My Prime Minister regards the economy as our highest priority and forgets that economics and ecology are derived from the same Greek word, oikos, meaning household or domain. Ecology is the study of home, while economics is its management. Ecologists try to define the conditions and principles that enable a species to survive and flourish. Yet in elevating the economy above those principles, we seem to think we are immune to the laws of nature. We have to put the ‘eco’ back into economics.

Our planet has not seen an extinction crisis as serious as the one in progress for 65 million years.

Many instances of persecution and killing have occurred in countries with atrocious human rights records such as Sri Lanka, Guatemala and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In nature there is no such thing as waste. In nature nothing is wasted; everything is recycled.

What permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet.

We have altered the physical, chemical and biological properties of the planet on a geological scale. We have left no part of the globe untouched.

What about our children and grandchildren and their children and grandchildren? Do we not want them to live healthy and happy lives?