Revolutionary Rural Economic and Environment Development

The REED Program
Rural Economic
and
Environmental
Environmentally Clean
Communities
920 Dighton Lane
Schaumburg, Illinois 60173
Tel/Fax: 847-781-8588
Email: east4wind@aol.com

Biodiversity Loss Needs a Wide Range of Responses
Conserving biological diversity needs to address both proximate and ultimate causes. The
complex threats to biological diversity call for a wide range of responses across a large number
of private and public sectors. All are necessary, with the mix of responses adjusted to the local
conditions.
Ecosystems are communities of interacting organisms and the physical environment in which
they live; they are the biological engines of the planet. The scorecards that accompany the
World Resources 2000-2001 describe most of the ecosystems in fair, but declining conditions.
The statistics it contains are staggering:
• Half of the world’s wetlands were lost last century.
• Logging and conversion have shrunk the world’s forests by as much as half.
• Some 9 percent of the world’s tree species are at risk of extinction; tropical deforestation
may exceed 130,000 square kilometers per year.
• Fishing fleets are 40 percent larger than the ocean can sustain.
• Nearly 70 percent of the world’s major marine fish stocks are over-fished or are being
fished at their biological limit.
• Soil degradation has affected two-thirds of the world’s agricultural lands in the last 50
years.
• Some 30 percent of the world’s original forests have been converted to agriculture.
• Since 1980, the global economy has tripled in size and population has grown by 30
percent to 6 billion people.
• Dams, diversions or canals fragment almost 60 percent of the world’s largest rivers.
• Twenty percent of the world’s freshwater fish are extinct, threatened or endangered.
"For too long in both rich and poor nations, development priorities have focused on how much
humanity can take from our ecosystems, with little attention to the impact of our actions, " said
Mark Malloch Brown, UNDP administrator.
World Resources 2000-2001 warns that halting the decline of the planet’s life-support systems
may be the most difficult challenge humanity has ever faced. "

The tremendous growth in human population during the next fifty years will increase the
population of Asia to more than 6,000,000,000 people. As this population increase occurs, the
pressures upon the governments of the countries and of the world to deal with the effects of this
population increase are enormous. One of the worst problems challenging our resources for the
future is that of rural development, sustainable rural community development. The program
introduced on the following pages provides a response which has been developed to maximize
its positive impacts on all phases of society, its environment and the world community.
The REED Program: Rural Economic and Environmental Development

The main objectives of activities in the area of integrated planning and management of land
resources must be pursued in full accordance with Agenda 21 and the Programme for the
Further Implementation of Agenda 21.
The importance of integrated planning and management of land resources derives from the
unprecedented population pressures and demands of society on land, water and other natural
resources, as well as the increasing degradation of resources and threats to the stability
and resilience of ecosystems and the environment as a whole.
Slash and burn agriculture

When there were less than a billion people living on the earth this type of existence did not
create the problems encountered today.
Top soil loss, water pollution, forest destruction, wildlife habitat ruin, dust storms, uncontrolled
fires, flooding-all a result of poor and even no environmental management and protection
requirements. The REED Program for sustainable rural community development that is
presented here offers a solution for reversing the problems which, in the rural areas of the world,
are growing in magnitude.
Can we do it? We have no choice.
We must use our best efforts to restore and protect the environment.
What we don’t have is time to waste.
Organic agriculture is now beyond just vision and potential, and is rapidly and increasingly
contributing to sustainable agriculture in real terms.
Education and Knowledge of Consumers and Other Stakeholders. In addition to what has been
said about governments and farmers, a sustainable food system cannot be built without the
education and knowledge of consumers and other participants in the food system, such as
retailers, distributors, and banks. This knowledge extends to the food system, food choices, and
food skills.
A crucial problem, at least in the developed world, is that many people are increasingly
separated from their food system. Faced with a food system of apparent abundance, with
supermarkets providing a seemingly endless supply of food, people have lost touch with such
basic questions as: who is growing our food and how is that food being grown? Who controls
the land and the food system itself? Who gets to eat and who is going hungry? How

