by 羅巧芝

PDC第四天，我們談全球氣候變遷與微氣候，高中三年的地理在今天彷彿又重新複習了一遍。

捧著一顆藍色地球，Robyn老師從太平洋-大西洋到印度洋，從洋流-陸地-風-氣旋-溫度-降雨-地景--冰層-沙漠等，一路解釋各種氣候因素在世界各地的相關影響。在這一天當中，我們所有的人都環繞了地球不止一圈。閱讀全文～

by 羅巧芝

大地旅人Peter的老師Geoff Lawton在約旦協助當地居民將沙漠變成綠洲的案例

http://www.youtube.com/user/permascience

Configuring Social Relations into Permaculture Design

by Peter 孟磊

樸門永續設計師的工作當中，有一大部分會涉及到社會與文化關係。我在台東的地位於阿美族的聚落居，最近在研究阿美文化的時候，突然有了這層體會，便想運用阿美文化的內涵，進一步發展並重建樸門永續設計解決現今環境問題的能力。我用「重建」(reinstitute)一詞，是因為我深信阿美族在數世紀以前，已經達到樸門設計所追求的境界：尊重大地的各種先天限制。當我目睹耆老在各種不同條件的自然環境當中生存，包括在產季捕撈沿岸海產、上山打獵並收割農作物時，又再度確認了這點。這種可持續的文化在制式的教育體系建立之後慢慢喪失，後來又受到農藥發明、酒精入侵部落和高速公路開通這三重致命的打擊。阿美族每個月至少會損失一名耆老，跟前面三項因素的出現大有關係。以可怕的除草劑巴拉刈為例，這種毒藥已經在世界各地，包括日本、巴布亞紐幾內亞、哥斯大黎加等國，造成上千名意外死亡、自殺和生病的案例。

Much of the work of permaculture designers heavily implicates social and cultural relations. This fact has recently hit home for me as I delve into the Amis culture of our land in Taidong. I am very interested in working with the Amis culture to develop and reinstitute permaculture solutions to current problems. I say “reinstitute,” because I firmly believe that a few centuries ago the Amis culture had already achieved a permaculture that respected the natural limitations of the land. This is reconfirmed when I see elders working across a diverse spectrum to harvest coastal seafood, mountain game, and agricultural crops. Much of this permaculture has been lost mainly due to introduction of institutionalized education, along with the deadly three: pesticides, alcohol, and high-speed roadways, which combined are responsible for killing at least one Amis elder per month. One of the herbicidal culprits is Paraquat, a poison responsible for hundreds of accidental deaths, suicides and illnesses annually in Japan, Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica and other nations around the globe.