July 2007
In search of Permaculture
　

Amidst all the fashionable frenzy about global warming and the end of the world as we know it, we take a calm look at one of the more positive options for a durable, sustainable future. No, not a deep-green gardening cult, the lifestyle of Siberia or an extreme haircut; permaculture proposes that we make our peace with nature, abandon misplaced faith in the technological fix and connect through `intelligent design' to a freshly Edible Earth. NI co-editor David Ransom avoids the airmiles and becomes an innocent at home in Britain. He steps onto unfamiliar territory in his own backyard and explores what some remarkable people are doing to reshape the ugly patterns of unjust, unsustainable consumption.


 　


NI

No.402

Contents

　

　

　

　

2 Letters

4 Edible Earth
In search of bright ideas, David Ransom begins by learning some very basic lessons about how to design a more sustainable, permanent culture.

6 The ethical heart of permaculture
Maddy Harland outlines the principles that make it beat.

7 The problem is the solution
How the prospect of penury forced David Ransom to discover that there's more than money to be saved both at work and at his new home on a Dutch barge.

10 Tasmanian roots
The two Australians, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, set the ball rolling - Russ Grayson and Steve Payne tell their story.

12 No-dig for victory
A fresh forest of networks is blooming in the inner cities of Bristol and London, where David Ransom tries to keep pace with Peak Oil as well.

14 Barns to beacons
A co-operative of 'peasants' in rural Dorset and a remarkable woman in the Brecon Beacons set some inspiring examples.

16 10 DIY permaculture ideas
From living roofs and forest gardens to animal tractors and chicken greenhouses.

18 Global common sense
A brief tour around the permacultural world - North America, Nepal, Cuba, India, Palestine, Zimbabwe.

20 Permanent culture
Had David Ransom known, he might well have taken the same path much sooner.

20 Action
Contacts, books, websites.

21 SPECIAL FEATURE

The Islamophobia debate

When is it fair to criticize Islam and when is it not? Reader Amatullah Matthews protests at recent NI articles; Peter Tatchell argues that critics of fundamentalism are being silenced; while Sharif Gemie and Patricia Clarke offer a new context for the discussion.


25 Currents
Thailand takes on Big Pharma; Latin America says 'Bank off!'; why girlpower has a long way to go.
PLUS: Speechmarks and Seriously

28 Big Bad World
Polyp on tourism's final frontier.
PLUS: NI Prize Crossword

29 Worldbeaters
Pakistan's Intelligence Agency, the ISI, finds out what it is like to be in the firing line.

30 Mixed Media
A special report from Toronto's HOTDOCS film festival, featuring movies on Darfur, Abu Ghraib and climate change. Also, Jewish music and new folk, plus a book on lesbians in India and a novel about a Nigerian in Berlin.

32 Southern Exposure
Boy with bike and gas mask in Ramallah, Palestine, photographed by Osama Silwadi.

33 View from Kutama
Why does the West think Robert Mugabe has changed? Mthulisi Mathuthu argues that he hasn't.

34 Essay: Much ado about oil
Hugo Chavez's new foreign policy makes sense, according to Alex Sanchez Nieto...

36 Country Profile - Burundi


　

　

　

　

NI Japan

No.90

Contents

　

<This month's translation>

- Edible Earth (NI p4-5)

- The ethical heart of permaculture (NI p6)

- The problem is the solution (NI p7-9)

- Tasmanian roots (NI p10-11)

- 10 DIY permaculture ideas (NI p16-17)

- Country Profile - Burundi (NI p36)

- Currents
--- (RED)TM herring (CONSUMERISM) (NI p26)
--- Big Bad World (NI p28)



　

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