Over the years, people as a society have been very harsh to the planet and the environment. For the most part this harsh treatment of the planet is unintentional, but it dose not make up for the toll that has been taken on it. More and more people are becoming more eco-friendly and are taking things like recycling, conservative water usage and air pollution quite seriously. Every day people make further advancements in helping to heal the environment. Restoration Agriculture is one such attempt. Many people wonder, "What exactly does restoration agriculture mean?". To put it simply, Restoration Agriculture is the effort to reverse the damage done to the planet and return it to a more natural state. Ideally, this would make things like farming and agriculture more prosperous, which will make the world as a whole work better.
Restoration Agriculture covers a lot of aspects of helping the environment. Mark Shepard is the author of, ["Restoration Agriculture"](http://www.amazon.com/Restoration-Agriculture-Real-World-Permaculture-Farmers-ebook/dp/B00IYUAMSI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1458746389&sr=1-1&keywords=restoration+agriculture), which is a book that outlines the key factors that goes into the restoration effort. One such factor that Shepard talks about, is "annual agriculture". He uses this term to describe crops that grow rapidly for only a season, produce a large amount of produce and then die. Shepard believes this isn't the best way to continue growing crops. Shepard thinks that farmers can benefit from natural ecosystems and create agricultural systems that will mimic nature in function and form. This can easily provide for food in a efficient way, while saving the cost of maintenance.
Permaculture is another concept that is covered by restoration agriculture. Permaculture is a type of edible landscaping. It generally practiced on more large scale suburban operations. Shepard practices a form of of permaculture that varies from the normal way its done. His book describes what he is doing on his farm as "bio-mimicry".
Shepard conducts Restoration Agriculture workshops around the world on a regular basis. In the near future he will be in Croatia, Ireland, Africa and a variety of locations around North America. Please go to the new website [Restoration Agriculture Experience (REA)](http://restorationag.smartmember.com) to get more information.
All of these concepts are helping make the planet more sustainable for current and future generations. Shepard believes all farmers should all do their part and think forward about ways to help the planet!
Get more information about Restoration Agriculture and the Restoration Economy at [http://restorationag.com.](http://restorationag.com)