healthful, safe, and nourishing is our food?
A key challenge is to formulate a strategy founded on the informed participation of relevant
stakeholders at all levels of discussion, which enhances food security, provides paths out of
poverty and conserves the natural resource base of agriculture. In the absence of such a
people-centered agricultural research and development model, significant opportunities to raise
agricultural productivity in economically viable, environmentally benign, and socially uplifting
ways will be irrevocably lost.
These are the challenges and goals of The REED Program.
For centuries, humanity's need for fish products were supplied from the abundance of the
oceans, lakes and rivers. Until recently, ocean productivity seemed unlimited, but in our time it
has become clear that the traditional capture by fisheries has reached its maximum level.
Over-fishing and pollution is rapidly causing depletion of fish in the main water bodies in the
world. The maximum annual output of capture fisheries has remained stable in the past two
decades, at about 90 million tons.
At the same time, world demand for seafood is increasing both in developed countries, as well
as in developing countries. Seafood everywhere is in high demand, and consumer prices keep
increasing. The only way to bridge the gap between reduced capture fisheries output and
increased world demand is through Aquaculture, The Husbandry of Aquatic Food Organisms.
Water and Land degradation.
Aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and land productivity are being threatened by
rapid large-scale changes in land use and land cover, water pollution, climate change,
desertification, drought and other natural disasters, and unsustainable practices in agriculture,
grazing, forestry and mining.

Many problems of aquatic and land degradation cannot be effectively addressed without the
reduction and eradication of poverty and hunger.
The REED Program recognizes the importance of restoring and preserving the basic resources
of production: water, land, air, and takes steps to install an infrastructure that accomplishes
these important undertakings.
Designing for a constant supply of oxygen from the bottom to the top of the fish growing ponds,
The REED Program's production goals of 20 kgs. per cubic meter of water can be realized and,
at the same time, protect the water and environment. Achieving this goal of 20 kgs. per cubic
meter will allow us to realize an annual harvest of 300 metric tons of fish per hectare;
establishing an economic engine for full sustainable rural community development.
The REED Program recognizes the difficult and challenging tasks which all of us face. The
destruction of the biodiversity has recently been identified by the scientific community as one of
the most serious problems facing human society; we agree. We have undertaken considerable
research and made continued effort to identify those tools which we may use in our efforts to
restore and preserve the natural environment in order to establish a true sustainable rural
community development program. The involvement of the local population into these combined
activities is one of the challenges and goals that we recognize must be successfully
accomplished. There are instruments which we have identified and which we intend to
incorporate into our daily activities; others will be developed through our work and yet others will
be identified and brought into our efforts to preserve and restore the biodiversity where we
operate.
Green Produce: The REED Program produces first for local consumption and then for sale
into regional and international markets. Diversified production: fish, vegetables, herbs, fruits,
flowers, animals, other products. Local, regional and worldwide, the demand is growing at a
rate greater than the increase of production. In this section we focus our discussion primarily
upon fish and aquatic produce but recognize the importance of other types of production and the
market demands which provide the economic engine for growth and development. In all this

effort, we recognize the unique opportunities to market to those concerned customers who wish
to support "green activities" and to purchase "green" products.
Eating fish: Demand:
 Seafood importers and distributors are seeking reliable sources of supply.
 World trade in seafood is estimated at US$100 billion per year.
 Main markets in the USA, EU and Japan import more than 50% of their requirements.
Market outlets:
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Supermarkets and fish markets require increasing quantities of products to satisfy the
demand
The main criteria for a marketable aquaculture products are:
• Price
• Consistency in quality
• Consistency in supply
• Freshness
World Aquaculture output:
World Aquaculture contributed a record of 28.3 million tons per year, valued at about
US$ 50 billion. This represents nearly 23% of world fisheries production.
World trade in seafood is estimated at more than US$ 100 billion. The major markets are Japan,
USA and EU, which import between 30-60% of their consumption:
• USA: Consumption per capita is 7 kg, imports about 1.5 million tons per year, valued at
almost US$ 6 billion. Consumers expenditure on seafood in the USA is estimated at US$
26.7 billion.
• The European Union: Consumption per capita of 17 kg, imports about
• 5 million tons per year, valued at US$ 11 billion.

