CDFA and Natural Resources Agency Co-Host Grasslands Summit at UC Merced
MERCED — The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the California Natural Resources Agency, together with UC Merced, the California Rangeland Trust, Audubon California and Point Blue Conservation Science, co-hosted the 2026 Grasslands Nature-Based Solutions Summit at UC Merced on October 16, bringing together practitioners, policymakers, advocates, technical assistance providers and academics to discuss progress on nature-based solutions for grasslands and identify opportunities to scale up implementation.
Grasslands cover 9.7 million acres — about 9 percent of California — and provide critical benefits including wildlife habitat, water filtration and storage, recreation, livestock grazing and carbon storage. These landscapes face growing threats from degradation, climate change and conversion to development; nature-based solutions such as conservation, prescribed grazing and restoration can help sustain these ecosystems and the services they provide.
"Grasslands make up the bulk of the land that California's ranchers use to raise cattle and other livestock, but that land provides so many other benefits in terms of habitat, water filtration, carbon sequestration, and more," said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. "It is critical that we protect and restore these lands to ensure the continuation of a thriving food system as well as the other ecosystem services that support all of California."
In October 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-82-20, establishing a comprehensive agenda to expand nature-based solutions across the state. (GSM, from a CDFA press release via EIN Presswire, Oct. 16)
Source: California Department of Food and Agriculture
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：UC Merced 校园草原上的牛群。本届草原峰会在该校举行（来源：Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0）。
