When did permaculture start? Permaculture was started in the 1970s by Bill Mollison, an Australian ecologist. It took Bill a great deal of time studying nature and relationships between components of ecosystems. Looking at the level of environmental destruction resulting from human activities, Bill, together with David Holmgren, saw the need to embrace certain practices that would make it possible to preserve ecosystems, while at the same time, making them more productive. This set of practices is what the two individuals would call permaculture.
Before the 1970s, several people played important roles in paving way for permaculture, with P.A. Yeomans being one of them. Yeomans was an Australian, w
hose 1964 book, “Water for Every Farm,” gave a lot of impetus to the permaculture movement. He is credited with introducing a permaculture technique known as Keyline design. Another important figure was Joseph Russell Smith. Joseph carried out extensive experiments about the interconnectedness of various ecosystem elements, including plants and animals.
Other contributors to permaculture movement include Jordan Rubin and Geoff Lawton. Today, permaculture is practiced across the world, with several environmental organizations now taking it upon themselves to champion the practice.