ANNOUNCEMENT: Huge Scale Environmental and Humanitarian Projects to Repair The Earth

[Cjay]

It's time.

I have been dropping hints for a couple of years and the time has come to announce my plans. I need your help. I invite contributions of all kinds and the participation of people all over the world to make this happen.

The overview of these projects is so large that I have to split it over several posts.


PROJECTS OVERVIEW

Our overall mission is to preserve biodiversity, repair degraded farmland and improve soil on a global scale – and teach others how to do it, quickly, inexpensively and sustainably. In the process, we will improve the quality and quantity of food produced and create global food security. We will also improve air and water quality. Of course, each project has its own mission, which should be obvious when you read the overview.

I will spare you the details because just getting through the overview (including all of the videos) is literally a whole day's work. The videos are important to help understand the reasons why these projects are so important. If you only read the text and watch the first three videos and a few of the other short videos, you could do that in one hour.

What follows is a broad overview of a group of inter-related, complementary environmental and humanitarian projects. These projects have been in the planning stage for over 2 years. My own research spans more than 15 years. Some of my colleagues’ research spans more than 30 years. All of the technologies exist today, fully proven and ready to go. We will be working in conjunction with several universities and newly created research institutes.

Some of the projects will generate huge profits (but that's not the point of doing it). The mission is environmental and humanitarian. Other projects are not for profit (charities), so any profits will be re-invested in expanding the scope of the projects and in replicating the projects hundreds of times over, worldwide. The more iterations of the projects we do, the lower the cost per project.


The time frame for completing most of these initial projects is 3 to 5 years. If funds were available, we could start almost immediately. For example, we could plant hemp crops before Christmas. Industrial projects require longer lead-times of 6 to 12 months for federal, state and local planning approvals. We can do ALL projects simultaneously, given sufficient funding and resources.

To make these plans a reality, we need two main types of help - money and people. The initial projects will require a workforce of thousands.

Capital required, about $100 million to start all of the projects and about $300 million to complete the first round of projects, which includes at least one of each of the things discussed below. There are a range of government grants available for most of these projects which may provide between $5 million and $10 million for the initial projects planned for Wagga Wagga. As I said, profits will be reinvested to expand the scope and duplicate the projects.

Rule #1 – NO greedy people or “vulture capitalists” will be welcome to join us. The environmental/humanitarian mission is far too important to allow it to be derailed by greed.

At this point, we have at least five potential sources of funds - all slow to flow. One individual is willing to donate the money to a charitable foundation so we can do ALL of these projects, globally. He said he doesn’t need to make a profit and he doesn’t want to make a profit. I asked if he will be offended if we do make a profit. He replied, “that’s your problem, not mine.” That's all very nice, however, those funds are not yet available.

I have assembled a core team of extraordinary people with complementary skills, resources and networks. My colleagues and I, and several interested parties, are patient but very keen to get started as soon as possible. They have said to me, “it is not a matter of if we will do them but when. We WILL do ALL of these projects. We MUST. The planet and humanity NEEDS us to do all of them.”

Longer term (beyond the first 3 years), these projects will be replicated and adapted hundreds of times over, in as many locations as possible. If we have to self-fund these initial projects, it will take several lifetimes to achieve the mission. If we have sufficient funding to complete the first round of projects, they will generate enough profit to achieve the global mission in this lifetime.


PRESERVING BIODIVERSITY & REPAIRING THE LAND – QUICKLY, CHEAPLY and NATURALLY

We plan to establish a community owned 2,000 hectare (5,000 acre) Gene Bank/Food & Medicine Forest of extraordinary biodiversity, with an eco-resort, and giant greenhouses like the Eden Project (see below). We will build eco-villages with about 500 homes made from hemp building materials – these will be surrounded by sustainable and profitable organic/permaculture farms.

All of these initial projects will be done close to Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia (half way between Melbourne and Sydney). We expect that it will become a major tourist attraction, hence the eco-resort. We want to encourage visitors from all over the world so they can see what we are doing and take inspiration from it to encourage participation in similar projects in their own communities.

We will follow-up with many similar projects worldwide. We will emphasise teaching the local communities how to create and maintain the forests as well as how to make a sustainable, profitable living from the organic/permaculture farms surrounding the Gene Bank permanent reserves (similar concept to the Willie Smits video, below).

