GSR's Newsletter is a collection of news, reflections, innovations and ideas that our team hasfound important enough to write down and share with you. We hope you'll be as excited as weare with all the latest developments around the world and what it means for us all.

GSR NewsletterIssue No. 6

September 2013

What is the GSR Carbon Bio-Sequestration Project? (Guest Author, Chris Danch)

Climate change represents the greatestchallenge to humanity. The big issuesare TIME and SCALE. We have at mosta decade to begin to turn thingsaround, and many experts believe thatwe have even less time. GSR’s CarbonSequestration Project seeks to reverseglobal climate change throughrestorative agriculture practices,resulting in the storing of CO2 from theatmosphere into the soil and biomass.Restoring wastelands and re-vegetating the Earth is the most cost-effectivemeans for creating a carbon sink that can reverse climate change. GSR’sSustainable Restorative Agriculture (SRA) system does just that. The addedbonus is that much of the revitalized land can be used for farming to feed agrowing population. It will also serve to fuel millions of new jobs in the ruralsector of the global economy. Profitability is the reason why the SRA system iscost-effective, it literally pays for itself. Many leading environmentalists and sustainable agricultural thought leadershave recognized that restorative agriculture is one of the most cost-effectivecarbon sequestration systems’ currently available. The part of the biospherewith greatest carbon sequestration potential is soil. Conventional (industrial)agriculture is destructive of the soil, as it releases CO2 and other green housegases into the atmosphere. As a result, a major cause of climate change is landdegradation. By contrast, GSR’s SRA improves nutrient levels (including carbon)in the soil. Sequestering carbon via SRA will increase crop yields and improvethe income and employment of rural communities. There is no proven carbon capture &storage technology that cost-effectivelysequesters CO2 on the scale and in thetime required. Many experts believelarge-scale geo-engineering schemescan expediently cool the Earth.However such experimentaltechnologies are fraught with hazard. Itis a technology that humanity cannotcompletely control without firstunderstanding Earth’s complex systems. Without more time and expensiveresearch, geo-engineering could prove to be a dangerous and risky venture. Arestorative agricultural system has been widely researched and only needs a“ramping up” process to start making a significant impact. While there are many individual practitioners of restorative agriculture, there

are no large-scale restorative agricultural systems. Restorative agriculturerequires a lot of labor access to millions of hectares of land (it is a global-scaleoperation). That is why GSR focuses on Africa which meets both conditionsadequately. Millions of unemployed people in African rural communities havethe motivation, energy and skill to engage in restorative agriculture on millionsof hectares of land right now. Small farmers in Africa are eager to partner withGSR and make use of this restorative agriculture system because it quicklyincreases their income as much as 300%. GSR’s proven, working model of ruralcommunity development and cost-effective training programs are essential tounleash this human potential. It is efficient, cost-effective, humane and self-replicating. Carbon Bio-Sequestration GSR has figured out how to effectively build up the scope of our carbonsequestration operations up to the massive scale necessary to reverse climatechange. We’ve divided the task into three phases: 1. Phase One has a target of sequestering 10 gigatons of carbon per year bythe end of three years. 2. Phase Two will attempt to raise this sequestration level to 100 gigatonsannually. 3. Phase Three target is 500 gigatons. At this unprecedented level ofsequestration it is possible to reverse climate change. Remediating soil on a global scale can sequester enough CO2 to bring us back topre-industrial atmospheric carbon levels. GSR’s carbon sequestration model canpotentially restore five billion hectares of degraded lands. Our Phase One seeksto eventually sequester 10 gigatons per year. These numbers are calculated via:

1. Calculations by leading carbon sequestration experts, like Tony Lovell, thatremediating soil can sequester up to 40 tons of CO2 annually per acre 2. GSR’s projection of restoring 200 million acres within five years (withadequate funding). Tony Lovell’s calculations are based on the following:

