Permaculture design course in Belize

Global production of petroleum per capita peaked in the 1970s. From here on, we need to how to live with less, and yet our profligate lifestyles are still expanding, still straining the web of nature. At the same time, climate change is in a curve of acceleration that will pose unprecedented problems. Get off of your fossil fuel dependence now!

This workshop combines the first half of the Permaculture Design Course with introduction to peak oil and climate change, and practical response strategies such as building with straw, cob, earthbags and other natural materials.Travel far south; to the back of beyond; to a remote valley accessible only by dugout canoe. Eat organic food, sleep in dorms powered by renewable energy, bathe in a sparkling pure river....Participants will learn ecology, energy and resource conservation, social and community skills, and the economics of environmental sustainability. Field trips will include visits to a Mayan cacao farm, an underground river cavern, a bamboo nursery and local permaculture projects.

Tucked into the foothills of the Maya Mountains, two miles up river from the village of San Pedro Columbia in southern Belize, Maya Mountain Research Farm is a working demonstration farm and registered NGO that promotes sustainable agriculture, appropriate technology and food security using permaculture principles and applied biodiversity. MMRF is one of Central America’s oldest and premier permaculture farms, and is profiled in State of the World 2010 — Worldwatch Institute’s global almanac in 22 languages.

This is an excellent opportunity to see a well-developed, integrated agroforestry and aquaponic working design, developed from 20 years of observation and experience. Maya Mountain Research Farm is a registered Non Governmental Organization working on issues of food security and biological diversity.

Through lecture, discussion, small groups, site visits and hands on experience, participants will gain the tools to create sustainable, ecologically based homes, farms, businesses and communities.

Instructors include Albert Bates, Andrew Goodheart Brown, Maria Martinez Ros, Christopher Nesbitt and local guest experts. All instructors will be present for the full two weeks, not video-conferenced in.

Cost: USD1250/Belize$2500 includes organic farm fresh meals, all course materials and expeditions, comfortable on-site accommodations, and a Permaculture Design Certificate upon completion of the course.

Minimum capacity: 20 students, below which the course will be cancelled.

The Farm is one of the largest and best known intentional communities in the U.S. Located on 1750 wooded acres in south central Tennessee, it is home to approximately 200 persons today. Founded in 1971 with a spiritual commitment to simple living and self-reliance. The Farm has pioneered a wide range of social and physical technologies appropriate to low-cost, high satisfaction community living. This tradition of entrepreneurship and progressive social change is embodied at our Inn at The Farm. The Inn provides comfortable accommodations for participatory training in all aspects of the village design and social organization for planetary transformation. The surrounding Farm community offers examples of solar building design, micro-enterprises, mushroom cultivation, organic gardening and regenerative hardwood forest management.