We plan to establish a Farm Repair Institute to teach farmers how to repair their land and how to convert from unsustainable, toxic chemical farming back to sustainable organic farming. We will hire Peter Andrews, Geoff Lawton and Willie Smits (and others) as teachers/mentors. (Each of the named teachers/mentors is featured in one or more videos below.)

The Eden Project, Cornwall, England

• Capital expenditure about 135 Million Pounds (GBP)
• Over 1 million visitors per year
• In 9 years, contributed close to 1 Billion Pounds back into the local economy
• Eden Project is a charity

Eden Project - short introduction (duration 1:27):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=yqhlurptzbU

Innovators: Eden Project (5:05): (you can skip the first 30 seconds)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=YwEG6e5Ibvs

Willie Smits: How to restore a rainforest (22:39):
(The single most inspiring environmental repair story I have ever heard/seen.
If you watch no other video, watch this one)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=3vfuCPFb8wk

Permaculture Greening the Desert: (duration: 37:08)
(Geoff Lawton runs the Permaculture Research Institute in Northern NSW - and worldwide).

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=K1rKDXuZ8C0

2,000 Year Old Food Forest in Morocco (4:37):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=hftgWcD-1Nw

To Be Continued in Part 2...

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PART 2


Australian Story: Peter Andrews

The videos of the first two episodes about Peter Andrews – Of Droughts And Flooding Rains – are no longer available online but the transcripts are online. These videos below are the third and fourth episodes about Peter Andrews. Most people are lucky to have just one episode made about them – Peter Andrews was featured in four episodes!

In 2005, “Australian Story featured a farmer and horse breeder called Peter Andrews who seemed to have a rare ability to transform degraded Australian landscapes into thriving oases.

He called it natural sequence farming and it was producing some spectacular results. But for nearly thirty years, Peter Andrews' work was rejected by scientists, bureaucrats and politicians alike until the evidence became difficult to ignore.

The Australian Story episodes on Peter Andrews, generated unprecedented viewer response.

Now some very influential and highly placed Australians have rallied to his cause and the scientific evidence and international interest are building as well.

The result has been some significant progress but some of the same frustrations.”

http://www.abc.net.au/austory/specia...in/default.htm
(click the video link at the top right of the screen – duration: 28:06)

http://www.abc.net.au/austory/specia...wo/default.htm (29:00)
It is worthwhile also watching the 'extra' videos available from the link above.


BIOCHAR

Biochar is charcoal made from plant or animal waste by heating the waste to high temperatures in a very low- or no-oxygen kiln (so it doesn't burn to ash). When added to the soil, biochar has dozens of benefits, including:

• improving soil fertility
• improving fertiliser retention in soil
• reducing or eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers
• improving soil biomass/ecosystems (micro and macro organisms)
• improving soil aeration
• improving soil moisture-retention
• improving soil drainage
• reducing soil erosion
• rehabilitating huge areas of degraded farmland
• making barren land fertile
• growing much healthier plants
• reducing or eliminating the need for pesticides
• improving water quality (by reducing chemical fertilizer and pesticide usage and reducing their run-off as a result of improved Cation-Exchange Capacity and natural carbon filtration)
• reducing atmospheric CO2 (by sequestering carbon from plants in soil for
  thousands of years)
• reducing emissions of other greenhouse gases from soil
• growing a lot more food (up to 900% increase in harvest) of much higher nutritional quality

All of these benefits have been scientifically verified.

The world's most hyper-fertile soils are in the Amazon. These soils, known as terra preta, are man-made by adding biochar and compost to the practically barren clay soils that dominate the region. Approximately 10% of the Amazon Basin's soils are man-made! That is approximately 90 million hectares (225 million acres) of man-made soil. Imagine what we can achieve globally with modern technology.

The extraordinary fertility of these man-made terra preta soils continues today, as much as 7,000 years after the biochar was added.

Incidentally, the world's best carbon for water filtration is biochar made from mammal bones.

We plan to build a factory in Wagga Wagga to produce approximately:

• 40,000 tonnes of biochar (per year) and
• 26,000 tonnes of bio-fuels (jet fuel, bio-diesel) (per year) and
• 15,000 tonnes of organically-sourced liquid nitrate fertilizer (per year) and
• 20 Megawatts of electricity (continuous) plus
• enormous amounts of heat that will be used in various processes in adjacent factories.

