At the 14th annual University of Guam Conference on Island Sustainability this April, it was all of the above and much, much more. Featuring hundreds of island sustainability scholars, practitioners, and students from across Micronesia and the world, this year’s conference shared innovations and strategies to collectively move toward a sustainable future under the theme of “Rediscover the Depths of Our Island Abundance“.

The University of Guam 14th Conference on Island Sustainability team, led by Associate Professor and Sea Grant program Director Austin Shelton. Photo credit: Laura Brewington

Conference attendees had the chance to learn more about Guam’s southern ecosystems from the Guam Restoration of Watersheds (GROW) Initiative, which is conducting essential conservation work to protect the island’s drinking water and coral reefs, and is in line with the Guam Green Growth Action Framework for sustainability. After planting over 100 trees in the Ugum Watershed to reduce erosion into the local water supply, participants toured the river below and the reef in Talo’fo’fo’ Bay.

Left: Participants planted over 100 seedlings of an acacia tree to stabilize the soil and reduce erosion in the Ugum watershed. Right: A boat trip down the Talo’fo’fo’ river provided an opportunity to see the importance of protecting southern Guam’s drinking water supplies. Photo credits: University of Guam; Laura Brewington

Farther inland at Chamorro Village, participants also visited the Circular Economy Makerspace and Innovation Hub – the first of its kind – which is supporting Guam’s emerging Green Economy by inviting craftspeople and community members to utilize the facility and training opportunities to create marketable products out of upcycled and recycled waste. Not only will the space help reduce Guam’s reliance on imported goods, it supports entrepreneurs who want to benefit the local economy in a regenerative, transformative way.

Left: Visitors learn about the Makerspace from University of Guam technicians. Right: The Precious Plastics workspace contains tools for creating new products from recycled plastics. Photo credit: Laura Brewington

“[The circular economy] concept is a win-win for our business, academia, our island’s environment, and all of Guam”

~Governor Lou Leon Guerrero

As part of the main conference events, Pacific RISA PI Laura Brewington joined three notable island experts in a panel to discuss sustainable alliances across oceans, moderated by Lieutenant Governor of Guam Josh Tenorio. Along with Kate Brown (Executive Director of the Global Island Partnership), Bob Underwood (former University of Guam President and Guam Congressional Delegate), and Kristin Wilson-Grimes (Research Assistant Professor of Watershed Ecology at the University of the Virgin Islands), PI Brewington shared examples of action being taken to build more resilient and sustainable island communities through Pacific RISA and the Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) management network.

PI Brewington and panelists discussing cross-ocean island alliances for sustainability. Photo credit: Trina Leberer

Didn’t have a chance to join in the celebration and exchange this year?

Save the dates for next year’s conference on April 8-12, 2024!

Meanwhile, learn more about the University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability.

Featured image: A member of the GROW Initiative looks over Ugum watershed in southern Guam. Credit: Laura Brewington

From July 23-30, a diverse group of Pacific Islanders working on traditional forms of aquaculture and navigation across the Pacific Rim came together for a knowledge exchange at the Ebiil Society in Ngarchelong State, Palau. The exchange was hosted by Ann Singeo, Executive Director of the Ebiil Society, an NGO that runs educational programs centered around environmental protection and proper management of natural resources through Indigenous Knowledge. The meeting brought together participants from Hawaiʻi, Guam, Palau, FSM, and the Pacific Northwest, who sought to support the re-learning of Indigenous technology; explore Indigenous coastal solutions for climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience; and reestablish ancient alliances as well as build new ones for a united Pacific. In addition to the host organization the exchange was also supported by the Indigenous Aquaculture Collaborative, Purple Maiʻa, Pacific RISA, Local2030 Islands Network, Global Island Partnership, Polynesian Voyaging Society, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant, Washington Sea Grant, and KUA. Pacific RISA Project Specialist Paula Moehlenkamp attended as a representative of the collaboration between Pacific RISA and the Local2030 Island Network, a project that aims to support climate resilience and adaptation management in the Pacific Region through the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework.

