syntropic agriculture
Syntropic agriculture designs productive land to follow the same succession patterns that natural forests use to build fertility, structure, and abundance. Rather than fighting soil, weather, or weeds, a syntropic system arranges species by strata, lifecycle, and successional role so the planting itself does the work of soil-building, pest suppression, and yield production over time.
Ecologic Solutions have applied this method to land across the Macedon Ranges and Central Victoria, translating Ernst Götsch's original research - developed restoring degraded land in Bahia, Brazil - into designs suited to a temperate Australian climate.
what a syntropic design covers
Every design starts with the site itself: climate, aspect, existing soil condition, water access, and what the land is already doing before any planting decisions are made.
From there, the design sets out:
- A species list organised by strata (emergent, high, medium, low) matched to spacing needs.
- A succession sequence - which species will establish conditions for the ones that follow.
- A management timeline covering pruning and pulse-growth cycles, since ongoing management is what keeps a syntropic system productive rather than static.
- Practical guidance on propagation and establishment for each species in the design.
who is this for?
Landholders looking to establish a genuinely productive, low-input planting system - whether that's a food forest, a windbreak with production value, or a broader regenerative retrofit of an existing property. This work suits people planning for the medium-to-long term: a syntropic system is designed to improve year over year.
let's talk about your land
Tell me a bit about your site and what you're hoping to achieve - I'll get back to you personally, whether that's an on-site consultation or a remote design for wherever you're based.