The raw materials we will use are all waste products such as agricultural waste, food processing waste, forestry waste, bones and manures. The technology we will use is the world's best - there are ZERO emissions. EVERYTHING is recycled, even the exhaust from the diesel, kerosene and syngas-powered generators. We could also grow crops specifically for making biochar.

Nature has NO WASTE, so why should we?

We will follow up with about one hundred similar systems, as well as smaller mobile systems and on-farm systems, throughout Australia and several hundred more worldwide.

The current design allows for scaling up to three times the production capacity listed above but we prefer a decentralized model to dramatically reduce the transport distance/costs for the raw materials and finished products and to provide off-grid power to large farms and local communities. Any excess power will be fed into the national grid, wherever possible.


The Secret of El Dorado (The discovery of Biochar) (48:56):
(BBC documentary, 2002)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=qqp_H95wjPE

More information (text) about this documentary: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon...eldorado.shtml


Biochar - agrichar - Terra Preta (10:53):
(2007 documentary from ABC’s Quantum program discussing Australian and international biochar research)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=nzmpWR6JUZQ

The Promise of Biochar - Part 1 (9:35):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=1-hSl59ET2A

The Promise of Biochar - Part 2 (Biochar on the Farm) (2:25):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=M6EPKYp5UgI

SOIL BIOLOGY

A teaspoon of healthy soil contains billions or even trillions of micro-organisms. Biochar complements the soil biology. The micro-organisms take up residence inside the biochar where they are protected from predators and climate extremes.

It is the soil micro-organisms that are responsible for making the nutrients available to plants. Soil biology can protect against plant diseases and pests, similar to how pro-biotics help our digestive and immune systems.

Healthy soil produces delicious tasting and highly nutritious food which has a longer shelf-life than food grown in virtually dead soils where chemical fertilisers, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides are used.

Farms using chemicals are highly toxic places. The food they grow is contaminated with chemicals, radioactivity (from the mineral phosphorus used in chemical fertilizers) and the food has very poor flavour and poor nutritional value. Chemically-grown foods and highly processed foods are responsible for the majority of cancers and other diseases, worldwide.

Any farm currently using agricultural chemicals can revert to organic farming IN ONE DAY by stopping the use/abuse of agri-chemicals, applying biochar, compost tea to inoculate the soil with beneficial micro-organisms and customised liquid organic fertiliser based on comprehensive soil analysis for each site.


Paul Stamets: 6 ways mushrooms can save the world (18:18):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=XI5frPV58tY

Growing BIG Vegetables using Compost Tea (7:24):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Uj4FL0u1wvg

My colleague, Richard, manages 350,000 hectares of organic farms, including a single farm of 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) that produces more than 1 million tonnes of rice each year. They will be transitioning away from monoculture but that is another story.

Richard explained to me how he uses 1,000 litre tanks with a spa-blower to produce a type of "compost tea". He adds a spoonful of laboratory-selected beneficial soil microbes, including nitrogen-fixing bacteria and some nutrient to feed the bacteria as they multiply exponentially. After 30 minutes of aerating the water, the weight increases from 1,000 kg to 1,170 kg! The extra 170 kg is mostly nitrogen taken from the atmosphere by the bacteria. This "tea" is then diluted and sprayed onto crops using broadacre irrigation systems. The results are stunning.


WATER

There are a variety of technologies that use magnets, vortices and/or light to alter the physical structure of water (basically de-clumping the molecules) which produces incredible health benefits for plants and animals, including humans. Using these technologies, crops use less water and yield more nutritious food. We will incorporate these technologies into our broadacre crop irrigation systems.

Magnetic Water (5:50):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=YVL6tfGhr8M

Strawberry Fields and PHOTONIC Structured Water (7:53):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=OaOh7LMxpxg

Human Emotions Alter Water Molecules! (3:16):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=k1-0ulKgmio

(This research has been replicated many times, including in Australian schools)


To Be Continued in Part 3...

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PART 3


INDUSTRIAL HEMP

We have been asked to manage the expansion of the hemp industry in Australia and the southern hemisphere, in partnership with an Australian/European joint venture group of companies who have been researching, growing and processing hemp for decades. They are the world leaders in hemp plant selection and breeding, hemp farming, materials science and processing technologies. They currently grow and process hemp in Australia (from Cairns to Hobart), 6 EU countries, Russia, China, South Africa, Thailand, New Zealand, Canada and Uruguay (soon also Brazil, Argentina and Chile), and process hemp in USA and other countries where hemp cannot be grown legally.