· One hectare= 10,000 sq. meters · Soil averages 33.5 cm deep (approximately 1 foot) · Bulk Density = 1.4 tons per cubic meter · Soil Mass per hectare = about 4,700 tons · Which gives about 27 tons of Soil Carbon per hectare (about 11tons/acre) · This represents 100 tons of atmospheric CO2 sequestered or about 40tons per acre (conversion factor of 3.67) The amount of carbon actually sequestered per hectare will vary from place toplace, and the above data represents an approximate average. Christine Jones,renowned Australian soil scientist, has found sequestration rates up to 13.4 tonsper acre, and Australian restorative agriculturalist Colin Seis has recorded ratesup 19 tons per acre. In practice, GSR’s restorative practices will, in addition tosoil-building, also include holistic development, reforestation, forestconservation strategies, watershed restoration and management, silvopastoralschemes producing woody biomass for energy, biochar and long-term carbonstorage in durable wood products. Looking at the numbers, we can seethat climate scientists agree that weneed to lower atmospheric CO2 to 350ppm to be safe from serious climatechange. And at around 280 ppm, weshould return to pre-industrial levels.We are currently at slightly over 400ppm and are heading towards 550ppm (due to the long life-span ofatmospheric CO2 and other GHGs).This means that if we were somehow able to stop emission today, we would stillhaving rising atmospheric CO2, eventually reaching 550 ppm. Currently, we haveyet to stop carbon emissions. In approx 20 years since the first UN climate

talks[i], emissions continue to increase each year. This is the primary reason forus to sequester carbon and not only focus our resources on reducing emissions.The best way to do this is to support and complement Earth’s natural ecosystemby using restorative agriculture practices. To get from 550 ppm of atmospheric CO2 to the pre-industrial level of 280 ppm,we must sequester 270 ppm (not counting continuing emissions). According toLovell, this is approximately 2.1 trillion tons of C02. The scale of what we (thespecies) have to do is therefore enormous. The prototype project in DemocraticRepublic of Congo that GSR’s SRAsystem is based on proves thatachieving results with very low capitalinput but high labor input producesvery favorable economic andenvironmental results. It was not onlypossible to restore wasteland to a highlevel of fertility and productivity, but inthe process helped thousands in therural sector build sustainableeconomic prosperity. GSR’s SRAsystem demonstrates not only the viability of large scale organic and sustainablefarming, but shows how to reach the large scale needed in the time required. GSR is gearing up to for a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to help us expand thissystem to encompass approximately 200 Million acres of land in Phase One. Uponachieving the goal, this will result in the unprecedented sequestration of 10gigatons of CO2 per year and the creation of as many as 100+ Million jobs. Wethen anticipate Phase One financial and socio-economic success leading theprogram to Phase Two. At that time the SRA system will go “viral” and spreadrapidly across the African continent. Additional Resources This is a sampling of some resources about restorative agriculture and its role inreversing climate change. Helpful Links: Holistic Management International Savory Institute Quivira Coalition Soil Carbon Coalition (GSR Advisory Member) Christine Jones Tony Lovell Judith Schwartz Articles/Videos: Holistic Management Allan Savory Michael Pollan Tony Lovell Judith Schwartz Examples of Practitioners: Colin Seis Gabe Brown Belcampo Farms Ian Mitchell-Innes:

June 2013 Interview On reversing land degradation

On managing chaos (managing for what you want, not for what you don'twant)

Footnotes To arrive at the figure of 100 tons of atmospheric CO2 per hectare per year, Tony Lovell calculates asfollows: · One hectare= 10,000 sq. meters · Soil averages 33.5 cm deep (approximately 1 foot) · Bulk Density = 1.4 tons per cubic meter · Soil Mass per hectare = about 4,700 tons · Which gives about 27 tons of Soil Carbon per hectare (about 11 tons/acre) · This represents 100 tons of atmospheric CO2 sequestered or about 40 tons per acre(conversion factor of 3.67) 1 HA = 10,000 M2, \Bulk Density (weight per unit volume) averages about 1.4 tonnes per M3. Topsoil averages about 1 foot or 1/3 meter deep, then:

10,000 M2 x 1.4 divided by 3 = 4670 tons (rounded to 4700). According to Christine Jones and others, Soil Organic Matter (SOM) is about 1% of total soil weight.Also according to Jones and other (e.g, Ratan Lal), Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) is about .58 ofSOM.Obviously, both SOM and SOC will vary according to soil characteristics, but these are workableaverages. To be specific, Ratan Lal* says that SOC generally estimated at 58% of SOM. Jones citesranges from 50% to 62%. Lovell uses the 58% figure. Therefore:

