Long term rural Australia advocate Helen Lewis, has taken up the, well contested, new CEO role for the Australian Holistic Management Cooperative.
The Cooperative verifies regenerating farmland through its Ecological Outcome Verification(EOV) monitoring process which gets carried through to consumers under the brand name Land to Market.
Mrs Lewis, a farmer herself and experienced Holistic Management educator, will immediately take over the running of the Coop’s most ambitious verification project – delivering ecological monitoring across 400,000 hectares by the end of next year.
The US-based Deckers company is sponsoring the regenerative transition of Australian producers with the goal of sourcing ethically and environmentally sound sheepskins for their boots.
There are still places available for farmers to join.
‘This role is incredibly exciting for me. The Cooperative’s Land to Market program offers a strong environmental pathway to solve some of our climate and biodiversity problems.
Our ecological monitoring really helps farmers focus on improving management decisions and practices so they can improve environmental outcomes and have their product/s verified.
By developing supply chains as well, consumers can buy the verified product knowing what they are eating or wearing is coming from land that is improving environmentally” said Mrs Lewis
“The documentary by Rachel Ward, ‘Rachel’s Farm’ a finalist at the Sydney Film Festival 2023, illustrates the effort farmers make to restore their landscape function, the monitoring, the changes in management and the process of product verification. The Co-op supports members in all these activities.” Mrs Lewis said.
Mrs Lewis looks forward to engaging with farmers, industry, government and supply chains. Helen brings management, policy and advocacy experience after 20 years as the General Manager of the $1.2 Billion Outback Way project.