• Japan: the consumption per capita is 40 kg!!
Internet, communications and marketing:
 Heretofore-unrealized capabilities in communications present new ways of conducting
business.
 Exciting challenges in the way business can be done are just now breaking into our
consciousness.
 Many experts in E-commerce say that "knowledge" will become the most important driving
force for the future of economic development.
 These same people say that every business, regardless of its activity, is a "knowledge
based" business.
Food, water, energy, housing, education, training, sustainable development, the market for
these products and services is apparently endless.
Worldwide, the market for sustainable rural community development is more than $7.5 Trillion
dollars as we enter this millennium. This will double during the next fifty years.
The REED Program provides a systems solution approach establishing an engine for
growth, expansion, replication and diversification; all while improving and
protecting the environment. Subsequent to building the scale model, our goals are to
develop the initial community and then to have another ten communities under
development in five years. By the end of year five of operations our goal is to achieve
$100 million in annual revenue with this increasing to $3 billion by the end of year
ten.
The REED Program Mission Statement:
• Contribute to a better world through increasing aquaculture/agricultural productivity
and rural employment and involvement while protecting and restoring the
environment.

• To achieve a sustainable balance between the needs for food, income, and
environmental quality is the most effective approach to improving the living standards
of rural poor everywhere and ensuring resources for the future.
• Establishing and demonstrating a basis for sustainable rural economic practices
through the implementation and development of The REED Program.
• To render investors a superior rate of return.
• To accomplish exemplary social and economic achievement, cooperation and
development.
The REED Program Values:
Complete Customer Satisfaction
Respect of Diversity
Dedication to Strengthening Education
Teamwork to Achieve the Extraordinary
Commitment to Excellence at Every Level
Development
Our plan is to first build a model in Vietnam on 4 hectares of land incorporating basic
components for both demonstration and expansion.
This first step development includes facilities for intensive aquaculture and organic agriculture
production, waste treatments, water purification, renewable energy, housing, education, and
protection of the natural environment. Completion of these primary centers within twelve
months of commencement will provide a basis for the practical demonstration of The REED
Program technology and expertise. Total funding for this phase is $750,000.

Successfully demonstrating The REED Program methods through the construction and
operation of this scale model, we then turn our efforts to the development and operation of one
or more full scale community developments in Vietnam and also to the construction of scale
models in other countries and regions of the world where The REED Program has been invited
to establish operations.
Improved educational opportunity. Education and training are important for the
young people who live in the rural areas of the developing world. Today, for the most part, they
do not have the opportunity. Training and education is also necessary and required for their
parents.
Developments during the past few years in distance education, Internet education, multimedia
education and more present the opportunity to bring the most recent educational developments
to those who live under even the most rural conditions. Coupled with advances in
telecommunications, satellite and wireless communications, there is no reason that the
residents of our community cannot have the best in education and training.
With minimal investments in
basic education, billions of
poor people could "leapfrog"
into the world of instant
communications and become

Education and Training are important:
 Improved conditions and opportunity for women and children
 Participation in economic growth and development
 Develop and implement sustainable practices
 Increase productivity and yields
 Self-esteem and Empowerment
The opportunities for social betterment, improved living conditions, enhanced economic
opportunity in both the local and international community, development, leadership, and much
more, are distilled in The REED Program for sustainable rural economic and environmental
development.
Housing: Safe, affordable, attractive:
Low cost housing provides the residents of our community with another incentive to work and
participate in all the activities. Utilizing construction techniques which arose from developments
in Habitats for Humanity, we can and will construct homes in styles which are both suitable and
affordable. Incorporating renewable energy systems such as solar, wind, and methane gas
conversion, we add to the integration of our residents into the environment and to their efforts at
restoration. Coupled with clean water, solid waste treatment, and intensive farming techniques,
our community will provide a model for sustained development into the next century.
This is not what we want:

