Linking Land and Sea through Collaborative Research to Inform Contemporary applications of Traditional Resource Management in Hawai‘i

Abstract

Across the Pacific Islands, declining natural resources have contributed to a cultural renaissance of customary ridge-to-reef management approaches. These indigenous and community conserved areas (ICCA) are initiated by local communities to protect natural resources through customary laws. To support these efforts, managers require scientific tools that track land-sea linkages and evaluate how local management scenarios affect coral reefs. We established an interdisciplinary process and modeling framework to inform ridge-to-reef management in Hawai‘i, given increasing coastal development, fishing and climate change related impacts. We applied our framework at opposite ends of the Hawaiian Archipelago, in Hā‘ena and Ka‘ūpūlehu, where local communities have implemented customary resource management approaches through government-recognized processes to perpetuate traditional food systems and cultural practices. We identified coral reefs vulnerable to groundwater-based nutrients and linked them to areas on land, where appropriate management of human-derived nutrients could prevent increases in benthic algae and promote coral recovery from bleaching. Our results demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers, managers and community members. We discuss the lessons learned from our culturally-grounded, inclusive research process and highlight critical aspects of collaboration necessary to develop tools that can inform placed-based solutions to local environmental threats and foster coral reef resilience.

Place‐based management can reduce human impacts on coral reefs in a changing climate

“…Furthermore, the areas we identified as vulnerable coincided with local observations from community members, providing additional confidence to our findings (Delevaux et al. ). In light of these caveats, the priority areas identified should be seen as target zones for wastewater management and further investigation of land–sea impacts (Delevaux et al.…”

“…However, the ecological relationships derived from these models were consistent with other local and global studies (Dollar 1982, Friedlander et al 2003, Littler et al 2006, providing confidence in the relative accuracy of our models (Delevaux 2018a). Furthermore, the areas we identified as vulnerable coincided with local observations from community members, providing additional confidence to our findings (Delevaux et al 2018c). In light of these caveats, the priority areas identified should be seen as target zones for wastewater management and further investigation of land-sea impacts (Delevaux et al 2018a).…”

“…Therefore, this research supports the paradigm that managing local-scale human drivers fosters coral reef health in the face of climate change , Pandolfi et al 2011. Lastly, this framework can inform place-based management at spatial scales relevant to small oceanic islands (Delevaux et al 2018c). These models helped us identify where and how human stressors operating at different scales can impact coral reefs, and identify where local management on land can target sources of human derivednutrients to best benefit coral reefs.…”

“…Lastly, this framework can inform place‐based management at spatial scales relevant to small oceanic islands (Delevaux et al. ). These models helped us identify where and how human stressors operating at different scales can impact coral reefs, and identify where local management on land can target sources of human derived‐nutrients to best benefit coral reefs.…”

The Moku System: Managing Biocultural Resources for Abundance within Social-Ecological Regions in Hawaiʻi

“…The contemporary trend of framing biocultural conservation efforts around the scale of ahupua'a can be effective in some localized instances, such as the creation of Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs). Successful examples of these in the contemporary period include the Hā'ena Community-based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA) on the island of Kaua'i, and the Ka'ūpūlehu Fish Replenishment Area on Hawai'i Island, which employs marine management rules and regulations (e.g., closed areas, closed seasons, size restrictions, restricted entry), within single ahupua'a, that have been used for thousands of years by Pacific Islanders [67]. However, limiting discussions of biocultural resource management to the ahupua'a scale may not be conducive for the success of large-scale efforts to restore and maintain biocultural resource abundance.…”