Agricultural and resource economist specializing in landscape analysis, planning, policy and finance. Sara J. Scherr co-founded EcoAgriculture Partners in 2002, the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature initiative in 2011 and 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People in 2019, and in 2026 became editor-in-chief of the journal CABI Multifunctional Landscapes. She holds a PhD in international economics and development from Cornell University.
Contribution
Scherr is one of the principal organizers of the field of integrated landscape management. Her other roles have included senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, principal researcher at the World Agroforestry Centre, and director of ecosystem services at Forest Trends. Her work with EcoAgriculture Partners and its coalitions built much of the field’s shared vocabulary, including the choice of “integrated landscape management” as an umbrella term, and its tools for landscape partnerships and landscape finance.
Her 2026 review with colleagues in Land sets out a framework for the institutions that support ILM, and the wiki uses its finding that finance, valuation and public policy lag far behind partnership formation as the bridge between ILM and the BioConomy’s instruments.
Selected works
- McNeely, J.A. & Scherr, S.J. (2003). Ecoagriculture: Strategies to Feed the World and Save Wild Biodiversity. Island Press.
- Scherr, S.J., Shames, S. & Friedman, R. (2013). Defining Integrated Landscape Management for Policymakers. EcoAgriculture Partners.
- Denier, L., Scherr, S.J., Shames, S., et al. (2015). The Little Sustainable Landscapes Book. Global Canopy Programme.
- Scherr, S.J., et al. (2026). Collaborative Landscape and Bioregional Planning and Management. Land, 15(2), 307.
Related pages
Sources
- Scherr, S.J., et al. (2026). Collaborative Landscape and Bioregional Planning and Management
- Scherr, S.J., et al. (2026). A home for integrated landscape research and practice
- Profile, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
- CABI: New journal launch, CABI Multifunctional Landscapes
Provenance
Written 29 September 2026 from public profiles and her published work. Public roles and publications only.