One focus of the exchange was on traditional fishing methods, modern threats to fisheries, and finding solutions. Participants visited Ebiil Channel, which has been documented as an important aggregation site for groupers and other species of reef fish. While exploring Palau’s diverse and rich marine life, the group learned how the reef in Ebiil Channel was impacted by Typhoon Surigae in 2021, and how it continues to be threatened by the impacts of climate change, such as warming sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification. The importance of management by the local fishing community in order to maintain sustainable fish stocks for local communities was highlighted. The group was excited to join one of the marine restoration work projects led by the Ebiil Society—the outplanting of giant clams in Ebiil Channel. Palau is home to eight of the ten known species of giant clams, a species of great cultural importance, and Ngarchelong is known for its giant clam populations. High demand for Ngarchelong’s giant clams both in subsistence and commercial fishing caused their numbers to decline. Now the local fishing community is helping grow the clams to a reasonable size so they can be replanted, with the goal of replenishing the reef and increasing wild populations.

Participants also visited Ngkeklau, the birthplace of the “Beng”, a form of traditional Palauan fishing weir. The Beng was designed to direct the passage of larger pelagic fish from deeper waters outside the reef crest through the reef into shallower areas, where they could be easily fished. This practice provided access to pelagic fish from nearshore and allowed for consistent fish supply—even when weather did not allow going out to sea. Currently, the Palauan Beng is not being utilized by the community, and the Ebiil Society is seeking to revitalize this traditional Palauan form of aquaculture. Participants, which included loko iʻa (Hawaiian fishpond) practitioners, identified the remnants of the Beng and exchanged experience on the science of wall building and rock weaving.

Another highlight was visiting a traditional milkfish aquaculture pond in Peleliu, which continues to provide a consistent food source for the local community. The group met with the Governor of Peleliu and the caretaker of the milkfish farm, and learned about its history, science, social benefits, and natural dynamics. Similar to Hawaiian loko iʻa (which also targeted milkfish among other local herbivorous fish) this pond was designed to recruit smaller fish through a weir-type structure. Inside, the pond provides ideal conditions for herbivorous fish to thrive and grow to harvestable size. Similarly, loko iʻa were sophisticated aquaculture systems across Hawaiʻi, and were vital to the sustenance of an ahupuaʻa—an integrated agricultural and ecosystem management regime. Along with providing an environmentally regenerative way to increase access to local food, as well as a way to develop place-based management and a sense of connection to the land, these traditional forms of aquaculture also have the potential to create new green jobs and community-based economic development opportunities. Being able to offer traditional aquaculture as a viable career path would be a critical step towards increasing food security and food sovereignty across the Pacific.

Another component of the knowledge exchange  was traditional navigation/ wayfinding and boat building in the Pacific. Among the participants were Larry Raigetal (a Pwo master navigator and boat builder as well as the co-founder of Waa’gey), two Polynesian Voyaging Society/Hōkūleʻa crew members, as well as Sesario Sewralur, master navigator Mau Piailug’s son, who is also a master navigator and instructor at the Palau Community College. The group learned about star navigation and was honored to meet Sesario’s family and the crew of the Palauan 56-foot long double-hulled voyaging canoe Aligano Maisu (above, right). Maisu was built by Na Kalai Waʻa Moku o Hawaiʻi at Kawaihae Harbor as a gift to Mau so he could carry on his legacy of navigation in Micronesia. As part of the workday, which consisted of conversations around aligning voyaging missions and the potential to sail together as part of Hōkūleʻa’s upcoming Pacific voyage, Moananuiākea, the group also helped clean Maisu’s hull of barnacles. Sesario shared the meaning of the Satawalese name Aligano Maisu with the group: to share the beauty of the fallen breadfruit. According to tradition, breadfruit on your neighbor’s tree is off limits, but the ones that have fallen to the ground are free for the community to take and share. This lesson struck a meaningful chord with the gathering’s participants, who then further applied its meaning. All Indigenous and traditional practices are different breadfruit from the same tree. And since the survival of these practices is in jeopardy, they have essentially fallen to the ground. Gatherings like this, therefore, need to continue around the Pacific, to unite and share the fallen breadfruit with the Pacific community.

