UPDATE: We have created a project group on our Permaculture GROUPS free cooperative Mycological Response Teams group, along with start-up projects and tasks and documents and members. Please consider joining by Nicholas Roberts, Permaculture Cooperative

The Pertroleum Problem - Paul Stamets

I (Paul Stamets) proposed in 1994 that we have Mycological Response Teams (MRTs) in place to react to catastrophic events, from hurricanes to oil spills. by The Petroleum Problem: Paul Stamets

Paul Stamets of Fungi Perfecti, author Mycelium Running writes a response to the BP oil volcano in the Gulf , via Toby Hemenway author of Gaia’s Garden

PAUL STAMETS’ STATEMENT
ON MYCOREMEDIATION AND ITS APPLICATIONS TO OIL SPILL

Full Text: The Petroleum Problem – Paul Stamets (Copyright 2010)

The BP oil spill has inflicted enormous harm in the Gulf of Mexico and will continue to do so for months, if not decades, to come. I have many thoughts on this disaster. My first reaction is that when the skin of the Earth is punctured, bad things can happen.

Clearly, this disaster could and should have been prevented. Despite all their assurances of safety, BP and/or BP’s subcontractors, failed to ensure the functionality of the emergency equipment on the Deep Horizon rig. The oil industry claims that further regulation will handcuff them, but it is now obvious that more steps need to be taken to prevent a catastrophe like this from ever happening again.

How can we help?
Knowing that the extent of this disaster eclipses our mycological resources should not be a reason to not act.

I proposed in 1994 that we have Mycological Response Teams (MRTs) in place to react to catastrophic events, from hurricanes to oil spills. We need to preposition composting and mycoremediation centers adjacent to population centers. We should set MRTs into motion, centralized in communities, which are actively involved in recycling, composting and permaculture—utilizing debris from natural or man-made calamities to generate enzymes and rebuild healthy local soils.

I see the urgent need to set up webinar-like, Internet-based modules of education to disseminate methods for mycoremediation training so people throughout the world can benefit from the knowledge we have gained through the past decade of research. Such hubs of learning could cross-educate others and build a body of knowledge that would be further perfected over time, benefiting from the successes and failures of those in different bioregions. The cumulative knowledge gained from a centralized data hub could emerge as a robust yet flexible platform that could help generations to come. Scientists, policy makers, and citizens would be empowered with practical mycoremediation tools for addressing environmental disasters.

Full Text: The Petroleum Problem – Paul Stamets (Copyright Paul Stamets 2010)

Image Source: Happy Healthy Balance

1. Paul Stamets on the Oil Spill (Toby Hemenway)

We just spent a wonderful week with Paul Stamets at his place in the Gulf Islands, and while we were there, the BP Crisis Management Team called to get his advice. In a way, that’s pretty encouraging. People here were wondering what Paul’s got to say about the mess, and after the call he put together a position paper on the spill and mycoremediation. It’s at

http://www.fungi.com/mycotech/petroleum_problem.html

Paul asks that this link go to anyone who can help.

Toby
http://patternliteracy.com

hey Toby,
thanks for this…
great resource, couple of questions, observations, dont really expect you to have all the answers, though I think its worth putting it out there

1. I wonder how we could actually use this information to develop a gaia permaculture response ?
2. how do we organise networks and teams of permaculture activists to use this knowledge on the ground/in-the-water now?
3. can we develop a faster and tighter network of expertise, i.e. the spill was weeks ago, could we make responses faster from experts such as Stamets and youself ? could we develop a network of experts to respond and anticipate such disasters, events etc and feed this organic geo-engineering into the policy mix, the activist strategies and techniques ?
4. could we develop a media team that makes video, education, howtos, implementation kits for such events as the spill ? could we set-up a fund-raising team to buy the spore, the medium, distribute and train activists in the field, measure results ?
5. did you discuss genetically engineered fungi, microbes etc ? are any on that list ?

cheers
-N

Source: Email exchange on the Permaculture Ibiblio email list

Permaculture with a Mycological Twist, The Stametsian Model for a Synergistic Mycosphere

Reprinted from Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets, ©1994, all rights reserved.

Click here to for an interactive diagram outlining the application of fungi in permaculture.

Permaculture is a concept pioneered by Australian Bill Mollison and literally means “permanent agriculture”. His model of biological diversity and complementary agricultural practices promotes a sustainable environment via the interplay of natural ecosystems. Permaculture has gained a huge international following with the publication of his book Permaculture: A Practical Guide for a Sustainable Future. Permaculture has become the mainstay philosophy of the organic movement. Mollison’s vision, which borrows from Masanobu Fukuoka’s “One Straw Revolution”, intelligently combines the factors of site location, recycling of by-products from farming and forest activities, species diversity and biological succession.

Source: Permaculture with a Mycological Twist