Observing nature is a fundamental principle of permaculture - aka permanent sustainable agriculture - and I recently had the joy of meeting a great observer. Mark Garrett, is resident permaculturist at Soneva Fushi, a luxury desert island getaway in the Maldives. His job is create a sustainable ecosystem on the island. As he says "learning how to grow a plant that's the easy part, but if you can think about the principles and the design of how to look after that plant, that's what permaculture is all about. It's thinking first...rather than just running randomly around, trying to fight with nature and struggle against it".  

Permaculture principles and ecosystem designs are already used by various natural wine growers around the world although they themselves might not describe them as such. In this video, Mark gives us an introduction to permaculture, explains what real sustainability means and shares tips on how he is applying the philosophy to the tiny desert island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

For more blogs of mine on Mark's work, check out:

Mark Garrett, Permaculturist: Worm Juice

Mark Garrett, Permaculturist: The Importance of Bugs

Mark Garrett, Permaculturist: 'No dig' gardening & Viticulture