On the last day, with the fallen breadfruit in front of mind, the participants held a debrief to further advance Indigenous programs across the Pacific. Some key stakeholders who were not able to attend the exchange in Palau in person, including Nainoa Thompson (master navigator and President of the Polynesian Voyaging Society), joined the discussion remotely. The importance of building partnerships for a united Pacific through exchange and re-learning of Indigenous technologies was discussed. Tangible next steps included joining efforts with Hōkūleʻa’s upcoming Moananuiākea voyage, attending meetings and conferences such as the Pacific Forum and IMPAC5, and identifying funding for future exchanges. Together, these efforts aim to create sustainable, Indigenous-led economies in natural resource management, provide solutions for climate resilience and adaptation, advance food security and sovereignty, and achieve a safe, just, and secure ocean.

In American Sāmoa, for example, lessons learned from a devastating drought considerably lessened the impacts of a later, even more severe drought. Constant monitoring of regional climate information and a public prepared to mitigate the risks made a striking difference. Because of early warnings, Manus residents in Papua New Guinea were ready to move uphill when an extremely rare ocean swell flooded their island. In Vanuatu, a guidebook and innovative animation are translating science from climate early warning systems into useable strategies for farmers and others especially vulnerable to climate variability. In the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the health sector benefits from advance drought warnings to prevent vector- and water-borne disease outbreaks, such as the historic dengue fever outbreak in 2019. These stories and more can be found in the new Pacific Islands Climate Storybook.

The Storybook consists of two parts: the first, details an extensive Climate Services Dialog process, with draft agendas, worksheets, and templates for users who wish to hold their own dialog workshop. The Dialogs are designed to enhance scientific and technical capacity by joining climate service providers and users to build regional networks, package and disseminate climate-related information, develop new products and services, and advance training and capacity-building. The first part of the Storybook incorporates technical material, process guides, and activities that were used to conduct the Dialogs and build Climate Stories, which make up the second part. The Climate Stories are a collection of local case studies about climate change and variability-related issues, actions, and key messages obtained from the dialogs in narrative form. This approach conveys information in a way that is easy for decision-makers and stakeholders to understand and apply.

Taken together, the updated Pacific Islands Climate Storybook conveys an approach that is easy for decision-makers to understand and apply, and can serve as a model for governments and other organizations that seek to engage communities in adapting to a changing climate. With support provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Pacific RISA, the project was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) working closely with the Pacific Island Meteorological Services and numerous other partner organizations across the Pacific and beyond.

Featured image credit: Drought on Ailuk Atoll (Republic of the Marshall Islands). UN Development Programme.

Almost 99% of Hawaiʻi’s drinking water comes from water stored underground in aquifers across the islands, and groundwater supplies are impacted by changes in both land cover and climate. The NSF funded ‘Ike Wai (knowledge of water) Project at the University of Hawaiʻi spans multiple scientific disciplines and connects researchers to better understand how future land use and climate change might change groundwater recharge, and how, this in turn would influence water management decisions.. Following the stakeholder-driven approach used in the Pacific RISA Maui Groundwater Project, we worked with the State Department of Forestry and Wildlife, the Koʻolau Watershed Partnership, the City and County of Honolulu, and the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Planning to come up with a set of possible futures of conservation, urban, and agricultural land in the most heavily utilized aquifer on Oahu: the Pearl Harbor aquifer. Pacific RISA co-lead Laura Brewington developed the future land cover scenario maps as inputs to the groundwater model, which was run by the US Geological Survey. The scenarios reflected both transit-oriented development (dense development around the projected corridor for the Honolulu light rail project) and sprawl-type development (a business-as-usual approach), in combination with varying degrees of agricultural intensification or reduction and native forest protections.

Sustainable yield estimates and resulting differences in replacement costs were estimated for the six land cover scenarios crossed with two water demand scenarios under a potentially drier future climate. The results showed that both climate and land cover change were important drivers of changes in groundwater recharge. The degree of watershed protection, through preventing the spread of high-water-use, invasive plant species, had a much stronger impact than urban development. Specifically, protecting all of the aquifer’s native forests increased sustainable yields by 7–11% (30–45 million liters per day) and substantially decreased treatment costs compared with no forest protection. Furthermore, the greatest benefits to recharge occurred in the upper elevations of the watershed, which impacted the Waipahu-Waiawa and Waimalu subaquifers most substantially.

