Geomancer Permaculture has been named Kentucky’s Outstanding Business for Excellence in Environmental Education. The award, given by the Kentucky Association for Environmental Education, recognizes individuals, schools, and businesses that exemplify dedication, commitment, and influence in the field of environmental education.
Geomancer, a landscape company based in Lexington, promotes the theory, design, and implementation of permaculture landscaping and green infrastructure with a focus on urban ecology, agroforestry, and watershed restoration.
Leandro "Nachie" Braga says the company “stays invested in environmental education because it's such an intrinsic part of everything we're doing as far as food sovereignty and community empowerment. The challenges we're facing as a society are on such a scale that there really is no other viable strategy besides training as many people as we can in the methodologies of ecological design and, more importantly, getting them actively engaged in decisions about how the world around them is managed.”
Geomancer is dedicated to projects that redefine the relationships between humans and their environment. Some of this work includes:
Forest garden design, installation, and maintenance
Green infrastructure and regenerative stormwater management
Environmental consulting
Adaptive urban design
Educational programs
A current project Geomancer is particularly excited about is the food forest they’re helping to build with a Lexington neighborhood on unused public land. “It should grow to become the largest such installation in the state,” Nachie said, “and we've already had a lot of fun with Sustainable Agriculture students from the University of Kentucky out there. And it's going to be an amazing educational resource for the community as well.”
Other recent highlights include:
• Presenting at Bluegrass Greensource’s 2022 “GreenFest” event
• Assisting the Cardinal Valley Neighborhood Association in the mulching of wildflower beds along Oxford Circle
• Presenting Lexington Tree Canopy Assessment to the Lexington Tree Board for use in Lexington’s $1.5 million tree canopy improvement discretionary funds. Geomancer’s founder, Nachie Braga, elected co-chair of the city’s Ad Hoc Tree Canopy Improvement Committee tasked with the assessment
• Presenting at the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government’s teacher’s academy at McConnell Springs about partnerships with Fayette County Public Schools and funding sources for environmental education projects
• Developing three partnerships with local schools in the spring semester: Cardinal Valley
Elementary, Beaumont Middle School, and Locust Trace AgriScience Center
• Working with Kentucky Cooperative Extension to film a short video about the Kilrush food forest project as an example of riparian restoration and stewardship
• Beginning Beaumont Middle School Rain and Pollinator Garden. Ground was broken in March 2022 and an education session conducted in April with the Rain Garden Club to help students select plants
• Implementing a free fruit tree program for the Cardinal Valley neighborhood, providing free fruit or nut trees/shrubs to homeowners willing to have the trees planted in their front yards
• Conducting a native tree planting/reforestation event at the Kentucky Castle as part of the 2022 Wild Health Summit
• Forming a new partnership company, Sovereign Habitat LLC, to acquire a home adjacent to Deauville Drive greenway for use as a permaculture project nucleus ecovillage
And that’s just what they’ve been up to since April! For more on Geomancer and all their work, visit patreon.com/geomancerpermaculture.
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