4700 tonnes per HA x .01 (SOM) x .58 = 27.26 tons of SOC (or 100.04 tons of atmospheric C02at the conversion rate of 3.67). As you can see, as we increase the depth of the soil capable of sequestering carbon (even by 1 or 2%,the Carbon sequestration potential increases significantly. So, as these grasslands and ecosystemsgrow healthier, the C sequestration continues to build (and thereby enriching the soil more, creatingmore biodiversity, etc. as the carbon/hydrologic/nutrient/energy cycles of the soil are restored). *Reference to Ratan Lal’s work can be found in the following publications: Lal, Ratan, 2001 “Soils and the Greenhouse Effect,” In Soil Carbon Sequestration andthe Greenhouse Effect, edited by R. Lal, WI, Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Lal, Ratan, 2008 “Promise and Limitations of Soils to Minimize Climate Change,”Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 63 (4)

1992 The UN Conference on the Environment and Development is held in Rio de Janeiro. It results inthe Framework Convention on Climate Change ("FCCC" or "UNFCCC") (http://www.unfccc.int) amongother agreements. 1995 Parties to the FCCC meet in Berlin (the 1st Conference of Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC) tooutline specific targets on emissions. 1997 Parties conclude the Kyoto Protocol in Kyoto Japan, in which they agree to the broad outlines ofemissions targets. The Kyoto Treaty did not enter into force until 2005.

What is a Sound Development Model? Green Self Reliance, Inc is delighted to announce astrategic partnership with Krisit Organic AgriculturalInstitute in Rajasthan, India. The purpose of thispartnership is to train young people who areinterested in careers in sustainable rural economy.These students will learn the practical skillsnecessary to transform wasteland into fertilefarmland, and to develop the entire supportinfrastructure needed to build prosperous zerocarbon communities. The Krisit Institute is offeringan international certificate course in farming andcommunity building. . The entire year long trainingprogram will cost and is a 12 month program, whichincludes board and lodging. All subjects will be taught(in English) at the Krisit Training Center in Rajasthan, India by highlyexperienced restorative agriculture practitioners. Students will have ampleopportunity to hone their work and organizational skills by teaming them withlocal farmers taking part in the program. Upon completion of all the syllabus anddemonstration of proficiency in all the subjects, GSR will offer to reinvest theentire course fee of $15,000 towards the career of the graduate, guaranteeingthem immediate employment. The goal of this course is to give graduates all the basic knowledge and skillsnecessary to successfully build and manage a sustainable green communityproject anywhere in the world. The course will combine theoretical knowledgeand practical applications. Students will make organic pesticide and fertilizer

from locally available materials, build their own housing, sustainable energysystems and water treatment facilities from scratch. Besides the lectures andhands on training, the students as individuals and team members will be allotteda piece of barren land and that land itself will be a “final exam” whichdemonstrates the students’ mastering the skills necessary to make that landhabitable. If the land has been successful transformed into farmland, the studentwill pass the final exam. The campus is not far from a city, with goodcommunication, transportation and high speed internetaccess. Students will be able to refresh their memory andrelive their experience later on via a required assignedvblog (video blog), which doubles as a way to promote theinstitute. 1. Natueco – Natueco (Nature Ecological Farming) formulated by well knownatural farming expert, Deepak Suchde, is a synthesis of permaculture andtraditional Indian farming methodology. It allows farmers to transformdangerously arid lands into highly fertile soil in as little as six months. Also,crops grown in that soil are richer in nutrients taste better2. Bio Dynamics – harvesting and seeding crops based position of moon formaximum productivity 3. The Zero Budget Farming method – developed by renowned agronomistSubhash Palekar, shows simple low cost methods to grow low cost organicfood without soil or on substandard soil 4. Natural house building – techniques with and without use of cement

5. Sewage & Sanitation Treatment Systems – how to treat waste from toiletor grey water from kitchen to be able to use it for farming 6. Sustainable Power systems – Students will learn to make their own solarpower, biofuel and wind power generation systems for your homes andcommunity7. Companion Planting Formulas – Correct combinations dramaticallyincreases production. Students willmaster 100 + ideal planting combinationsfor trees /crops/herbs 8. Soil analysis – learn from expert soilanalysts which type of soil is good forwhich kind of crop/plant/tree 9. Disaster Management – fast recovery from famine /flood etc 10. Cow management – maximizing value of cows and from products madefrom cow dung

