Bill Mollison
May 4, 1928 – September 24, 2016
To leave a legacy positively affecting hundreds of thousands of people in your own lifetime and millions more in the next three generations, is impressive; welcome to the world of permaculture.
Bill Mollison was constantly amazed and humbled by the intelligence of Nature and wondered why traditional practices of growing foods endured longer than ‘modern’ agricultural practices.
He learned from observing and being immersed in natural systems giving him the foundation for what became his life's passion – permaculture: the idea that we could consciously design sustainable systems to enable human beings to live within their means and for all wildlife to flourish alongside humans.
During his extensive life he became proficient in many skills, each building on what he learned previously then applying that within the context of natural systems.
Born in Tasmania and eventually dying there, he traveled extensively around the world sharing his knowledge, training thousands of people in permaculture and thousands of nourishing gardens in his wake.
Ian Lillington, Permcaulture Designer, writes “Originally intended as a contraction of permanent agriculture, Mollison quickly realised it was a system for permanent culture, as without a productive landscape, a healthy ecology and a circular economy, no culture would survive. Permaculture began as both a positive concept – open to new information – and a practice that could integrate the knowledge about sustainable, ecological techniques from all parts of the world
“An incorrigible optimist, Mollison wanted to restore the Garden of Eden – for everyone, "not for our children, but for us, now!"
Permaculture has no dogma; rather it is a series of basic principles applicable to everything. From the 1980’s they appealed to architects, engineers, farmers and community organisers, and, by the 1990’s, was being taught in more than half the countries of the world and translated into dozens of languages.
Mollison had started a movement where permaculture was integrated into supposedly unrelated subject areas – an early example of what was later to be called "joined up thinking".
Now permaculture serves people who are working in sustainable agriculture, reforestation, bio-architecture, environmental education and regional economics – and those who simply seek a holistic life.
Permaculture is a way of life, a modus operandi, a suite of guiding principles and the greatest and most respectful connector of humans with ecosystems.
In his autobiography, Mollison wrote: "The greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10 per cent of us do this, there is enough for everyone.
He challenged people to walk their talk, not simply mouth platitudes and he was known for his contempt of pompousness and fools.
"Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who depend on the very system they attack, and who produce words and bullets, not food and shelter."
Bill Mollison was one of Australia’s greatest exports and he will never die as he is part of so many rich, abundant and productive landscapes – literally, everywhere.