Eight Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation Thought Leaders Comprise Board

A.G. Kawamura and Thomas Lovejoy have been elected as the inauguralCo-Chairs of the Solutions from the Land (SfL) Board of Directors, Solutions from the Land (SfL), a new not-for-profit corporation that brings together a broad range of stakeholders to explore the development of integrated sustainable solutions to the challenges of climate change, food security, economic development and biodiversity conservation. Kawamura is former Secretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture, a founding partner of Orange County Produce, LLC, and President of Orange County Harvest, a non-profit promoting agricultural partnership with organizations combating hunger. He and his brother Matthew are third-generation growers and shippers of produce and specialty crops in Orange County, California.

Lovejoy is a Professor at George Mason University and Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation. He was the first Biodiversity Chair at the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment; served as Chair of the Scientific Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) for the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the multi-billion-dollar funding mechanism for developing countries in support of their obligations under international environmental conventions; and founded the Nature television series.

In addition, the following thought leaders have been appointed to the eight-person board:

• Ernie Shea will serve as President of Solutions from the Land. Shea is the Principal at Natural Resource Solutions, LLC; and former CEO of the National Association of Conservation Districts and Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Agricultural Development and Resource Conservation for the State of Maryland.

• Nathan Rudgers, Vice President, Farm Credit East; former Commissioner, New York Department of Agriculture & Markets, and former President National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Rudgers is the Treasurer of SfL.

• Gale Buchanan, former Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Dean and Director Emeritus College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of eorgia.

• Patrick O’Toole, President of the Family Farm Alliance and a ranche rand conservationist from Savery, WY, in the Little Snake Watershed.

• Rudy Rice, Chair, Native Pollinators in Agriculture; former President, National Association of Conservation Districts; retired dairy farmer from Du Quoin, IL.

• Sara Scherr Founder, President, and CEO, EcoAgriculture Partners; former Co-Leader, Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research’s (CGIAR) Gender Program, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, and Principal Researcher, World Agroforestry Centre.

• Fred Yoder, Past President, National Corn Growers Association: Director, Ohio Corn & Wheat Growers Association, and corn, soybean and wheat producer from Plain City, OH.

Farmers, ranchers and foresters are managing land under increasingly complex and challenging conditions. With the global population projected to reach nearly 10 billion by 2050, addressing issues that affect feeding a growing population, climate change, and ecosystem integrity are paramount.

Solutions from the Land’s mission is to identify and facilitate the implementation of integrated policies, practices and projects at a landscape scale that will result in sustainable and adaptive management practices that will enhance biodiversity and protect and improve critical environmental resources.