Running this through the groundwater optimization framework, we also found that watershed protection could increase sustainable yield by 8-12 MGD, which translated into $26-40 million in annual savings in water supply costs after 50 years. Today, the Pearl Harbor aquifer area is a mix of urban areas, military zones, agricultural lands (both active and fallow post-plantation), and conservation areas. The aquifer also supports numerous culturally and ecologically important springs, which have been rapidly declining since the rise of the plantation era in the mid 1800s. Nevertheless, there are still many important areas that rely on springs, including loʻi kalo systems, wetlands, and the Sumida watercress farm who were partners in this research. Our study found that even when confronted with the impacts of climate change, native forest protection in Hawaiʻi’ can play an important role in reducing the combined effects of land-use and climate change on groundwater resources.

Resources

• Click here to visit the University of Hawaiʻi ‘Ike Wai Project page
• Bremer, L.L., Elshall, A.S., Wada, C.A., Brewington, L., Delevaux, J.M.S., El-Kadi, A.I., Voss, C.I., & Burnett, K.M. (2021). Effects of land cover and watershed protection futures on sustainable groundwater management in a heavily utilized aquifer in Hawaiʻi (USA). Hydrogeology Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10040-021-02310-6

Featured image: Sumida Farms and the University of Hawaiʻi ʻIke Wai team. Credit: University of Hawaiʻi

In the weeks prior to the Climate Change and Health Dialog, confirmed cases of dengue fever in RMI rose from around 60 new cases a week to more than 120 a week, with an estimated 8,000 of the country’s 53,000 citizens infected (Figure 1). Persistent dry, warm weather punctuated by short periods of intense rain have exacerbated the problem since the Christmas holiday season. This record-breaking epidemic has occurred in tandem with other, smaller outbreaks related to a lack of clean water: typhoid fever, diarrheal disease, and conjunctivitis.

Around 100 participants attended the Opening Ceremony of the Dialog (Figure 2), including His Excellency, RMI President David Kabua, former President Hilda Heine, the Honorable Ministers of Health and the Environment, the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Health, Senators and Mayors representing many of the islands and atolls, the World Health Organization Liaison for Micronesia, and high school and college students from Majuro and Ebeye.

Speaking to all those gathered, Secretary of Health Jack Niedenthal explained, “The reason why climate change impacts the RMI and other nations of Micronesia so severely is that we have one of the highest rates of diabetes, tuberculosis in the world, so our health system is already overtaxed.”

The dialog process first asked participants to break into small groups and describe health outbreaks in the form of a timeline, then link them with climate and weather events that occurred at similar times, such as king tides, drought, and heat waves. Matthew Widlansky from the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Level Center and Reginald White from the National Weather Service Majuro office then described existing products and tools for the RMI region that have good predictive capacity for these key events.

On the second day of the workshop, small groups focused on identifying the types of products that would aid health officials in assessing early warning for the health impacts of climate variability and change, particularly vector-borne and waterborne diseases. The workshop concluded with a set of next steps for generating an early warning system for the health sector using the relevant forecast products in tandem with NOAA, the University of Hawaiʻi, and the National Weather Service Majuro office.

Na makani paio lua o Kawaihae.

The two conflicting winds of Kawaihae: the mumuku wind from the uplands, and the naulu wind, which brings the rains to Kawaihae (Pukui 1983)

Puʿukohola, or Hill of the Humpbacked Whale, is a historic site on the Kona-Kohala coast overlooking Kawaihae Bay on the Big Island of Hawaiʿi. The park, which attracts over 270,000 visitors per year (Ben Saldua, pers. comm., 1/8/14), is made up of Puʿukohola Heiau (temple); smaller and older Mailekini Heiau, which was later converted into a fort; the ruins of submerged Hale-o-Kapuni Heiau, which was believed to be dedicated to the worship of sharks; the John Young Homestead; and the central courtyard or Pelekane. Because of its historical and cultural importance, Puʿukohola Heiau and the surrounding area was designated a National Historic Site in 1972, under the administration of the National Park Service (NPS). The heiau is considered a highly significant cultural site because it is the only structure in the archipelago that is directly linked to the unification of the Hawaiian Islands and the founding of the Hawaiian Kingdom under Kamehameha the Great in the early nineteenth century (Greene 1993; NPS 2004).

