that is."
and a bit further on....
".....can a species capable of becoming utterly dominant on a planet to the point where it is the definition of a plague, then turn that dominance around and become one with its own source of life and nurturance? That’s the big question we’re being asked – not by God or some other-worldly beings, but by ourselves. Our own success has become our challenge. And in overcoming that challenge, in mastering our own self-destructive ways of being, we’ll be the better for that”
After giving a short introduction to permaculture and explaining how his passionate interest in it came about, Buzz screened an inspirational documentary entitled: The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (see www.powerofcommunity.org). This was followed by an animated discussion, which concluded with the agreement that this was not a subject that should be relegated to the realms of academic interest, but warranted ongoing action. It was also agreed, of course, that without leadership the action is unlikely to gain any meaningful momentum. Whether anyone will step forward to take leadership remains to be seen.
For anyone living in South Africa (especially KwaZulu-Natal) who wants to learn how to go about it, Buzz offers courses on Permaculture, which are highly recommended. To find out more, go to www.permaculture2012.co.za or contact Buzz on +27 83 300 2385 or Skype (ezio.gori).
At the request of the Befinity group, Buzz provided a list of relevant weblinks for those with an interest in learning more about earthcare and sustainable living:
• British Permaculture www.permaculture.org.uk
• GAIA Education www.gaiaeducation.org
• Community Solutions www.communitysolution.org
• Global Footprint Network www.footprintnetwork.org
• New Economics Foundation www.neweconomics.org
• Post Carbon Institute www.postcarbon.org
• Transition Culture www.transitionculture.org
