[Pil-pc-oceania] Pil-pc-oceania Digest, Vol 14, Issue 15

[Rosemary Morrow]

Malawi permaculture

Permaculture in Malawi is quite strong.   Together with Africans from  
RSA and Zimbabwe they are working together to extend and implement  
permaculture.   Malawi-ans are strongly involved in IPC9 and as such  
are committeed to offering PDCs and more in every country in Africa -  
about 54 I think.

Those at the Conference in Brazil saw it as the only reason solution  
to Africa's problems.   Some are doing wonderful outreach to farmers  
and within government.   When I read this, I thought perhaps it had  
come from the IPC9 secretariat.

They intend reaching all NGOs - working in rural and agricultural  
areas, and have outread to schools and town gardens.  They want their  
governments to really understand permaculture and what it can do for  
their countries.

This is probably the best initiative to come out of Brazil.   I hope  
we can support them with materials, cash, ideas or whatever.    
Imagine turning a continent into a garden.

Warmly and greenly, especially at this season.

Rowe


On 13/12/2007, at 10:01 AM, pil-pc-oceania- 
request at lists.permacultureinternational.org wrote:

> Send Pil-pc-oceania mailing list submissions to
>     pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>     http://jasper.cmsarchitects.com/mailman/listinfo/pil-pc-oceania
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
>     pil-pc-oceania-request at lists.permacultureinternational.org
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
>     pil-pc-oceania-owner at lists.permacultureinternational.org
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Pil-pc-oceania digest..."
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Eating your way to less emissions (Robyn Williamson)
>    2. Malawi's economic strategy to end poverty - grow    food!
>       (Linda Shewan (Yahoo))
>    3. Marin Carbon Farming Event (Darren Doherty)
>    4. Re: Eating your way to less emissions (Kerry Dawborn)
>    5. Desalination article (Kerry Dawborn)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:28:53 +1100
> From: Robyn Williamson <ecogarden at yahoo.com.au>
> Subject: [Pil-pc-oceania] Eating your way to less emissions
> To: PIL PcOceaniaNetwork
>     <pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org>
> Message-ID: <169F2082-C5FA-46F5-853D-EF80E2255376 at yahoo.com.au>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
> New Scientist's environment blog researcher Lucy Middleton has
> generated lots of new words to describe our eating habits in her
> article called 'Eating your way to less emissions' find it here:
>
> http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/11/more-than-just-
> silly-name_23.html?DCMP=NLC-nletterbanner&nsref=blogenv
>
> Be sure to check out some of the comments posted by readers.
> Personally, I'm an opportunivore (will eat anything that's
> available).  What are you?
>
> Luv & peas,
> Robyn
>
> CONTACT DETAILS:
>
> Robyn Williamson
> APC9 Secretariat
> Ph/Fx:  (02) 9629 3560
> Mobile:  0409 151 435
> http://apc9.org.au
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 11:30:23 +1100
> From: "Linda Shewan \(Yahoo\)" <linda_shewan at yahoo.com.au>
> Subject: [Pil-pc-oceania] Malawi's economic strategy to end poverty -
>     grow    food!
> To: "'permacultue discussion list'"
>     <pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org>
> Message-ID: <000901c83543$b32163d0$19642b70$@com.au>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
>
> http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/01/africa/02malawi.php#end_main
>
>
>
> A quick fix admittedly but one that allows governments to make a rapid
> difference. Positives outweigh the negatives for the short term I  
> would say.
>
>
>
>
> Then of course we need Oxfam and whoever else promotes organic  
> growing,
> permie people, to get over there and show them how to move from  
> chemical to
> organic and monocultures to polycultures . all those farmers not  
> getting the
> subsidy this year should be receptive.
>
>
>
> Linda
>
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: http://jasper.cmsarchitects.com/pipermail/pil-pc-oceania/ 
> attachments/20071203/f2b66093/attachment-0001.html
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:37:18 +1100
> From: "Darren Doherty" <darren at permaculture.biz>
> Subject: [Pil-pc-oceania] Marin Carbon Farming Event
> Message-ID:
>     <cef38c330712091837v64e2275ev59320e73eed37541 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> G'day,
>
> Marin Resource Conservation District (RCD), Marin Organic,  
> University of
> California Cooperative Extension and USDA Natural Resource  
> Conservation
> Service (NRCS) are sponsoring a free 2 day event titled:
>
> *"Increasing Pasture Productivity - Soils, Grasses & Carbon Credits"*
> with Abe Collins (Carbon Farmers of America -  
> www.carbonfarmersofamerica.com)
>
> & Darren Doherty (Australia Felix Permaculture - www.permaculture.biz)
> on Tuesday 11th & Wednesday 12th December 2007 (10am-5pm) at