Part of the task we have been given is to manage the expansion of the hemp crops to 300,000 hectares (750,000 acres) in 5 to 7 years.

We will build hemp processing mini-mills on farms which separate the raw materials - seeds, leaves, bast (bark) fibres and hurd (the woody core of the plant) - and make them more compact to reduce the cost and environmental impact of transporting to secondary processing factories). We will build a large mill with several adjacent factories for "second-stage processing" in Wagga Wagga and in several other strategically located regional centres.

We will produce a wide range of products, including:

• Food (hemp seed is the most perfectly balanced food on the planet)
• Medicine (can be used to treat over 500 different ailments)
• Body care & cosmetics
• Building materials such as hempcrete, chipboard, and one-piece moulded house frames (in sections) and roof trusses that snap together (eliminating the need to hand-select straight, knot-free pieces of lumber, eliminating the manual tasks of measuring, cutting and joining - and eliminating the joining hardware, glue, etc.)
• Plastics and fibreglass substitutes using hemp fibre instead of glass.
• Paper (the world's best paper is made from hemp).
• Textiles including pure hemp and 50/50 blends of hemp and wool.
• Advanced "technical" fibres, similar to kevlar (or better).
• Car parts (Mercedes Benz, Audi, VolksWagen and other car manufactures use hemp products today).
• Bio-diesel, ethanol, lubricants, wood-preserving oils for decks and outdoor furniture.
• ...and many more! There are over 50,000 products in the world today that are made from hemp.

Some added benefits of growing hemp are that it suppresses weeds and improves the soil. For instance, if we grow hemp in summer followed by a winter grain crop, the grain crop will yield up to 50% more than if we had not grown the hemp.


Henry Ford's Hemp Plastic Car (1941) (0:33):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=BLKDTfQMhfg

Lotus Eco Elise car made with hemp (plus a segment on hemp building materials) (5:24):

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fRysD6TuhHU

ORMUS

ORMUS is a rich cocktail of minerals including "trace elements" and monatomic gold. Used in small amounts, ORMUS provides extraordinary health benefits for plants, animals and humans. When ORMUS is added to the soil, the growth rate, health and vitality of plants is dramatically improved and the ORMUS provides the plants with natural pest and disease resistance.

I have identified a staggeringly huge source of ORMUS, large enough to replenish the minerals of the world's degraded farmland, owned by a benevolent man who is willing to sell it for an incredibly low price. (Everyone else sells ORMUS for an ridiculously high price.) Our charitable foundation will provide it to the poorest farmers, free of charge.


CONVERTING BROWN COAL TO HUMUS

Simple technology exists to convert brown coal to humates and humic acid, which are normally found in rich compost. My home state, Victoria Australia, has the world's largest brown coal reserves - enough to literally green the deserts of the world. That is not to say that we would want to green all of the deserts because we want to preserve those extraordinary ecosystems. However, with a combination of all of the methods and technologies outlined in this overview, we can achieve amazing results, almost instantly.


That's more than enough information overload for one day. Remember, this is just a broad overview.

We look forward to your comments, advice, questions and suggestions - and most of all, your help and participation. This is a global project, ultimately requiring hundreds of thousands of people to make it happen.

[Tane Mahuta]

Hi cjay, wanna say a big thankyou for this post...

Thankyou!!... thankyou!!... thankyou!!

"got some homework to do"

TM

[onawah]

Great stuff! I hope you get all the funding you need asap.
I don't think you will have any problem getting helpers!

[Kiforall]

Never mind funding, where are the donations of equiptment we will need for this.

TPTW could use this as a reconciliation or am I getting ahead of myself here.

Damn look at the time, 6am here, 2 hours and the gifts of God awake.

Another long night on Avalon

Zoe x


Zoe x

[Rocky_Shorz]

I put it out to the Clinton and Gates Foundation for you...

I'll hit many more for you tomorrow to get you rolling...

I still want my Vertical Farms...

[witchy1]

Thanks Cjay

[Jean-Luc]

Great. Here is a 10 pages PDF of you post #1 to help spread the info far & wide.

http://www.vigli.org/Avalon/Huge_Sca...h_Nov-2012.pdf

[Cjay]

I'm touched by all of your replies. I thought no one was interested because when exhaustion overcame me at first light this morning, there were already more than 350 views and not a single reply.

