Permaculture Principles - Cooperation Instead of Competition & Work With Nature, Not Against It

In this, and the subsequent posts I would like to revisit and complete the discussion of the Permaculture principles I started three years ago.

One of the most debated principles of Permaculture is the one regarding cooperation versus competition. While it is not among Holmgren’s twelve, it is the number one principle on Scott Pittman’s list, and also Bill Mollison placed it on top of his one, phrasing it slightly differently, of working with nature, not against it.

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Ever since Darwin, the idea has been commonly touted that what drives biological evolution is the competitive forces between species, as well as individuals within a species. The survival of the fittest, that is of those who adapt to their environment most effectively, are the ones to pass on their genes, and thus drive evolution. This concept has also been applied to technological innovations, commerce, and even cultures, meaning that those who manage to supersede others most successfully get to develop in society. While this last notion of Social Darwinism is considered by most people today to be an excuse for exploitation and genocide, in the commercial and biological realms competition is still seen as the one and only driving force. But is it truly so?

Cooperation Driving Evolution

Permaculture is not trying to deny the existence of competition, and it’s not even suggesting us to avoid it. Just like Darwin says, in certain circumstances natural selection can bring about fascinating innovations in adaptability within a species. However, while this is all true, it is also leading our attention to the immense possibilities that cooperation offers.

Maybe the most stunning example is that of the evolution of multi-celled organisms. Consider the earliest stages of life on earth, when the only type of life present were single-celled organisms. Each one was its own entity, it’s own system, competing for resources with all other such systems of unicellular life. For many, many generations these microbes lived, procreated, and died in this old order, adapting to various environments on our globe. Then, at one point, certain microbes started cooperating with each other, sharing resources, spending their time together in one space, and eventually forming a whole system of their own. This was the start of multi-celled life, which then evolved into what we know today as plants and animals. Today we have come so far that we can look at a specimen of a species as one cohesive unit, rather than an amalgamation of many cells.

Being Part of a System

Taking this same approach further, we can look at species of plants and animals, as well as single-celled species, and in fact even inanimate elements of nature (such as minerals, water, sunlight, temperature ranges, the pH of an environment, etc.) as parts of a system. Though we haven’t grown together as inseparably as our red blood cells to our bodies, for example, but sharing the space and resources of one ecosystem we are already cooperating a lot more that competing.

Even between herbivores and plants, or predators and prey there is a clear cooperation going on, considering how plant eaters contribute a great deal to the seeding and spreading of plants, or how by hunting the slowest members of a species predators maintain the population of their prey healthy and fit.

Where Do We Fit Into This?

Using this Permaculture principle on the homestead, we are invited to work together with the forces of nature, rather than fight endless battles against them. Using the old example of the slugs and ducks, think of a slug invasion in your garden as an abundance of free duck food. The ducks in turn help you fertilize your plants, and at the same time probably even keep other critters in check who come to eat your veggies.

In the case that nature strikes in form of regular flooding instead of slugs, it’s still best to cooperate with the waters. Be ready when they come, and it brings with it desired topsoil and nutrients, while making sure your home is built high enough not to be flooded.

Applying cooperation in a social setting, it is also preferable to cooperate within your community rather than compete against your neighbors. If your neighbor happens to grow the same apples as you, starting a competitive price war at the market is the least productive approach. Instead, you could build dehydrators, offering your neighbor to preserve their apples along with yours. In return, they may have a pig for you, who is happy to clean up the fallen apples in both orchards.

In the end, this principle is just teaching us to make connections between each other. The more of these we create the more complex the system will be, which adds to its resilience. Eventually, it can create completely new entities, not unlike the earliest microbes who decided to band together to form creatures like ourselves.

Sources: 1, 2, Pic: 1

To see my discussions of other Permaculture Principles, take a look at these posts:

Permaculture: A Starting Point

David Holmgren

1. Observe and interact
2. Catch and store energy
3. Obtain a yield
4. Apply self-regulation and accept feedback
5. Use and value renewable resources and services
6. Produce no waste
7. Design from patterns to details
8. Integrate rather than segregate
9. Use small and slow solutions
10. Use and value diversity
11. Use edges and value the marginal
12. Creatively use and respond to change

Bill Mollison

1. Work with nature, not against it
2. The problem is the solution
3. Maximum effect for minimum effort
4. The yield of the system is theoretically unlimited
5. Everything gardens

Scott Pittman

1. Cooperation instead of competition
2. Every function is served by multiple elements
3. Every element serves multiple functions
4. Make the most out of energy
5. Use the edge effect
6. Everything is connected
7. The problem is the solution