Toby Hemenway, permaculture teacher and author of Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture explains how nature's systems should be replicated in all aspects of our lives.

One example Toby explores is using natural systems within building. Currently, we use materials that fade, leak and degrade within nature - rain, wind and sun damage. Instead, we should have homes that flourish when it rains or the sun comes out, like a forest would do.

He also explores a 'farm' in Belize, which at first glance looks like an overgrown jungle, taken over by nature. On second glance, the whole area has been planted in a specific way to replicate and behave like a natural tropical forest, with tigers sharing the space the farmer and the many fruits.

Further resources

Synthesising human's development with nature's economies

Understanding patterns in nature with permaculture

What Has Nature Ever Done For Us?