Zoe, I really LOVE that you said "we". This is no longer "my" project. It is "our" project.

Jean-Luc, making my long post into a pdf for publication outside this forum is a nice touch. Thanks!

I need to get an official website up soon because the projects need a central point of contact.

Over the last few years, I have been speaking privately about my vision and plans with a lot of people and every one of them has given me positive feedback. The more I discuss it and the more I work on the detail, the more inspired I become and the more the ideas expand.

I hope these projects will take on a life of their own because repairing the Earth is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity.

Thank you, all of you.

[Dennis Leahy]

Universe bless you, Cjay. :~)

There are a LOT of good, even GREAT, people in this world who simply are not planners, strategists, motivators, big thinkers, or have 'far-sighted' vision. Harnessed, corralled, nurtured, even herded toward this vision, these good people can and will supply the energy - the people power - that the vision requires to come to fruition.

Do not be discouraged if this takes off slowly. One of the beneficial disillusionments that I have had over the past two years was the realization that most people do indeed behave within a "herd mentality" or a "hive mentality", and so, before acting, will spend time looking around the herd, taking the pulse, seeing what everyone else is doing. Generally, people are not independent thinkers - even if they argue that they are. I'm not sure if this is nature or nurture - only a long term 'experiment' in a society much less regimented and measured could answer that. But for the present and foreseeable future, it will be very beneficial to visionaries and strategists to incorporate humanity's current behavioural tendencies into the plan rather than try to fight it (or worse, ignore it.)

I fully expect humanity will, in David Icke's words, "rise up", but strategists and planners and visionaries need to learn how to work with the herd mentality rather than against it. It is too ingrained to reasonably expect people to be able to switch it off and become independent thinkers.

Note that there are many here at Avalon who have broken free from (or never really were part of) the herd mentality. You free-thinkers are the exception, not the rule! But don't get smug! :~) You simply have a different role to play - that of shepherd. Or maybe a better analogy would be as a Border Collie (that will help to keep you humble hahahaahahha.)

Cjay, may I recommend (as I myself have recently embraced in The Reset Button project), that what you need to gather first are loyal Border Collies - shepherds - that share your vision. A gigantic corporation or a government could amass the resources to directly influence the herd (and in fact, they have - with billions of dollars of marketing and advertising), but you cannot. Concentrate on finding as many shepherds as possible, and instruct them to find more shepherds. I am completely convinced that this is the infrastructure necessary to influence the rest of humanity, the herd, into life-affirming behavior and action. Obviously, the people already involved with "permaculture" or strictly organic gardening/farming is a good pool of candidates.

I'm in.

Dennis

[Youniverse]

Looks really good! Love the biochar and hemp ideas. Will pray for you!

[blufire]

I agree 100% with Dennis’ assessment . . . I would like to add a bit of my own personal experience.

First, I have begun to realize I am more of a ‘cat herder’ . . . I wish I could be a border collie or even like my old beloved German Shepherd that never leaves my side. But, alas I have found that people who are more in the organic/green/alternative/Avalon type arenas are more like cats. . . . . they are very hard to keep organized long enough to get much accomplished. If you stroke them the wrong way they are apt to hiss, claw you and worst yet . . . bite. The tend to only pay attention to their own well being and think that anyone outside that which interests or benefits them is not worth their attention or worse yet worth giving much or their time too.

I also agree 200% with Dennis (if I read correctly) regarding large corporation’s and government programs. First work hard to understand ‘truly’ where they are coming from and use this knowledge to your advantage. There are many people who do the actual work within these conglomerates that are more in our camp . . . they will help you. They will help you understand how to get some of those millions you need to fund your operation.

You need your other border collies that share your vision and will work along side with you.

But you/we also need the financial ability of ‘them’ and their ability to maneuver the greater herd.

Also too, if I may,to truly influence our future planet we have to learn to work with ‘them’ and stop ramming against them. They control the masses . . . we will influence and gently plant seeds that will take root and spread like wild fire.

