Committees
Natural Resources
The Natural Resources Committee supports EDEN’s mission by advancing disaster education and outreach related to protecting natural resources, agriculture, and food systems from natural, accidental, or deliberate hazards. It focuses on helping Extension professionals address risks that affect environmental, plant, and animal health in disaster contexts.
Committee focus areas include:
Addressing agrosecurity and natural resource risks that affect communities and ecosystems
Developing and sharing research-based disaster education materials for Extension professionals
Building capacity through outreach, workshops, and collaborative planning
Strengthening partnerships with Extension, national training centers, and other organizations
Supporting mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery efforts across natural resource sectors
History
EDEN formed its Natural Resources Committee to address challenges concerning the security of production agriculture and the food supply. One of the committee’s first tasks was to create the EDEN Strengthening Community Agrosecurity Preparedness (S-CAP) pilot workshops. The workshops empower local Extension personnel and other community partners to:
- Build capacity to handle agricultural issues during an emergency or disaster.
- Improve networking among stakeholders who can plan for and respond to emergencies.
- Develop Community Agrosecurity Planning (CAP) teams to establish or enhance agrosecurity components within existing local EOPs.
More than 40 S-CAP workshops have been completed since 2009, enabling communities to improve disaster preparation, prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts.