• Project goals: to provide a modern, structurally-sound, long-term visitor’s facility at Puʿukohola Heiau National Historic Site that would improve the cultural and historic landscape for local community members and practitioners while taking into account the local climate and mumuku winds
• One of the key aspects of the project was an in-depth value analysis process that included broad stakeholder engagement with a number of groups and agencies representing the state and local community and Native Hawaiian interests
• Variables which were considered included visitor satisfaction, cultural resources, local archaeology, cost, and cultural and physical landscape including the local mumuku winds
• Climate issues were one of the key drivers throughout the process and the local winds were taken into consideration for practically every decision – this example of community engagement and local climate knowledge illustrates how climate information is used in everyday decision-making

In 2002, the NPS began planning a complete renovation of the Visitor Center and administrative offices located at Puʿukohola Heiau National Historic Site. In addition to providing a modern, structurally-sound, long-term facility from which visitors could access the Puʿukohola site, the main goal of the project was to improve the cultural and historic landscape for local community members and Native Hawaiian practitioners, who continue to use the heiau and surrounding area for regular events and ceremonies. The site planning and design included extensive stakeholder and partner engagement during all stages of the process. Developers also had to take local climate information into account, particularly regarding the mumuku winds, or enhanced trade winds, which are a constant force in the area (Schroeder 1981). Through extensive stakeholder and partner engagement, the building was specifically designed in order to best combat these strong and consistent winds. The new Visitor Center was opened to the public in 2007. The project was considered to be a success by the Park Service, visitors, and local community members, largely because of the utilization of local cultural and climatological knowledge in the planning and design, as well as the extensive community engagement process.

Regular trade winds are a key feature of the climate in the Hawaiian Islands. The trade winds, which typically flow from the northeast to the southwest, are a result of the larger regional Walker Circulation, in which easterly winds near the ocean surface in the eastern Pacific push air and water toward the west into Indonesia, where moisture is removed from the air through rainfall before the air rises to a higher altitude and circles back to the east, where the cycle begins again (Newman 2013). In Hawaiʿi, the trade winds hit the northeastern or windward sides of the islands and cause rainfall, resulting in the lush and green windward sides, and corresponding drier leeward sides of the islands. In addition to providing natural cooling for local homes, the trade winds are the primary source of rainfall in the state, and help maintain the islands’ vital water supply. However, a recent study showed that Hawaiʿi’s trade winds have decreased in frequency by approximately thirty percent over the past 37 years, from 291 days per year in 1973 to 210 days per year in 2009 (Garza et al. 2012). This trend may be caused by changes in the subtropical high-pressure ridge located to the northeast of the archipelago, a large-scale atmospheric phenomenon that governs Hawaiʿi’s prevailing trade winds (Garza et al. 2012), which could possibly be related to global climate change (Associated Press 2013). The decrease in the trade winds could have serious implications for the Hawaiian Islands, including negatively impacting local agriculture, harming native ecosystems and endangered species, and reducing the state’s limited freshwater supply. In a delicate environment such as the Kawaihae region on the Big Island, where Puʿukohola Heiau is located in one of the driest areas in the state (Cunningham 2009), a change in the trade winds could have far-reaching effects on the local environment.

Mason Architects, a Honolulu-based architectural firm that has worked with the NPS since 1998 on numerous construction projects throughout the Islands, was contracted to design and build the new Visitor Center. According to Glenn Mason, President of Mason Architects, one of the main physical drivers of the design of the new Visitor Center was the local mumuku winds. The Kawaihae region of the Big Island has been known for centuries for these strong, steady winds that flow from the uplands to the sea, and clash with the naulu, or sudden shower, winds that flow from the sea to the land and occasionally bring rain (Leopold 1949; NPS 2012; Businger et al. 2012). The land-to-sea mumuku winds are a local extension of the regional trade winds that hit Hawaiʿi Island from the northeast and gain intensity over the island’s central saddle before reaching the Kona-Kohala coast, while the sea-to-land naulu winds are caused by convection, in which heated air flows upslope off the water in the form of a sea breeze (Schroeder 1981; Businger et al. 2012). The naulu winds can occasionally bring rain to the dry region, but more often the strong mumuku winds push back the incoming sea breeze, and the rain will fall just offshore, if it falls at all (Leopold 1949; Schroeder 1981). Puʿukohola Historic Site Superintendent Daniel Kawaiaea, Jr., who was born and raised on Hawaiʿi Island and has spent more than 30 years working on the Puʿukohola site, contributed his vast knowledge of and experience with the local winds and climate to the design of the new Visitor Center. Under the advice of Kawaiaea and his colleagues, Mason Architects designed the building with its side turned to the mumuku winds, which allowed the large front doors to open completely to the heiau and also block the continuously strong winds with a wall. Mason explained, “We wanted it to feel like a pavilion – when you were in it the building disappears and you have a big opening to the heiau, which is the whole point, and the building wouldn’t get in the way of what you were there to look at” (Glenn Mason, pers. comm., 3/8/13).