An example . . . . I am deep in a project I never thought I would be in. This project involves waste coal, Alpha Natural Resources, Chesapeake Gas, several government agencies, a company that reclaims damaged strip mined land and my little town and me. I am learning quickly how to ‘root out’ people like us in these massive companies that will help me herd this project to a multimillion dollar green sustainable project. And it is working. My ultimate goal is to start generating ongoing funds, specifically Alpha Natural Resources, that will spread out to other small towns that have been ravaged by coal mining and natural gas drilling.

These conglomerates listen . . . . you just need to make absolute sure you herd your cats/ducks/ border collies in the generally same direction and that you are very clear on your goal . . . . and keep drilling it in every chance you can . . .also spin it to where it becomes their idea . . . egotistical they are.

So don’t be so quick to discount the greedy vulture capitalists . . . . they are only at the top, the people that actually get things done and keep these companies running are more like us.

And to be totally honest . . . I have yet to find someone or large corporations in the alternative world that have millions to invest. Usually all I find are more people like us needing millions to begin to change the world. There are MANY who are willing to put in the sweat equity (work) but are usually financially challenged.


Good Luck . . . pace yourself . . . . keep your eye on the goal . . . . and don’t let anyone tell you won’t succeed.

And I hope you find yourself a pack of Border Collies.

[Rocky_Shorz]

Posted by Cjay (here)
I'm touched by all of your replies. I thought no one was interested because when exhaustion overcame me at first light this morning, there were already more than 350 views and not a single reply.

Zoe, I really LOVE that you said "we". This is no longer "my" project. It is "our" project.

Jean-Luc, making my long post into a pdf for publication outside this forum is a nice touch. Thanks!

I need to get an official website up soon because the projects need a central point of contact.

Over the last few years, I have been speaking privately about my vision and plans with a lot of people and every one of them has given me positive feedback. The more I discuss it and the more I work on the detail, the more inspired I become and the more the ideas expand.

I hope these projects will take on a life of their own because repairing the Earth is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity.

Thank you, all of you.

I put it over to the owner of Virgin Air who is thinking of taking part in colonizing Mars, if it makes sand capable of producing here, it will there too...


sorry I didn't see it sooner, I had followed the link you left in the lotto thread and was still going through it when I spotted this one...

[sandy]

Thank you Cjay, Dennis and blufire for the confirmation of belief I have in humanity and for being Shepards or Border Collies. :whoo

Really I think you are human rolemodels that along with many others will eventually lead humankind to a world of cooperation versus competition

I will keep following and spreading the word where I can as who knows when one might light a candle under somebody and a movement really does take off!!

[eaglespirit]

Lovin' It Cjay and All...The ^^^Entrainment^^^IS Here!

[Cjay]

Thank you all for your replies. Forgive me if I don't address each reply individually. I have read every word and I am digesting your comments. I really appreciate your input. Please keep it coming. This community is truly inspiring. By the way, I love Border Collies and the herding analogy.

A few months ago, I literally looked up at the stars and thanked the universe (out loud) for all the help I have received. I asked the universe to please continue to help me to complete my mission. Since then, I have experienced so many amazing synchronicities. It appears the money will come soon, from benevolent sources, then we can make some more tangible progress. When that happens, I will provide regular progress reports, photos and videos for all the world to see.

[panopticon]

G'day Cjay,

Firstly, thank you for your efforts and information.
I applaud your vision and passion.

I would caution against a top-down managerial approach (I have no idea what your idea is on this but your mention of decentralised project management is, in my opinion, excellent).

An exceptional resource you and your team may find interesting, that gives a different way of viewing power relations and management practices and how they relate to transformative social change, is powercube.net.

Posted by Cjay (here)
Our overall mission is to preserve biodiversity, repair degraded farmland and improve soil on a global scale – and teach others how to do it, quickly, inexpensively and sustainably.

OK, got my attention. Sounds interesting.

Posted by Cjay (here)
each project has its own mission
group of inter-related, complementary environmental and humanitarian projects

Excellent, keep projects separate so funding is not tied but inter-related so as to allow for mutual cooperation.
Following the permaculture flower well ("Diversify" and "Integrate" are essential).

Posted by Cjay (here)
Some of the projects will generate huge profits (but that's not the point of doing it). The mission is environmental and humanitarian. Other projects are not for profit (charities), so any profits will be re-invested in expanding the scope of the projects and in replicating the projects hundreds of times over, worldwide. The more iterations of the projects we do, the lower the cost per project.

