Pax Terra

Pax Terra provides a new model for economic development for fishing communities in difficulty. The loss of important ecosystems has a devastating effect on the environment and on the economy of affected areas. Pax Terra is creating a shift in consciousness for stakeholders both from inside and outside these communities. The Pax Terra model emphasizes collaboration and prevents exploitation of the indigenous populations—providing an example of what enlightened capitalism and social enterprise can do to raise the standard of living locally to benefit the common good. Rather than use a conventional top-down approach that requires endangered communities to depend on paternalistic, elitist, self-serving professional NGOs or governments for handouts, Pax Terra offers fishing communities worldwide a model for creating sustainable economic development that helps preserve threatened ecosystems and the communities near them. To do this, Pax Terra helps these communities set up “cottage industries”— these include Internet cafes providing wireless access to previously the un- or underserved areas, yurt factories owned and managed by locals, micro brewing enterprises, packaging and selling natural products, ecotourism promotion, organizing special events such as music festivals to support environmental awareness—and, most importantly, setting up a system (the technology is known as a “Service Control Engine”) that extracts revenue from Internet transactions to support community businesses and causes. Pax Terra is looking for donations and investments that will further this important work and to find natural allies to help us spread the word.