PDC Principles & Ethics of Permaculture 3 â Questions and Answers
Question 1: A farmer plants nitrogen-fixing trees between crop rows, provides windbreak, and harvests timber from them. This is a direct application of which principle?
- Use small and slow solutions
- Each element performs multiple functions (Correct answer)
- Use edges and value the marginal
- Observe and interact
Correct answer: Each element performs multiple functions
Stacking functions means each element in the design serves at least three purposes, reducing the need for external inputs and increasing system resilience.
Question 2: Which permaculture ethic takes precedence when People Care and Earth Care appear to conflict?
- People Care always comes first because human wellbeing is the design goal
- Earth Care takes precedence because all human welfare depends on a healthy planet (Correct answer)
- Fair Share resolves all conflicts between the other two ethics
- The ethics are equal and context determines which applies
Correct answer: Earth Care takes precedence because all human welfare depends on a healthy planet
Earth Care is foundational because human communities cannot thrive long-term on a degraded planet; it provides the ecological basis for People Care.
Question 3: The permaculture principle 'Use small and slow solutions' cautions against which common design mistake?
- Using perennial plants that take years to establish
- Scaling up too quickly before a system is proven to work (Correct answer)
- Planting diverse guilds that are difficult to manage
- Incorporating too many passive solar features
Correct answer: Scaling up too quickly before a system is proven to work
Small and slow solutions allow designers to observe, learn, and adjust before committing large amounts of energy, money, or land to unproven approaches.
Question 4: Which of the following best exemplifies the principle 'Use edges and value the marginal'?
- Planting a monoculture in the center of a field for maximum yield
- Designing a forest garden where the woodland edge hosts the highest biodiversity (Correct answer)
- Removing hedgerows to consolidate field size
- Focusing all design effort on the most productive soil zones
Correct answer: Designing a forest garden where the woodland edge hosts the highest biodiversity
Ecotonesâedges between two ecosystemsâare among the most productive and biodiverse areas in nature, and permaculture design deliberately creates and utilizes them.
Question 5: Bill Mollison defined permaculture ethics as being derived primarily from which source?
- Conventional agricultural economics
- Indigenous and traditional cultures worldwide (Correct answer)
- Modern environmental law
- Urban planning theory
Correct answer: Indigenous and traditional cultures worldwide
Mollison observed that cultures who lived sustainably for thousands of years shared consistent ethical principles around care of land, people, and equitable distribution.
Question 6: A designer refuses to add chemical fertilizers despite low initial yields, trusting soil biology to build over time. This reflects which principle?
- Obtain a yield at any cost
- Use and value renewable resources and services (Correct answer)
- Catch and store energy
- Integrate rather than segregate
Correct answer: Use and value renewable resources and services
Using and valuing renewable resources means favoring biological processesâlike mycorrhizal networks and compostâover non-renewable synthetic inputs.
Question 7: In permaculture ethics, 'People Care' most critically includes which dimension beyond basic physical needs?
- Maximizing individual economic profit
- Access to education, community, and meaningful participation (Correct answer)
- Prioritizing urban populations over rural ones
- Ensuring government oversight of resource distribution
Correct answer: Access to education, community, and meaningful participation
People Care extends to social and psychological wellbeing, including community connection, access to knowledge, and the ability to participate in decisions that affect one's life.
PDC Principles & Ethics of Permaculture 3
A farmer plants nitrogen-fixing trees between crop rows, provides windbreak, and harvests timber from them.
This is a direct application of which principle?