The BoL team has been actively promoting conservation and refarming. As part of the effort, the company launched a trial farming campaign since August.  On a piece of long abandoned farmland at Yung Shue Ha Old Village, this pilot project serves to explore the prospect of eco-education and eco-tourism in Lamma. 

 

With the help of farming experts from “Local Life”, the team tried out the principles of Permaculture; that is, to make use of local biological diversity to control pests and to re-nourish the ground thereby rehabilitating the agricultural value of the land. It is worth noting that the rice was bred from the string that had “orbited the space” in one of the Chinese space programmes. With the hard work from volunteers and friends, our first harvest on Lamma was reaped on 15 November 2014 and had been undergone husking, drying and milling to become the rice that we see in the markets. On 20 December 2014, the team distributed rice in small packages to the local villagers and wished them to taste the rice grown on Lamma and to share joy with us.

 

This pilot project is just a first attempt. Through continued learning and trials and errors, the volunteers would learn the toil and joy of being a farmer, laying the foundation for the later community conservation projects to be commenced when the planning of the eco-destination project is approved.  The Yung Shue Ha Old Village would also be restored to become a Visitor’s Centre to exhibit and explore Lamma settlement history and Lamma bio-diversity.

 

Permaculture is the abbreviation of “permanent”, “agriculture” and “culture”. Since 1970s, starting from Australia, Permaculture has been widely spread to different parts of the world, and becomes one of the most famous farming models now.

 

In addition to rejecting the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, timely farming, and maintenance of the ecological balance, which are some of the basic principles of organic farming, permaculture also emphasising on the effective use of earth's resources between human, mutual caring and harmonious relationship.