EMPOWERMENT.
To achieve sustainable rural development, the people must participate, they must be made to
be part of the solution. It is not possible for any one person to answer all the questions
concerning the environment, concerning the best ways to do things. The people must become
involved in all aspects of the operation, management and direction of The REED Program. To
achieve this, a program for cooperative ownership and management of all undertakings within
the community is to be established. This method of ownership and operation provides
assurance that the people whose lives are being affected will bring their foremost talents,
energies and efforts. This manner of owning and joining in the economic activities provides the
developers and investors with continued participation and return on their investments.
The REED Program adopts the following as the basic foundation for economic empowerment
for the affected peoples:
♦ Members are considered to be worker-entrepreneurs, whose job is both to assure the
efficiency of the enterprise but also to help develop new enterprises.
♦ A probationary period instituted, to ensure that new members are appropriately skilled and
possess the necessary capacity for cooperative work.
♦ The anticipio or earnings that would in a conventional enterprise be considered as wages,
are fixed at prevailing wage levels, minimizing conflict with other local enterprises.
♦ Also, the wage differential. Wage levels are determined by a formula that takes into account
the difficulty of the job, personal performance, experience, and interpersonal skills.
♦ Relational skills are given greater weight out of recognition that in cooperative work they
significantly affect group performance. .
♦ A systems approach to cooperative development. In addition to the base-level cooperatives
there are a set of so called second degree cooperatives which variously engage in research,
financing, technical training and education, technical assistance, and social services. In

addition, there are housing and consumer cooperatives which collectively are able to create
a cooperative culture in which the basic activities of life takes place.
♦ Members can operate within a context of interdependent and cooperating institutions that
follow the same principles; this makes for enhanced efficiency.
Because of differences in climate, some parts of the earth have an abundance of water,
whereas other parts have a shortage. As population, agriculture, and industry grow, there is
increasing competition for water. Only a tiny fraction of the planet's abundant water is available
to us a fresh water. About 97% by volume is found in oceans and is too salty for drinking,
irrigation, or industry (except as a coolant.) The remaining 3% is fresh water. About 2.997% of
that is locked up in ice caps or glaciers or is buried so deep that it costs too much to extract.
Fortunately, the available fresh water amounts to a generous supply that is continuously
collected, purified, recycled, and distributed in the solar-powered Hydrologic Cycle as long as
we don't overload it with slowly degradable and non-degradable wastes or withdraw it from
underground supplies faster than it is replenished. Unfortunately, we are doing both.
How do we use the world's freshwater resources? Since 1950, the global rate of withdrawal
from surface and groundwater sources has increased almost five-fold and per capita use has
tripled. According to a 1996 study, humans currently use about 54% of the global surface runoff
that is realistically available from the hydrologic cycle. Because of the increased population
growth and economic development, global withdrawal rates of surface water are projected to at

least double in the next two decades and exceed the available surface runoff in a growing
number of areas.
There are five ways to increase the supply of fresh water in a particular area: (1) build dams and
reservoirs to store runoff; (2) bring in surface water from another area; (3) withdraw
groundwater; (4) convert salt water to fresh water (desalination); and, (5) improve the efficiency
of water use.
Without it we will perish. It is a fact thatWithout it we will perish. It is a fact that
water is used and polluted faster than eitherwater is used and polluted faster than either
nature or humans can treat and recycle it. Thenature or humans can treat and recycle it. The
Water is required for bio-diversity sustenance.Water is required for bio-diversity sustenance.
Conservation and protection of water is notConservation and protection of water is not
enough: we must insure and instill that all newenough: we must insure and instill that all new
developments by humans provide for waterdevelopments by humans provide for water
treatment and restoration programs. Thetreatment and restoration programs. The
REED Program recognizes and provides forREED Program recognizes and provides for

