This Farm Design Can HEAL the PLANET

[Music] so if we can just follow this basic pattern then land water wildlife and agriculture can be harmonious [Music] one thing that is absolutely wrecking ecosystems around this planet is the way that people manage land without any regard to the natural patterns of water flow and ecological continuity we divide the land into squares and rectangles and encourage anyone to do whatever they want within their little box of private ownership but these lines of ownership and control really have nothing to do with how nature functions so land is managed within these boxes without considering the connection to the greater whole so what does an actual sane land use pattern look like there are many great examples especially when we look at traditional land management by indigenous peoples all around the world that is sustained for millennia while improving the environment like the ahupuaa system in hawaii where the land is managed from the tops of the mountains to the ocean as one contiguous unit so managing the land from the top to the bottom of the watershed is the perspective that will save the world and the system i'm going to explain right now was developed about 70 years ago in australia by this guy named pa yeomans his system called the key line plan focuses on how to merge agriculture forestry pastoralism and water storage in a way that enhances the ecosystem integrity while providing a high yield for farmers this is a system for how to manage the entire landscape profile and we start at the top the top of the system hilltops mountain tops steep slopes and ridge lines should all be kept in permanent forest and this is the water catchment zone so a forest acts like a giant sponge soaking up water into the bodies of trees and plants and into spongy forest soil that sponge soaks up rain and then slowly releases it down into the rest of the watershed feeding creeks and streams below now trees also intercept fog and bring water from the atmosphere dripping down into hilltop soils now at the point where the slope breaks from steeper to more gentle begins what we call the water retention zone the water retention zone is that highest point in the landscape that you'd want to put water harvesting in water storage structures so here we find ponds on contour swales infiltration basins or any structure that's actively going to retain water either storing it for irrigation downslope or soaking it into the ground to build underground reserves this zone is where we intercept the flow of water and slow it way down it's also a great place to plant tree crops so as we move down the landscape the slopes get more gentle and that stored water here can be used to grow crops below in the irrigation zone so the irrigation zone here is cropland where the majority of what we consider agriculture takes place there are strong relationships between the irrigation zone and the catchment and retention zones first water stored in ponds in the retention zone can be used directly for gravity irrigation of the land below second water that's infiltrated in the catchment forest zones as well as through the earthworks and the retention zone creates a water lens underground where water is seeping through the soil down slope and in some cases can actually provide sub irrigation where crops below are just passively watered by the water seeping down slope now cropland doesn't have to be just a monoculture of annuals or grape vines or pasture the crops can be a diverse mosaic and including tree belts within the irrigation zone has a lot of benefits for reducing erosion wind breaks supplying organic matter for soils and adding other yields as well as habitat so water is now getting checked and slowed at every level down the slope and the aquifer is getting charged because water isn't just running off in big rain events but being absorbed into the soil at the higher elevations this is how water tables are built so by the time we get down to the bottom of the system water is popping up all over the places springs wetlands and streamside forests creeks and rivers this bottom zone is called the reconstitution zone now this reconstitution zone can creep up the valleys just like the water retention zone can creep down now reconstitution is defined as restoring to a former condition by adding water so this is where we maximize wetlands and wildlife at the lowest points in the system the results being that we have healthy waterways and robust wetlands water courses are the connective tissues in the landscape and are the most biodiverse and ecologically rich niches healthy rivers and streams and wetlands are the results of planning for the whole watershed from the top down and you can see that with this land use pattern going from catchment to retention to irrigation to reconstitution we end up with unbroken tree coverage spanning from the highest to the lowest elevations meaning the landscape is never fragmented and there's unbroken canopy weaving throughout and the trees provide plenty of organic matter for making the soil richer with compost and mulch so if we can just follow this basic pattern then land water wildlife and agriculture can be harmonious [Music] you

Channel: Andrew Millison

Views: 310,249

Keywords: permaculture design, keyline design, keyline design permaculture, keyline water systems, keyline water management, farm design ideas, climate change, climate change solutions, permaculture design principles, yeomans keyline design, keyline design explained, permaculture design for slope, water harvesting, farm water management, permaculture farm, permaculture, permaculture gardening

Id: V3tpaIf6Jcc

Length: 6min 47sec (407 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 27 2021

Reddit Comments

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[u/deadlyrepost]

Millison is a great resource. He's got a lot of videos about permaculture design on Youtube.

[u/crake-extinction]

This is Solarpunk 101 for farm/food forest design.

[u/TeiwoLynx]

NGL I kinda wanna make a solarpunk farming sim.

[u/jimius]

Will never happen IRL though, harvesting is already too expensive for most farmers.

[u/oilrocket]

If this peaks your interest check out Mark Shepard’s work. He’s a permaculture pioneer and took Yeoman’s work to the next level by augmenting it to fit North American landscapes (that are younger landforms with more complex stream orders). Shepard applied these principles along with pushing tree genetics on 640 acres many years ago and has a working model producing bountiful food resources. Mark has plenty of talks on YouTube and a couple of books out. Fascinating stuff IMO.