What is Urban Self Reliance? GSR has often talked about how developing a self-reliance economic model forrural communities would bring a greater benefit for the global population andeconomy. Although we currently have no plans to run projects in urban areas,GSR hopes to alleviate and even reverse much of the growing pains on cities. Onesuch example is the disturbing trends leading to the formation of megacities,which have high population densities, of tens of millions packing within theconfines of a few square miles. High population densities create dangerousconditions for both humanity and the environment. GSR understands that cities are here to stay. Whenwe plan for developing sustainable ruraldevelopment, it will carry repercussions on city lifeand urban development. Development must beunderstood in context and rural developmentmodels and systems must be designed

complementary to urban community development.This in fact is what GSR aims to accomplish, via aricochet or rebound effect from our sustainable rural development system. InAfrica much of the population still remains in the rural areas, however therecurrently is a massive migration to the urban areas. Many people believe jobsand opportunities can be found in the cities, but because populations grow toolarge in urban areas, such opportunities quickly vanish. If we improve theeconomic circumstances of rural areas, GSR believes that the African migrationto the cities will become stable (i.e. a balance of migration to and from urbanareas). Once urban areas are alleviated of high population densities, megacitieslike Lagos can become sustainable and perhaps even self-reliant via adaptationof some of the same agricultural measures used in rural communities. An urbanself-reliance model would seek to supplement the city’s food supply, with localcrops and manufacturing. This can only serve to improve the financial andeconomic aspects of urban life, saving a king’s ransom on trade andtransportation for essential resources. Some pioneering individuals living in megacities have taken initiative in anattempt to discover methods of transforming megacities into sustainable urbancenters, through practices called microfarming. Many of these pioneering individualsare creating a sensation that could one day catch on and become either a socialmovement or even a state-sponsored program. Micro-farming seeks methods toensure substantial crop yield from smaller than average plots of land. There aresome surprising benefits to raising crops in cities. Urban landscape discouragesthe growth of pests (reducing the costs on pesticides) and forces agriculturaliststo adopt a innovative methods and techniques to ensure maximum efficiency ofland (which is the scarce factor in urban farming. Generally microfarminginvolves multicropping which further reduces the risk of getting pests destroycrops and maximizes crop yields. Urban farms also have access to mineral richresources (thanks to great abundance of supply and location) makingmicrofarming a very lucrative venture, especially for organic farmers. Urban centers have an important place inthe preservation of civilization, especiallywhen it meets the purposes of facilitatingtrade, promoting cultural and artisticpursuits, and housing institutions ofeducation for the spread of advancedknowledge and skills in the arts andsciences. When a city preserves thesefunctions, the relationship between therural countryside and the city is balanced. However, current trends have createdmortifying conditions that are unprecedented in history, high populationdensities transform cities into poverty trap instead place of opportunity andculture. These conditions have amplified adverse effects when you consider thatthese are happening simultaneously and on a global scale. If we do not move in anew direction soon, we may be witness to the implosion of human civilization.

Small Business Retail Stores Agriculture may be the primary source of capital and prosperity for ruralcommunities, but that does not mean other sectors are non-existent orunimportant. GSR aims to invigorate the growth of small business enterprises inrural communities to help economy and culture flourish.Village Development Corporations (VDCs),which GSR helps local communities toestablish, will gradually serve the functions ofChamber of Commerce and local municipality.Following its Development Master Plan, VDCswill construct facilities to accommodate smallbusinesses, and go through business plans tohelp the new entrepreneurs to receivefinancing and set up shop. Market squares willbe constructed for every cluster of 10 villages. The VDCs will own and maintainthe market squares infrastructure, and the small businesses will pay smallmonthly fee of their net profits (approx 10%) for maintenance of the facilities.Before future entrepreneurs are able to set up shop in the market square, theywill need to go through a training program that helps these buddingentrepreneurs fully prepare for the business world. GSR believes that suchtraining programs are necessary in order for small businesses to become areliable resource for the community and for these businesses to function in asolvent manner. Together with the VDC we train these entrepreneurs about thefundamentals of business economics, finances, laws, marketing and sales and

specifically address the concerns of their sector whether it is retail, industry,trade, or services. Once entrepreneurs have gonethrough the program and taken anexamination to confirm theirnewfound expertise, they are granteda certificate which grants them theability to incorporate a business,either by striking out on their own byrenting out a store lot from the VDCmarket square or forming apartnership with their peers orexisting businesses. Entrepreneurscan then decide what method is thebest route for success and are welcome to work closely with GSR. GSR will offerspecial financial and trade services to these businesses. We offer to buy up allexcess materials these shops produce at a fair market price and sell this surplusin regional or global markets, thus ensuring the stability of both the local andglobal markets.Follow on Twitter Friend on Facebook Connect on LinkedIn

Copyright © 2013 Green Self Reliance, Inc., All rights reserved.

Visit our website: http://greenselfreliance.com/

Our emailing address is:

|david@greenselfreliance.com|