Building a resilient Monterey County begins with informed people and connected communities. The resources we offer explore not only the challenges of climate change, but the many opportunities to create healthy, regenerative eco-systems and build community resilience.
Here are some resources for exploring solutions.
REGENERATION
The environmental regeneration approach repairs damaged ecosystems to actively remove carbon from the air and restore nature.
It goes beyond reducing environmental harm and stopping new pollution. Regeneration methods use living systems like forests, soil, and oceans to heal the planet.
Core Practices involve:
Reforestation: Planting new trees in cleared areas to rebuild natural carbon sinks.
Soil Health: Using no-till farming and cover crops to trap carbon in the dirt.
Wetland Restoration: Rebuilding marshes and bogs to store carbon and stop floods.
Ocean Care: Protecting mangroves and kelp beds to clean water and absorb greenhouse gases.
Main Goals of Regeneration:
Biodiversity: Bringing back lost plants and animals to keep ecosystems strong.
Natural Carbon Capture: Letting nature pull carbon dioxide out of the sky safely.
Community Support: Helping local groups manage their land in healthy ways.
Regeneration.org
A growing collective of researcher practitioners from around the world is helping humanity to unlock extensive solutions, actions, and initiatives that can help create a better world for all.
Explore their cascade of solutions in the Living Repository of Climate Solutions – an ever-growing, dynamic digital or physical database. It is continually updated with real-world case studies, scientific data, and adaptation tools.
Projects like Regeneration and global urban initiatives use these hubs to share scalable ideas on how to cool the planet and protect communities.
PERMACULTURE
The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.
The term “permaculture” itself is a combination of the words “permanent” and “agriculture” and was first used in the 1970s by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, both from Australia.
Mollison describes permaculture as “the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.”
Core Ethics of Permaculture:
Earth care: Protect and rebuild soil, water, and forests.
People care: Support self-reliance and healthy communities.
Fair share: Limit consumption and share surplus resources.
Core Ethics of Permaculture:
Earth care: Protect and rebuild soil, water, and forests.
People care: Support self-reliance and healthy communities.
Fair share: Limit consumption and share surplus resources.
Key Gardening and Farming Practices:
- Sheet mulching: Layer cardboard, compost, and straw to suppress weeds and build rich soil.
- No-dig gardening: Avoid turning the soil to keep the underground web of microbes safe.
- Rainwater harvesting: Capture and store water in barrels, ponds, or swales for dry times.
- Perennial planting: Grow plants like fruit trees and berries that return each year without replanting.
- Companion planting: Put different plants together so they help each other grow and stop pests.
- Hügelkultur: Bury logs and woody debris under garden beds to hold moisture like a sponge.