In addition to implementing local climate knowledge in the building design, one of the key aspects of the new Visitor Center project was its commitment to broad stakeholder engagement, in which local partner organizations and community members, including representatives of native Hawaiian organizations, were included in key aspects of the planning process. Informal planning began in 2001, when an interpretive planning workshop was conducted at the park to provide direction for facility and interpretive media planning and design (NPS 2004: 3-9). In 2002 a more in-depth value analysis process was undertaken. A number of groups and agencies representing state and local community and Native Hawaiian interests were involved, including the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), Na Aikane o Puʿu Kohola Heiau – Friends of Puʿu Kohola Heiau National Historic Site, the Waimea Hawaiian Civic Club, and the group Na Papa Kanaka o Puʿu Kohola, which has held an annual commemorative ceremony at the heiau every August since 1991.

The value analysis process is a formal, facilitated method of identifying all the possible alternatives, priorities, and concerns in a development project, and weighing the advantages of each, in order to make “a good decision which could be defensible and documented” (Daniel Kawaiaea, pers. comm., 2/27/13). Variables which were considered included visitor satisfaction, cultural resources, local archaeology, cost, cultural and physical landscape including the local mumuku winds, and many others. Because of the importance of the partner and stakeholder engagement process to the NPS, the design and planning of the new Visitor Center was inherently flexible. In fact, Glenn Mason described how a model of the new building had already been created at the very beginning of the project, but after the key priorities and needs were identified through the value analysis process the entire initial design was scrapped and redone, even though the project was already completely budgeted. In Mason’s original concept the Visitor Center was totally open to the air, but in reality the mumuku winds were far too strong and the building would have been unusable, so a late design change was made to open only the front of the building to the heiau, and block the winds with a flat wall. In addition, the impact of the new structure on continued community use of the heiau was considered in the value analysis process. The original planning for the building began from a point selected because it would provide the best views of Pu’ukohola Heiau for visitors. However, the involvement with the community partners later moved the actual site further to the south by about 100 yards, primarily to reduce the visual impact this new facility would have from the perspective of practitioners located within the heiau looking out. The roof alignment, distinctive curved roof design, and use of local stone building materials also aided to minimize this visual impact as well (Daniel Kawaiaea, pers. comm., 2/27/13).

Although many factors had to be taken into account during the design and planning of the new Visitor Center, climate issues were one of the key drivers throughout the process, and information about the local winds was taken into account for practically every decision. NPS representatives like Kawaiaea, local community participants, and others who were familiar with all aspects of the site and the influence of the mumuku winds contributed their decades of experiential data as part of the stakeholder engagement process. According to Mason, “If that had not occurred, we would have had to deal with taking a lot of measurements, or have been quite surprised at the end. But as it was, we were not surprised by things that happened” (Glenn Mason, pers. comm., 3/8/13). This example of community engagement and local climate knowledge illustrates how people make decisions including climate and weather variables all the time, even when not explicitly making decisions about climate. Although climate issues can be controversial and difficult to discuss, participatory engagement methods like the NPS value analysis process can help lead to outcomes that are acceptable, agreed-upon, and community-owned, despite the difficulty of the topic. Kawaiaea stated that stakeholder feedback regarding the community engagement process, as well as the end result, was overwhelmingly positive, since the final design was based on the decisions all participants agreed upon in the meetings.

The Puʿukohola Heiau Visitor Center development project is an excellent example of the importance of community engagement, as well as the successful utilization of local climatological and cultural knowledge in decision-making. The site presented a number of unique challenges – the local mumuku winds and the continued usage of the site by the local and Native Hawaiian communities – but through the NPS commitment to stakeholder engagement, as well as Mason Architects’ trust in incorporating local climate knowledge and experience into their design, those challenges were successfully overcome.

