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Keyline Design, Sustainable Agriculture &Carbon Sequestering
Lecture With Darren Doherty in Santa Barbara Nov 07
Produced by Commongood Media and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network

What is biological wealth?  Healthy forests, fertile soils, abundant waterways and seas---has any great nation been built without these?  As we degrade and treat them as throw-aways can we expect a prosperous future for our families and children?  Is a sustainable system for agriculture possible that enhances rather than depletes our natural environment?

        
         Join Santa Barbara Permaculture Network as we explore the concept of Keyline Design, a unique design system that restores, regenerates landscapes, and sequesters carbon with Darren Doherty ( www.permaculture.biz) from Australia.

        Darren Doherty is an  engaging and accomplished exponent of Permaculture and Keyline Design, Darren Doherty, principal of Australia Felix Permaculture .He presents an overview of the design considerations and implements of his practice. He explains how the intelligent design and management of agricultural landscape, through its ability to rapidly regenerate the topsoil that most effectively sequesters atmospheric carbon, is a prime strategy in repairing humanity's relation to the biosphere  

         Keyline Design is a complete design system for landscapes.  It is applicable to both rural and urban areas. It is a unique combination of water conservation and soil building, with great appeal to both farmers and ranchers, as it has the ability to build and regenerate degraded soils rapidly, and sees the use of grazing animals as beneficial to this process.

        Keyline systems were developed in Australia during the 1950’s by P.A Yeomans ( www.yeomansplow.com.au ) as a response to increasing desertification and erosion he observed on the Australian landscape as it related to agriculture.  His book Water For Every Farm, A Keyline Plan is an important work describing a set of principles and techniques based on a holistic approach that works with natural patterns to restore and increase the depth and fertility of the soil, while increasing its water holding capabilities.  Yeomans realized that conventional agriculture totally ignored the biological aspects of the soil.  He created a “sustainable agriculture” system before the term was coined, and for the first time in human history, methods were developed that could produce rich fertile soils in relatively short periods.  A permanent and lasting agriculture Yeomans believed, must materially and financially benefit the farmer, and benefit the land and soil.

        Keyline Design integrates terraces, ponds, tree plantings on contour, and a special cultivation technique using the Keyline plow, to infiltrate water into the soil efficiently and hold it on the land as long as possible. Water harvesting strategies employed by Keyline Design provide drought-proofing for farms with very low maintenance using gravity fed irrigation systems, with a huge reduction in water lost to evaporation. In contrast, up to 80% of water is lost to evaporation using conventional overhead sprinklers.  Farms using Keyline Design have amazing records of deepening the topsoil by 3-6” in 3 years, in contrast to nature’s process, which can take hundreds or thousands of years.

        The term Keyline comes from the reference to a “keypoint” on the watershed, which is the interface between collection and distribution of water on the landscape, where ridge meets the valley.  Keyline is a philosophy and technique that doesn’t pit the needs of farmers against environmentalists trying to protect wildlife and fish habitat, and with carbon sequestering techniques used, helps to address aspects of global warming and climate change.

        Darren Doherty is an Australian Keyline Designer, Developer & Manager and Australian Approved Keyline Design™ Farm Planning Consultant, and recipient of Whole Farm Planning Certificate ~ Train the Trainer(University of Melbourne 1995).  He has designed and developed over 1100 properties across four continents working most recently in Vietnam, on land projects for Mars Inc, owners of Seeds of Change. His remaining time is spent managing a working research & demonstration farm in Southern Victoria, Australia.



Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
(805) 962-2571
P.O. Box 92156, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
margie@sbpermaculture.org
www.sbpermaculture.org

"We are like trees, we must create new leaves, in new directions, in order to grow." - Anonymous

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