PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Leah Bremer
Co-INVESTIGATORS: Tamara Ticktin, Zoe Hastings Silao, Kiana Frank, Aimee Sato, Casey Ching, Tai Maaz
Research Track: Island Sustainability and Resilience

This project addresses the critical challenge of ensuring long-term sustainability for a growing number of community-based environmental stewardship groups (ESGs) in Hawaiʻi, whose work is essential for increasing resilience to extreme weather. ESGs currently rely heavily on inconsistent grant funding, necessitating a shift toward more durable models of land care. The project focuses on two promising strategies: enhancing the role of volunteers and exploring place-based revenue generation from products and services. Using the Puʻulani agroforestry project as an in-depth case study, the research will analyze the effectiveness of various volunteer models that expand the volunteers’ sense of kuleana (responsibility). Furthermore, the study will explore how selling culturally and economically valuable crops and workshops could generate revenue to fill funding gaps. The ultimate goal is to combine deepened volunteer dedication with revenue to create durable stewardship capacity beyond the grant cycle, informing long-term strategies for land care organizations across Hawaiʻi.