IN THE NEAR FUTURE

Exclusive interview with Vladimir Megre From the 2008 Ringing Cedars Conference in Turkey

Mr. Megre talks about pressing subjects and Kin's Domains issues.

(Interview by Regina Jensen)

IN THE HEADLINES:

Food for Hope: A Global Vision for an attainable, sustainable future.

This October, only a short distance apart, like-minded individuals and groups devoted to finding sustainable solutions to the global food crisis were meeting at two related venues in Europe. Italy hosted another of its annual Terra Madre gatherings this month, which was inaugurated with written addresses from the Prince of Wales and the Secretary of the United Nations, General Ban Ki-moon. Slow Food and the Terra Madre Foundation were the organizers of this third world meeting of food communities (terramadre.org; slowfood.com). Turkey was the site of another gathering of people thoughtful about the future of the planet, about nature and intelligent food-production as opposed to the destructive practices motivated by "greed and ignorance," as one participant called it. The latter was promoted under the name Ringing Cedars Readers'Conference.

While the Terra Madre gathering was inspired by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (with his message that "finding long-term solutions to the world food-crisis was one of the priorities of the United Nations", and that he welcomed "initiatives which contribute to such solutions"), the Ringing Cedars Conference, at another coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Turkey, called themselves the "Uniting Nations", in appreciation of the numerous countries represented at the meeting, and their mutual, global concerns for the Earth and its inhabitants.

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Ecovillages have appeared in Samara Oblast

Residents of Samara Oblast are leaving to live in dugouts and wigwams

Recently people in the oblast have begun to speak of unusual villages. They are written with the prefix "eco-", are not indicated on any maps, and are unknown to the majority of the population. These people, who live in the open air, speak with plants, refuse meat and engage in round dances, are considered by many to be crazy or members of a sect. The newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda decided to find out who these people are and whether ecovillages should be regarded seriously.

"Children should be raised further from the city"

It is an hour and a half by car to Lipovaya Roshcha, which is in Kinel-Cherkasy District. On the way we speak with Svetlana Yakhontova, one of the future landowners.

"My elder daughter Irina is 11 years old," she says. "Almost an adult, but what has she seen in life? In Samara there is dirt everywhere, it is difficult to breathe, the streets are dangerous. I'm even afraid to let her go to the store, if she's delayed even a little, all sorts of things come into my head. At home, it's the television: constant stupefaction, lies and propaganda for doubtful moral values. Stress all around, people are exhausted and neurotic. You simply can't find happiness in anyone's face or eyes."

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Ecovillage Kedr

Information about the creation of a new settlement in Minsk Oblast, the Kedr (cedar) settlement of kin's domains.

It is 95 km from the Moscow Ring Road, in the direction of Logoysk. There is a bus connection. It is 8 km from the main road. The road is good.

Three houses have been purchased in a deserted village. They are now being cleaned up. In the initial phase, these houses will serve as a stopping place/lodging for the night.

The use of these houses for the purposes of agritourism is also being studied.

Size of the settlement: 20 ha. Parcels (25 ares + 14 ares + 25 ares) have been registered.

For September 2008, three families (eight persons) are seriously demonstrating interest and action.

The houses were acquired through an agreement of purchase and sale. A parcel of 25 ares belongs to the first house, a parcel of 14 ares to the second (as ownership inheritable for life), and a parcel of 25 ares to the third.

The houses were acquired for an amount in the area of 1000 to 1500 American dollars.

We have not yet calculated how much it would cost to acquire a hectare. Over the winter we are planning to acquire two vacant parcels (25 + 25 ares) at auction for the construction of houses.

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Release of RINGING CEDARS OF RUSSIA in Turkish!

We are happy to announce the release of RINGING CEDARS OF RUSSIA, Book 2 of the "Ringing Cedars of Russia" Series in Turkish Language!

Right now be the first to order the Turkish translation of Book 2 - RINGING CEDARS OF RUSSIA and recieve a 20% Discount! Click here to go to our online store

Publisher: Kuraldisi Yayincilik Ltd. Sti.

Official Distributor in USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand: RingingCedarsofRussia.org

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In Ukraine the process of adopting a law respecting Kin's Domains is progressing slowly but steadily.

As far back as 2002 a land code was adopted that permitted each citizen of Ukraine to become the owner of up to two hectares of land free of charge for the purpose of running a private peasant farmstead.

Further, in 2003, the Private Peasant Farmstead Act was adopted, which permitted the construction of houses and farm buildings on the parcel, the planting of forest stands, becoming involved in tourism without creating a small business, etc. Many settlers received land pursuant to this Act.

But despite many positive aspects, the present legislative basis (the Private Peasant Farmstead Act) also has its shortcomings: - land may be acquired only with the status of 1) agricultural purpose land, and 2) reserve land. There is a fairly small quantity of freely accessible agricultural purpose land remaining, and parcels of reserve land are small in size and insufficient for the creation of a settlement for 50 or more kin's domains; - the complicated process for registering the document, as a result of which local authorities have many different ways of turning a person down.

In fact, this form of granting parcels as property has demonstrated its ineffectiveness (many people who have become the owners of parcels have done nothing on them for several years, and are waiting for the time when they will be able to resell the parcel at a higher price).

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