Having just begun to sink my teeth into Bill Mollison’s permaculture "Bible," an idea popped into my head last night pertaining to species selection and utilizing our technological ally known as the internet. It starts with the notion that different species clearly have an effect on eachother, sometimes mutually beneficial, sometimes harmful, etc. For instance, walnut trees hinder or kill apple trees and acacia trees and apple trees are mutually beneficial. It is important when selecting plants for a garden or food forest to know which ones work well together or not. So, I think it would be useful to have an online database to collect and share this important information.

I envision an interactive database where one submits conclusions or general observations regarding species compatability, and the collected data is averaged out and made available freely to anyone in an easily accessible format. This way, when deciding which species to plant and where, one would have a greater amount of information and experience with which to make the best selection, shared from all over the world. This has far more potential for accuracy and breadth than one individual’s observations or a printed, finalized book, and is certainly better than trial and error. We could compile very useful information on a very broad scale, utilizing technology in a very effective way, verily so. This could greatly increase our collective knowledge building efforts. Anyone could make observations or experiment and submit the data for everyone to benefit. With millions of interenet users and the oncoming changes, this is actually a realistic endeavor.

One issue I am concerned about is reliability and objectivity of reporting. But, I think that this could be overcome simply by the averaging out of many different independent observations/experiments, creating an overall accurate picture.

I spoke with someone who is quite computer savvy and she told me that it takes a lot of work and competence to create an interactive online database such as I envision. However, I am willing to receive e-mails and enter the data manually if necessary, atleast temporarily, until a more optimal scenario is created. She pointed out that I could do this through a yahoo group for free.

If anyone is interested in this or has suggestions, please respond.

Best, Flombula