One year after the Camp Fire destroyed 90 percent of homes in the small Northern California town of Paradise, community members are rallying behind the regenerative nature of permaculture to rebuild their town. Permaculture is an agricultural technique which uses regenerative resources to create a self-sustaining ecosystem. 

From work sites at local farms and schools, volunteers from near and far are learning how to rebuild local schools, stores, and even their own homes. Led by Camp Fire Restoration Project leader Matthew Trumm, the group is focusing on high impact and centrally located sites, such as the local elementary school, Pine Ridge, where they are repairing infrastructure and planting trees and gardens. 

The degree of destruction in the wake of the Camp Fire has made restoration a daunting task, but the renewable and resilient nature of permaculture makes it an effective and symbolic starting point for the rebirth of Paradise. As the changing climate makes wildfires a more common and severe threat to ecosystems, innovative and sustainable restoration techniques will be increasingly more vital to areas damaged by fires. As the eyes of the world turn to the thousands of blazes burning across the Amazon Rainforest, it is clear that permaculture and other regenerative practices will be critical to repairing habitats around the world.

Read the full solutions news article below to learn more about permaculture and the Camp Fire Restoration Project.