This document discusses the potential for forest foraging robots and permaculture to provide a more sustainable model of food production. It outlines some of the environmental and health costs of conventional agriculture and argues that forest gardens and robotics could maximize productivity while protecting ecosystems. The document also introduces the concepts of permaculture design and a new green revolution using technology to promote natural systems and open up new areas for sustainable agriculture.

1. Ecobotics
Forest Foragers: the future of food?
@resurgo

4. Prehistory
Up to 5000 years ago
Tribal
Forest and river
Managing ecosystems

5. Neolithic transition
Agriculture allowed rise of culture
Specialisation
Towns and larger
Start of the ‘modern’ world

6. Dual use technology
Hand axes - trees, nuts and heads
Swords and ploughshares
Tractors and tanks
Nitrate fertilisers and explosives
Biological weapons - Bacillus anthracis toxin -
Bacillus thuringiensis – BT toxin in GM crops
Chemical weapons - pesticides, herbicides

8. Costs
Environmental
Health
Long term sustainability
Animal suffering

9. Environmental
Soil erosion
Monocultures breed disease
Wildlife

10. Birds

11. Health problems
Endocrine problems
Fertility
ADHD ?
Autism?
Alzheimers?

13. Forest Gardens
Working natural ecosystems to maximise
productivity
Approach productiviity of conventional
Optimisation not maximisation
Problem – lots of labour

14. Trees
apple, pear, cherry plum, quince, mulberry,
medlar, peach, chestnut, pine nut, almond,
hazelnut, juneberry, strawberry tree, pawpaw,
blue bean, persimmon, bladdernut, snowbell
tree

15. Shrubs
currant, Chilean guava, plum, blueberry,
wineberry, Oregon grape, almonberry,
whortleberry

16. Vegetables
bamboo (shoots), sea kale, perpetual spinach,
perennial broccoli, wild garlic, Babbington leek,
good King Henry, fat hen, everlasting onion,
pignut, Jerusalem artichoke, horseradish,
earthnut pea, wasabi

17. Creepers
grape, loganberry, tayberry, strawberry grape,
kiwi fruit, hop

18. Robot videos
Fruit picking robot:
http://youtu.be/Fk1Yn0aAURA
For cool robot videos search for Boston
Dynamics on youtube

21. Permaculture
ecological design, ecological engineering,
environmental design, construction and
integrated water resources management that
develops sustainable architecture, regenerative
and self-maintained habitat and agricultural
systems modeled from natural ecosystems.

22. New Green Revolution
Next green revolution
Technology to save the ecosystem
Increase productive areas of world while
promoting natural systems

23. Benefits
Long term value of land
Open up new areas for agriculture
Protect the natural environment
Aesthetics

24. Further reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singu
larity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_robot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture
Watch out for http://ecobotics.org.. Coming
soon!

27. Me
Peter Clarke
@resurgo
peter@fourpartswater.com