Permaculture Literacy Program

Written by WFWP Philippines - Bohol Chapter

A total of 44 Boholano permaculture enthusiasts convened for a two-day Permaculture Literacy Program from March 26 to 27, 2022 at the Center for Wisdom and Character Excellence (CWaCe) Center, Montesunting, Carmen.

Anchoring on the theme, Permaculture: The Linchpin to Food Security and Regenerative Healing of the Planet, the joint initiated program of Women's Federation for World Peace (WFWP) Philippines and 10,000 Heroes United gathered the current president of a women's association, a former town councilor, agricultural technologists, municipal agriculturists, teachers, youth volunteers and students. The program aimed to educate the participants, who are to become permaculture practitioners, on how nature works and on how to optimize its external forces for both humans and the planet to form a continuous, healthy and symbiotic relationship.

The activity was graced by prominent resource speakers from the island province and abroad. Jun Palingcod and a father-daughter duo, Raoul Amores and Yani Amores-Dutta, are permaculture experts and the founders of the Regenesis Project, which is the first and only Ecosystem Restoration Camp in the Philippines.

On the first day, Raoul Amores, a permaculture teacher with 20 years of experience interactively introduced permaculture as how nature thinks. It is essential to have the correct perception of how to think like nature before diving into the technicalities. Permaculture is more than a set of skills but a mindset. To have this mindset is a prerequisite to unlocking and understanding permaculture's true essence-interdependent relationships among man, flora, fauna, and the micro-ecosystems that come with it. When one has this mindset, it is a no-brainer to design your permaculture site- be it in a room, apartment, or on the farm.

Yani Amores-Dutta, a permaculture designer based in Singapore opened the second day with an eye-opening session on permaculture design. Observing your area for at least a year helps you work with the external forces acting upon your site before designing. She demonstrated how to investigate different sites with varied parameters through sector analysis. Moreso, the scale permanence serves as the bridge to connect the permaculture mindset and implementation. In designing the site, the purpose is to design like nature.
During the afternoon on that same day, Jun Palingcod, a renowned permaculture practitioner exhibited earth-friendly ways of vermicomposting. He comprehensively delivered the importance of vermicomposting in permaculture and the solutions to overcome challenges faced by practitioners at present.

The highlight of the event was seeing the participants' presentations on their respective permaculture design projects, which will continue to be developed and improved throughout the program.

Hope and inspiration filled the hearts of the participants which were manifested when they each shared their realizations about the urgency in ramping up adaptive initiatives, like permaculture, to combat climate change. In restoring our planet, our home, we are in this together.

Throughout this project, we hope the participants can “Learn. Unlearn. Relearn.”