Hey Justin
I'm co-founding a
permaculture education
project, Hangzhou
Permaculture, about 3 hours from Shanghai. We're just getting started here too, but I think we could help eachother out. You could translate.google our webpage, HZPumen.com, for more info. We plan on translating lots of information about
permaculture, organic
gardening, ecosans,
biochar and many related topics by the end of the year.
There was recently a
Permaculture Course in Cheng'du. Have you met up with any of the students? I'm sure they would be VERY interested in helping. Otherwise, find a way to advertise for volunteers. We have had some come all the way from Chengdu, a 12 hour train ride.
Volunteer opportunities here are sparse and the resources are abundant. I wish we had more housing available!
Like you, we struggle with locals using protected forest resources at very unsustainable rates, without giving anything back. Nothing has seemed to work yet, but the local government has sponsored us to buy a big sign that says "Permaculture in Progress. Stay out. These are protected experimental grounds. Enter without permission and the police will deal with you accordingly." Not very socially
sustainable, but hopefully that will do something. Despite the negativity of it all, many people DO respect us for trying to heal the
land rather than pouring chemicals on it. People often tell us it's impossible and we're wasting our time, but they keep coming back to check on our progress.
As for plastic burning, as you mentioned in your other
thread (why two threads?), we found it was mostly the people responsible for trucking the garbage away that were burning the plastic. There are strict laws against it, so we just filmed them then told them we will go straight to the authorities if we see them doing it again. That was months ago and we haven't had a problem since. We do still have a problem with the elementary school next to us burning their garbage. I've talked to the guards and the people who usually hang around the outside, but it still happens once a month or so. The teachers come around the project often, I've just forgotten to mention it to them.
Traditional varieties are around, but they are quickly disappearing. We go to surrounding villages, make friends with the oldest people we can understand, then start asking about seeds. If they don't have them, they can probably get them for you. We've found a bit of local corn and squash and have some sichuan giant green onions. If they are successful, I'd be willing to trade some seeds for what you can find.
Take care
Thomas