The Lotus represents the opportunity to rise up from the mud at the bottom to tower in the sun’s
light of hope and opportunity. With water, whether it be fresh, salt, or brackish, in regular
supply, we can treat it and use it so that our community of hope and opportunity can grow and
prosper. Technology developed during the past thirty years allows us today to use all sources
of water for the development of our community. With water comes the method to raise the fish,
to cultivate the agricultural produce, to clean ourselves, to promote our health, to improve our
health, to increase our opportunities and to contribute to the world which supports us.
An effective strategy for the sustainable use of water has been incorporated into The
REED Program involves preserving the ecological integrity of the water supply
systems and wastes less water. Sustainable water use is based on the common sense
principle stated in an old Inca proverb: "The frog does not drink up the pond in
which it lives."
Treatment of waste water and solid wastes can be done utilizing nature as a model. Engineered
wetlands provide effective and safe treatment for waste waters produced both by humans and
by the use of waters in aquaculture. In fact, by using nature’s method we save the waters and
make it possible to use them over again. With solid wastes created by human society, we can
again copy nature’s methods and create compost and fertilizer for improving soil conditions.
These methods for treating solid wastes and wastewater provide many benefits including
improved health conditions and environmental protection and restoration all leading to
sustainable development.

True sustainable rural economic and environmental development is both our
challenge and our goal. The REED Program creates a basis, a model for accepting
the challenge and achieving the goal. Today's ability to use the Internet for economic
development and participation is fully complemented by the ability to bring complete
education to the most distant locals.
As a first location for development Vietnam is our choice. There are numerous reasons for this
decision including:
Vietnam requires the type investment and development, which is outlined in The REED
Program. Significant tax and business incentives exist and will be fully
taken advantage and utilized:
4-8 Year Tax Holiday after commencement of profits
Additional Years of 50% taxes
No Import Taxes on Equipment
Low Land Costs
Low Labor Costs
Educated Work Force
The REED Program Complements Social/Cultural History
Diligent Work Habits

Other Benefits and Incentives
A major impediment to sustainable rural development and prosperity is the general lack of credit
to the rural poor. One program which has provided substantial benefit to those to whom its
services have become available is named The Grameen Bank. The policy of this bank is to
make small loans to those with the greatest need, normally women. Such loan is often used to
purchase a sewing machine or to buy a small amount of inventory so that the borrower may
then start their own business. The repayment rate for these loans, to the very poor, is very high
and as a result the activities of The Grameen Bank have continued to grow and the bank to
prosper.
We believe that credit facilities for the rural poor must be further developed and expanded and a
long term goal of The REED Program is to create the ability to expand our activities into such
activities. We believe that combining the technology, experience and training which we bring to
the rural areas together with a legitimate credit facility, that exponential growth can be achieved.
Of course, it goes without saying, conquering these challenges will provide very substantial
benefit at all levels.
Achieving the goals established, The REED Program fulfills the need for a model for worldwide
sustainable rural economic and environmental development.
We have the tools, we have the technology, what we do not have is
time to waste.
Our plan is to first build a model in Vietnam on 4 hectares of land incorporating basic
components for both demonstration and expansion: This first step development includes
facilities for intensive aquaculture and organic agriculture production, waste treatments, water
purification, renewable energy, housing, education, and protection of the natural environment.
Completion of these primary centers within twelve months of commencement will provide a
basis for the practical demonstration of The REED Program technology and expertise.

Total funding for this phase is $750,000.
The rate of return on investment during this first phase of development is expected to be
negative subject to sourcing additional funds for growth and development. With full-scale
development undertaken we anticipate a compounded annual rate of return in excess of 30%
during the first five years of operations. An outside investor will be provided convertible
preferred shares with a required mandatory redemption of any unconverted preferred shares
beginning in yr. 4 and proceeding in three installments over years 4,5,6. The dividend on the
preferred shares will be cumulative (not paid until redemption) and set at a nominal rate of 10%.
The issues and challenges which we, as a human society, face in the early years of this new
millenium threaten to destroy the fabric of life and life support which we have developed. The
opportunity to conquer these challenges presents a window that we must expand to include all
of society in the activities of protecting our home, our planet. Achieving these tasks,
surmounting these challenges, we build a future for all of life on this planet.
For further information and discussion, please contact:
Brian Lewis
Founder
Environmentally Clean Communities
Email: beple@outlook.com

Revolutionary Rural Economic and Environment Development

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