Again, looks good. How are funds from projects in separate countries/regions to be shared across projects? Off the top of my head maybe the formation of an international NGO which redistributes finds to local NGOs might be a way of overcoming this. I assume you have already planned how this would happen. Maybe have a look at Andrew Jones' evaluation of local NGO failure as a cautionary tale ('Permaculture in Refugee Camp Rehabilitation in Macedonia: Useful Lessons and Ongoing Challenges'.

Posted by Cjay (here)
To make these plans a reality, we need two main types of help - money and people. The initial projects will require a workforce of thousands.

Are you looking at using a volunteer "workforce"?

Posted by Cjay (here)
Rule #1 – NO greedy bastards or “vulture capitalists” will be welcome to join us.

Nice sentiment. I agree that project "integrity" should be important.

Posted by Cjay (here)
Longer term (beyond the first 3 years), these projects will be replicated and adapted hundreds of times over, in as many locations as possible.

Nice. Just be cautious as sometimes local power dynamics and circumstances may need careful evaluation prior to project implementation. Again from the various posts you've made I assume you're aware of this.

Posted by Cjay (here)
We look forward to your comments, advice, questions and suggestions - and most of all, your help and participation. This is a global project, ultimately requiring hundreds of thousands of people to make it happen.

Your group has undoubtedly thought of all this already but you asked for input and thoughts so...

There would be a need for multiple levels of Government engagement to create an atmosphere of co-operation on the local, regional, state and national levels. They can't be ignored. Then there's the co-operation that can be given from numerous NGOs at all these levels.

I might suggest engaging with the Union Movement as there are many ways that they can assist in getting information disseminated, not to mention the various religious organisations, chambers of commerce and community business groups (Lions etc).

This may not be particularly popular but maybe presenting information in a value neutral way (in certain settings) might assist in getting funding. Passion is great, but too much and it becomes zealotry which looks like fanaticism and tends to distance segments that might otherwise have been useful. Farmers are pragmatists (as are many other people) and it could be misconstrued that some of their practices are destroying the biosphere. This will just get them angry as many of them have simply been following "best practice" as presented by various authorities (eg Farmers Federation, Government departments, Universities). Alternatively, if the information on Ormus, Biochar or Compost Tea (for example) is presented as a way of improving impoverished soil, and evidence can be provided that they work, then many may listen (at least in Australia there are a large number of examples where this has occurred). It would improve their soil and increase productivity.

Have you had any contact with the RIRDC? Maybe there might be some assistance available on a project by project basis that evaluates the outcomes and presents the information to a wide audience. Also there's a number of philanthropic organisations (and individuals) that might be interested (eg Philanthropy Australia).

Don't forget to talk a lot about "CO2 off-set potential", "desalinisation", "soil fertility regeneration", "countering soil erosion" (Australia doesn't have that much anyhow!), "biodiversity", "integrated systems approach"... You get the idea. Lots of keywords and positive re-enforcement so the listener can say to themselves "Wow, this is great" (which it certainly sounds like it is) and lots of scientific reports and project projections for researchers to pour over. The more the better, the number crunchers love it.

Anyway, that's off the top of my head...
Kind Regards,
Panopticon

[Cjay]

Thanks for your input, panopticon.

I'm familiar with the permaculture flower and David Holmgren's work. I didn't name him or Bill Mollison in the overview because I was trying to keep it compact. I have taken much inspiration from them and many others. I will certainly be inviting them to participate as teachers / mentors.

I have saved the pdf from the UNHCR site containing Andrew Jones' assessment of the failures in Macedonia and will add that to my list of things to read/study.

We are very aware of the different dynamics in different countries, cultures and local communities. Every location will have its own unique challenges. We don't expect to take charge of each project, rather we will provide inspiration, education and guidance - and we will take guidance from any constructive individual or organisation.

Thanks for the links to RIRDC and Philanthropy Australia. It is very early days but we will follow up as soon as we can.

Those keywords and phrases will be useful and we will provide links to relevant research.

Phew, so much work, so little time.


- EDIT -

I forgot to mention that there will be opportunities for volunteers although most workers will be paid.

[bennycog]

do us a favour and run for council or government please cjay help us make a real good start.. you would be perfect

[Cjay]

Thanks bennycog, I needed a good laugh! If I could clone myself...

[sheddie]

Thank you for this Cjay, always good to hear of someone actually doing something postive to move us forward and on such a global scale.

....and for giving us hope for the future