> Dance Palace, Point Reyes Station, Marin County, CA, USA
>
> For more information see:
>
> www.marinrcd.org
>
> Thanks,
>
> Darren Doherty
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Hooroo,
> Darren J. Doherty
> www.permaculture.biz
>
> US Cell: +1 805 455.8914
> Yahoo Voice Phone: +1 310 237 6970
>
> WORLD TOUR 2007/8
> North America/Europe
> Permaculture Design Certificate Course (72hours)
> Keyline Design Course (2-6days)
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: http://jasper.cmsarchitects.com/pipermail/pil-pc-oceania/ 
> attachments/20071210/b235328b/attachment-0001.html
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:40:45 +1100
> From: Kerry Dawborn <kjdawborn at bigpond.com>
> Subject: Re: [Pil-pc-oceania] Eating your way to less emissions
> To: permacultue discussion list
>     <pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org>
> Message-ID: <475FC8BD.8090904 at bigpond.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> the link in Robyn's original message is divided in two, and only
> hyperlinked for the first half - the full link below should work - if
> not just cut and paste it into the url line....
>
> http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/11/more-than-just- 
> silly-name_23.html?DCMP=NLC-nletterbanner&nsref=blogenv
>
>
> cheers,
>
> kerry
>
> Robyn Williamson wrote:
>
>> New Scientist's environment blog researcher Lucy Middleton has
>> generated lots of new words to describe our eating habits in her
>> article called 'Eating your way to less emissions' find it here:
>>
>> http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/11/more-than-just-
>> silly-name_23.html?DCMP=NLC-nletterbanner&nsref=blogenv
>>
>> Be sure to check out some of the comments posted by readers.
>> Personally, I'm an opportunivore (will eat anything that's
>> available).  What are you?
>>
>> Luv & peas,
>> Robyn
>>
>> CONTACT DETAILS:
>>
>> Robyn Williamson
>> APC9 Secretariat
>> Ph/Fx:  (02) 9629 3560
>> Mobile:  0409 151 435
>> http://apc9.org.au
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Pil-pc-oceania mailing list
>> Pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org
>> http://jasper.cmsarchitects.com/mailman/listinfo/pil-pc-oceania
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 10:01:05 +1100
> From: Kerry Dawborn <kjdawborn at bigpond.com>
> Subject: [Pil-pc-oceania] Desalination article
> To: oceania list latest
>     <pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org>
> Message-ID: <47606831.9040700 at bigpond.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hi All,
>
> Potentially useful article on desalination plants for you...
>
> cheers,
>
> Kerry
>
>
>   Desal option doesn't hold water
>
>     *
>
>
>     * * Kenneth Davidson
>       <http://business.theage.com.au/opinion/kenneth-davidson> *
>     * The Age December 10, 2007
>     *
>
> *In its obsession with PPPs, the State Government is ignoring taxpayer
> value.*
>
> PREMIER John Brumby is rated by the "big end of town" as a great
> economic manager. It is not surprising. He has provided generous
> opportunities for "rent seeking" through public-private  
> partnerships (PPPs).
>
> A better description of these deals, which now include the building of
> government schools, would be "public pays for private  
> profits" (PPPPs),
> according to one of my correspondents.
>
> The essence of economics is "opportunity cost", which, roughly
> translated, means that a dollar spent on the roundabouts is a dollar
> that can't be spent on the swings.
>
> The essence of good government is to recognise that even where the
> purposes to which public spending is to be directed are clear cut,  
> there
> may be a number of ways to achieve an objective, and some will be
> cheaper and more cost effective.
>
> Two of Melbourne's biggest infrastructure projects seem to have  
> already
> been largely settled, even though the Brumby Government has yet to  
> take
> Victorian taxpayers into its confidence about them.
>
> I refer to the proposed $3.1 billion desalination plant in Wonthaggi,
> with annual production of 150 gigalitres of water, and the east-west
> tunnel, designed to relieve the pressure on the Eastern Freeway at
> Hoddle Street. The tunnel project will cost anything between $2  
> billion
> and $8 billion depending on the number of off ramps, the extent to  
> which
> it is open cut, and whether it ends at the Tullamarine Freeway or is
> extended to Deer Park.
>
> It has already been scrutinised and found wanting in an environmental
> impact statement, much to the annoyance of the Bracks government.
>
> It is now subject to a more friendly $5 million inquiry under Sir Rod
> Eddington.
>
> It is expected to get the go-ahead, even though the only changes since
> the original inquiry are "peak oil" and the spectre of climate  
> warming,
> which are likely to make this type of infrastructure even more  
> redundant
> in a city striving to maintain liveability.
>
> The east-west tunnel won't relieve congestion created by traffic  
> trying
> to get into the CBD. On the contrary. It will increase the pressure  
