It is with great sadness that we report that Dr. Tom Lovejoy, Solutions from the Land’s founding co-chair, passed away on Christmas Day. His groundbreaking work and legacy as the “godfather of biodiversity” helped to frame both the need and the urgency for collaboration and re-alignment of thinking and resources in stewarding the world’s dynamic landscapes and watersheds. As a legendary conservation biologist and one of the world’s foremost experts of the Amazon Basin he was witness and advocate for how humans and nature must find sustainable ways to live and thrive. Tom’s willingness to work across the spectrum of policy and politics brought him to the Solutions from the Land Dialogue in 2009. With his gentle manner and persuasive insights, he built bridges of understanding addressing the challenges of climate change, deforestation and biodiversity loss. He helped generations, old and new, realize that we must embrace a willingness to see and design new solutions for age old problems of sustainably managing agricultural and environmental resources. Dr. Lovejoy’s induction into the National Academy of Sciences earlier this past year was tribute and acknowledgement of his lifelong contributions and impact on mankind’s tenuous path forward. We are heartbroken to have lost a friend, colleague, mentor and true thought leader.
To Solve Hunger, Listen to Farmers
A.G. Kawamura has grown food in a lot of places in urban Orange County, California. The third-generation farmer has tended to fields of 3 to 4 acres all the way up to 300 to 600 acres, on vacant lots, school properties, an abandoned military base—anywhere he can find an open space. He’s used both...