Getting Started with Permaculture in NZ by Adam Shand

What is Permaculture?

The strength (and weakness) of permaculture is that it is many things to many people. Ask any two people “what is permaculture?” and I can almost guarantee that you’ll get two different answers. At its heart, permaculture is design language based on an evolving set of ethics and principles which help us work in harmony with the natural systems of our world.

My favourite way to think of permaculture goes like this: if being indigenous means to be “of a place”, then permaculture is a toolkit which helps the non-indigenous begin to relearn what it means to be “of a place”.

Official

• Permaculture in New Zealand – PiNZ is the primary permaculture organisation in New Zealand. They organise the yearly hui, certify designers and manage a website which lists events
• PiNZ on Facebook – A very active community, lots of chat and some technical permaculture discussion.

Relevant Associations

• NZ Tree Crops
• NZ Farm Forestry
• Urban Farmers Alliance
• NZ Bamboo Society

Bioregional Groups

• Bay of Plenty Permablitz
• Central North Island Permablitz
• Dunedin Permaculture
• Kāpiti Coast (monthly meetups)
• Mahurangi Permaculture
• Palmerston North
• Permaculture Northland
• Taranaki Permablitz
• Wellington Permaculture

Teachers & Coaches

Holistic Management

• Dan Palmer at Holisic Decision Making
• John King at Succession NZ

Permaculture

• [Northland] Permadynamics (see also Syntropic Agroforestry)
• [Auckland] APW
• [Coromandel] Pakaraka Permaculture
• [Hawkes Bay] Kahikatea Farm
• [Taranaki] Roebuck Farm
• [Wellington] Toru

Designers

• [Coromandel] Pakaraka Permaculture
• [Horowhenua] Plenty Permaculture
• [Kāpiti Coast] Green Earth
• [Taranaki] Greenbridge
• [Otago] Habitate

Farm or Garden Tours

• [Taranaki] Sustainable Backyards
• [Hawke’s Bay] Mangarara Station (Greg Hart)
• [Wellington] Innermost Gardens
• [Southland] Guyton’s Food Forest (Facebook) (see top video)

Seeds and Plants

• [Canterbury] Sentinels Group Seeds
• [Hawke’s Bay] Kahikatea Farm
• [Hawke’s Bay] Koanga
• [Hawke’s Bay] Setha’s Seeds

Books & Booklets

Permaculture books by New Zealanders or about New Zealand:

• Syntropic Agroforestry in New Zealand by Dan Kelly (direct link to PDF)
• The Edible Backyard & Pruning Fruit Trees: A Beginners Guide by Kath Irvine
• For the Love of Soil by Nicole Masters
• Out of the Helix by Gary Williams (additional books)
• Koanga Books and Booklets by Kay Baxter

You can see my broader collection (and some reviews) of permaculture related books on Goodreads.

Podcasts

There is a small, and growing, collection of New Zealand permaculture related podcasts:

• Regenerative Revolution Podcast: Interview with Klaus and Frida from PermaDynamics
• Earth Matters with Samantha Rose and Anna Casey-Cox
• Exploring Inner and Outer Landscapes with Adam Shand (me!)
• Happen Films Podcast with Jordan and Antoinette
• Making Permaculture Stronger with Dan Palmer
• RNZ’s Country Life (occasional permaculture content)

There are also some overseas podcasts which have interviewed New Zealanders:

• Rock & Roll Farming with Doug Avery
• Thriving Farmer with Rachel Sprout Yeats

Videos

• Happen Films: The Food Forest Farmers – Extended Q&A with Klaus (PermaDynamics)
• Agrifutures Interviews with Richard Pedley
• Happen Films – A wonderful collection of New Zealand based permaculture documentaries.
• Holistic Management NZ
• On-Farm Story with Greg Hart
• TVNZ’s Country Calendar (occasional permaculture content)