> for
> more freeways, especially in the eastern suburbs, due to the  
> population
> explosion in the south-eastern growth corridor.
>
> The sensible option is to deal directly with congestion at a  
> fraction of
> the cost by reorganising the public transport system, mandating it to
> improve service rather than maximise profit through maximised  
> subsidies.
>
> The desalination plant is also a no-brainer, unless the prime  
> purpose of
> infrastructure spending is to create economic rents for the financial
> institutions that put the PPP deals together. The likes of ABN Amro,
> Macquarie Bank and Babcock & Brown are not interested in more
> cost-effective conservation measures that can reduce the demand for
> water but simultaneously reduce the scope for rent seeking.
>
> There are alternatives for improving Melbourne's urban water security,
> all of them cheaper and less environmentally damaging.
>
> Even Melbourne Water's favoured "build more dams" option is far  
> superior
> to the desal option. If dams were built on the McCallister and  
> Mitchell
> rivers in Gippsland with a capacity of 400 gigalitres, at about $2
> billion, the cost would still be a fraction of the desal plant.
>
> The dam option, built by public borrowings at 6% repayable over 40  
> years
> would cost Melbourne Water about $80 million a year. This would not
> require a significant increase in wholesale water charges (although  
> that
> would be desirable on environmental grounds).
>
> By comparison, a $3 billion desal plant producing
>
> 150 gigalitres of water a year, built as a PPP requiring a 12%  
> return on
> capital repayable over 25 years would cost Melbourne Water $450  
> million
> a year in operating and capital repayment costs, tripling the  
> wholesale
> price of the additional water.
>
> The Government's claim that a desal plant would be carbon-neutral
> because it would be offset by wind farms is a nonsense. The  
> argument is
> medieval. It makes as much sense as the Catholic Church selling
> indulgences, allowing the rich to sin tonight and square the slate
> tomorrow by the purchase of sin offsets.
>
> The desal plant would spew some 945,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into
> the atmosphere each year - equal to another 240,000 cars on  
> Melbourne's
> roads.
>
> A private group is looking at piping water from lakes 600 metres above
> sea level in the north-west of Tasmania, under Bass Strait, to  
> Victoria.
>
> Gravity could carry the water as far as Ballarat, which is
>
> 450 metres above sea level.
>
> The capital cost of the pipe would be less than $500 million.
>
> This scheme would allow water to be diverted from the Thompson Dam  
> into
> the Goulburn and Murray Darling river system, but it has been  
> studiously
> ignored by the Brumby Government.
>
> First cab off the rank must be water conservation. Incentives in the
> form of carrots (subsidies to induce households to invest in tanks to
> harvest rain water and recycle grey water) and sticks (in the form of
> pricing to promote water saving) have been widely canvassed.
>
> A group called the Melbourne Water Catchment Network, which has grown
> out of the successful Otway Ranges Environment Network, put forward a
> powerful presentation to the Victorian Local Governance Association  
> last
> week that produced scientific evidence that if clearfell logging in
> Melbourne's native water supply catchments was stopped, this would
> eventually create an additional 130 litres per household per day,  
> equal
> to 16% of Melbourne's present consumption.
>
> Their evidence suggested the net present value of sawlogs and pulp  
> logs
> harvested from the catchments is $70-90 million compared with the net
> present value of water gained by ceasing logging in catchments of
> $360-470 million based on the water opportunity cost of $1000 per  
> megalitre.
>
> But if desal water is closer to $3000 a megalitre - based on Melbourne
> Water estimates - then the net present value of the water gained by  
> not
> logging the catchment is between $1.1 billion and $1.4 billion. The  
> cost
> of compensating the loggers to quit the catchment area would be less
> than $40 million.
>
> The desal plant makes no sense unless the Brumby Government's priority
> is to shovel hundreds of millions of dollars into the palm of  
> whichever
> consortium wins the PPP beauty contest for an environmentally ugly and
> economically wasteful project.
>
> kdavidson at theage.com.au <mailto:kdavidson at theage.com.au>
>
> -------------- next part --------------
> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
> URL: http://jasper.cmsarchitects.com/pipermail/pil-pc-oceania/ 
> attachments/20071213/28d66b85/attachment.html
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pil-pc-oceania mailing list
> Pil-pc-oceania at lists.permacultureinternational.org
> http://jasper.cmsarchitects.com/mailman/listinfo/pil-pc-oceania
>
>
> End of Pil-pc-oceania Digest, Vol 14, Issue 15
> **********************************************
>
>