FARM CENTER'S MISSION:
To increase the awareness and appreciation of multi-strata forest ecosystems through research, education and the development of agroforestry solutions that mimic and revitalize native ecosystems. Located in North Kohala, Hawi, Hawaii.
WHO WE ARE:
FARM Center is an educational and research organization founded in response to the need for bio-regionally appropriate reforestation solutions in the arid tropics. The objectives of FARM Center are to support biological and cultural diversity, while maintaining healthy watersheds via agroforestry research education and training. Areas of research and interest include multi-strata regenerative agroforestry, agroforestry education and development of value added products that support reforestation.
FARM Center is a project of Panax, a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization. All donations are tax deductible. Panax is dedicated to the curation of botanical cultural arts and seeks to provide resources and serve as an fiscal sponsor providing an umbrella for women entrepreneurs (arts, writing, research) and those seeking to create botanical gardens and sanctuaries around the world.
WHY FARM CENTER?
FARM Center has been established to address the need for bio-regionally appropriate reforestation solutions in the arid tropics, both locally and globally. In service to watershed and community, FARM Center is an education and training center, as well as a research facility, working to develop dynamic successional multi-strata agroforestry systems inspired by Ernst Gotsch’s Syntropic Farming.
OBJECTIVES
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Develop bio-regionally appropriate ecological solutions
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Research and development on multi-strata agroforestry systems supported by ecologically, culturally and economically appropriate crops
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Educate interested communities in the implementation of multi-strata agroforestry systems
STRATEGY
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Publish research results
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Offer training courses
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Propagate and distribute plant material
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Provide implementation support
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Develop business plansIncubate micro-enterprises that support our mission
FARM Center’s goal is to enhance forest ecosystem awareness while demonstrating successful strategies needed to integrate agriculture with multi-strata forestry.
CO-FOUNDERS
Neil Logan is an agricultural innovator and educator working at the intersection of agro-successional restoration, ethnobotany, mycology, and permaculture. For over 30 years he has been developing regenerative agroforestry systems that balance ecological restoration with economic resilience. Together with his wife, Sophia Bowart, they co-founded Mohala Lehua Farm and the FARM Center in Hawaiʻi and co-created the AgroforestryX Design Tool, supporting land stewards across diverse ecosystems. Neil continues research and publications on agroforestry and kiawe (Prosopis limensis) in Hawaiʻi and is a dynamic teacher who brings both big-picture vision and hands-on know-how to his audiences.
Sophia Bowart is co-founder of Mohala Lehua Farm in Hawi, Hawaiʻi, where she has worked since 2006 to transform degraded pasturelands into thriving, food-producing forest ecosystems. Drawing on a background sustainable business management, she has become an advocate for and educator in the economics of regenerative systems. Alongside her husband, Neil Logan, she co-founded the FARM Center and co-created the AgroforestryX Design Tool with Permanent Agriculture Resources and the NRCS/USDA, a tool that empowers land stewards across the Pacific and Caribbean to design and manage multi-strata agroforests. Her work advances ecological restoration, cultural vitality, and regenerative futures.
ADVISORS & PARTNERS
Richard Stephen Felger, Ph.D. Botanist, Researcher Associate, Author, University of Arizona Herbarium (RIP)
Ernst Gotsch, Life in Syntropy
Bob Harris, MA Botany, R&D Manager, Orchidpeople, LLC
Ben Kamm, Ethnobotanical Researcher, Conservation Horticulturalist,Sacred Succulents
Susan Leopold, Ph.D.Executive Director, United Plant Savers
Felipe Passini, Filmmaker, Life in Syntropy
Amanda Rieux, Kū ‘Āina Pā School Garden Teacher Training Program
Fernanado Duravel Robelo, Forests4Farming.com
John Slattery,Herbalist, Founder, Desert Tortoise Botanicals
Henrique Souza Fazenda, Master Farmer and Teacher, Ouro Fino
Robin Van Loon, Founder, Executive Director, Camino Verde