Ocean Arks International was founded in 1981 by John Todd and Nancy Jack Todd. Our goal was to create an ecological design science and practice adaptable to both rich and poor regions of the world. Our motto is, "To Restore the Lands, Protect the Seas and Inform the Earth`s Stewards". Since 1982 our publication Annals of Earth has chronicled the work of OAI and of our colleagues around the world. Over the past decade we have begun to explore linkages between ecology and economics, looking to create new kinds of work and enterprise out of environmental protection and restoration initiatives.

We work on the premise that it is possible to create a sustainable society in the early 21st century. Such a society would be embedded with an Earth stewardship ethic. We believe it is possible to reverse today`s loss of soils, forests and water quality as well as to slow or even arrest the wide spread loss of species.



To accomplish such a turnaround will require a fundamental rethinking of the ways in which societies sustain themselves. In the words of R. Buckminster Fuller, "It will require a design revolution." There is evidence from our work and the analyses of others that it is technologically and socially possible to reduce the negative human footprint on the Earth by as much as ninety percent. To accomplish this will require a new way of thinking and designing, coupled with a commitment to recycling, conservation and the use of renewable sources of energy. Our projects are based upon the principles of ecology. Ecological design principles can work within a contemporary economic paradigm. Further, we intend to provide strategies and design perspectives that can be applied broadly internationally and across a variety of social and economic sectors within societies.