ʻĀina restoration through community governance to advance climate resilience in the Hawaiian Islands
Climate change is already impacting the Hawaiian Islands through flooding and erosion linked to rising sea levels, more frequent and intense storm and drought events, wildfires, destruction of cultural resources and knowledge, and deterioration of critical infrastructure. Holistic resilience efforts implemented from mauka to makai are essential to reduce climate change risks.
Our resilience vision is based in the moku system, a framework for traditional Hawaiian land tenure and biocultural stewardship. We envision a reinvigorated moku system, applied in a contemporary context to build a resilient future for the Hawaiian Islands. This requires investing in both the functionality of interconnected ecosystems and of governance systems that balance local place-based knowledge and stewardship with centralized decision-making.
Funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge this project will invest $68.5 million dollars in community-based resilience for Hawaiʻi. Project activities will center on five moku, 1) Kona, Kauaʻi 2) Waiʻanae, Oʻahu 3) Kona, Molokaʻi 4) Pūʻali Komohana, Maui and 5) Kohala, Hawaiʻi. These moku were chosen because of their high potential to promote Native Hawaiian stewardship and cultural practices in areas that have lacked historic climate adaptation investments. We will build on foundational activities in these five moku to support knowledge sharing, collective action, and community-led stewardship across the pae ‘āina.
A commitment to enduring resilience partnership
These projects are led by a collaborative of twelve partners spanning state and county government agencies, academia, national and local non-profit organizations, and collectives of Indigenous and local stewards. This list is just the beginning as the team will be working to continually expand partnerships particularly with grassroots organizations in the focal moku. Our intent is to work together to build an enduring program and long-term partnerships that will support vital community governance and ʻāina stewardship for long beyond the five year funding provided by NOAA.
University of Hawai’i Sea Grant College Program (Project Lead)
Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources (Co-lead)
Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo (Co-lead)
The Nature Conservancy
Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance Foundation
Hawaiʻi Office of Planning and Sustainable Development Conservation International Hawaiʻi
Kupu ʻĀina Corps
County of Maui
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Mālama Learning Center
Kaʻala Farm Inc.
Groundswell Services Inc.
Actions
Place-based investments in ʻāina restoration and conservation projects in the five focal moku:
1. Conserve and Restore Forests and Watersheds to improve access to healthy and plentiful wai (fresh water), preserve biodiversity, support reforestation and erosion control measures, and implement fire prevention strategies.
2. Enhance Regional Community-Based Coastal Stewardship to restore and preserve healthy beach, dune, and wetland ecosystems that provide essential habitat and a natural buffer against erosion and flooding as well as severe storm impacts. We will implement sea-level rise adaptation projects and develop adaptation strategies for cultural resources threatened by coastal erosion and inundation.
3. Restore Marine Abundance to increase ocean-based food systems. We will support community-based fisheries management and restoration of loko iʻa (Hawaiian fishponds), limu (seaweed), coral reefs, and marine fisheries.
Collective community-centered governance, network building, knowledge exchange, and capacity building in the five focal moku and more broadly for place-based stewards across the Hawaiian Islands:
4. Share Knowledge and Strengthen Networks Across Communities to support community-based networks that allow for collective visioning and action. To amplify the benefits gained through moku-scale resilience activities, we will coordinate exchanges that promote intergenerational knowledge transfer and community resource governance.
5. Reduce Risk and Improve Disaster Resilience to strengthen disaster preparedness and resilience by restoring natural protection against storms, wildfire, and other climate impacts. We will also build community education, capacity, and networks for disaster preparedness and recovery.
6. Advance Community Governance to address barriers to equitable community-driven restoration and ʻāina stewardship. We will increase the capacity of community organizations and state and county governments to engage in effective co-management through community-based monitoring programs. Community based monitoring is a key aspect to ensuring that decision-making at the county and state level values and acts upon Indigenous and local knowledge in resource management.