E naʿi wale no ʿoukou i koʿu pono, ʿaʿole e pau.

You can seek out all the benefits I have produced and find them without number. – Kamehameha I

Puʿukohola Heiau is a nationally significant site because of its association with both the life of King Kamehameha I, and the political unification of the Hawaiian Islands. Kamehameha I, or Kamehameha the Great, was the first leader in history to unite the entire Hawaiian archipelago.(Pukui 1983)

Kamehameha I, the son of a high chief and a princess, was born on Hawaiʿi Island around 1758 under a prophecy predicting the coming of a powerful leader. By 1790, Kamehameha had inherited land in northern Hawaiʿi Island and gained custody of his family’s war god, Kukaʿilimoku. He had also invaded and conquered Maui, Lanaʿi, and Molokaʿi, but he had trouble conquering all of his home island of Hawaiʿi because of the opposition of his cousin and chief rival, Keoua Kuahuʿula. For guidance, Kamehameha consulted the kahuna (elder or prophet) Kapoukahi. The kahuna prophesized that Kamehameha would unite and rule the islands if he built a large heiau dedicated to the war god Ku on top of Puʿukohola, or the Hill of the Humpbacked Whale.

The heiau was completed in 1791. Kamehameha invited his rival cousin, Keoua Kuahuʿula, to the dedication ceremony. At the ceremony, a fight occurred and Keoua and many of his companions were killed. Because Puʿukohola Heiau is a luakini, or human sacrifice heiau, Keoua’s body was offered as a sacrifice to the war god Ku. This event ended all opposition to Kamehameha on Hawaiʿi Island, and, as prophesized, led to the eventual consolidation of his rule across the entire archipelago and the creation of a unified Hawaiian kingdom and nation for the first time in history. Puʿukohola is the only heiau in the archipelago associated with this significant time period in the history of the Hawaiian Islands, and therefore continues to be a highly important cultural and historical site (Greene 1993).

References

Associated Press (June 3, 2013) Trade winds drop, and Hawaii gets muggy. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/trade-winds-drop-hawaii-gets-muggy-080531040.html

Businger, S., S. daSilva, K. Stone, I. Ellinwood, and P.W.U. Chinn (2012) Local winds and rains of Hawaiʻi: I Kamaʻāina I Nā Makani A Me Nā Ua. Kahua A‘o. A Learning Foundation. University of Hawaiʿi.

Cunningham, G. (2009) Newsletter of the Pacific Island Network. July – September 2009:17.

Garza, J.A., P.-S. Chu, C.W. Norton, and T.A. Schroeder (2012) Changes of the prevailing trade winds over the islands of Hawaiʿi and the North Pacific. Journal of Geophysical Research, 117, D11109, doi:10.1029/2011JD016888.

Greene, L.W. (1993) A cultural history of three traditional Hawaiian Sites on the west coast of Hawai’i Island. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Denver Service Center. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/kona/history.htm

Kawaiaea Jr., D. (Feb. 27, 2013) Personal communication.

Leopold, L.B. (1949) The interaction of trade wind and sea breeze, Hawaiʿi. Journal of Meteorology, 6: 312-320.

Mason, G. (Mar. 8, 2013) Personal communication.

National Park Service (2014) Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, Hawai’i: History and culture. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/puhe/historyculture/index.htm

National Park Service (2014) Pu’ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, Hawai’I Island, Hawai’i. Retrieved from http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/cultural_diversity/Puukohola_Heiau_National_Historic_Site.html

National Park Service (2012) The two conflicting winds of Kawaihae. The National Parks of the Pacific Islands. Retrieved from http://pacificislandparks.com/2012/07/12/the-two-conflicting-winds-of-kawaihae/

National Park Service (2004) Environmental assessment: Reestablishment of the historic scene at Puʿukohola Heiau National Historic Site, Hawaiʿi County, Hawaiʿi. Prepared by Tetra Tech, Inc, for Hawaiʿi County.

Newman, M. (2013) Atmospheric Science: Winds of Change. Nature Climate Change, 3: 538-539.

Pacific Worlds (2006) Kawaihae – Land – Winds. Retrieved from http://www.pacificworlds.com/kawaihae/land/winds.cfm

Pukui, M.K. (1983) ʿŌlelo Noʿeau: Hawaiian proverbs & political Sayings. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication No. 71. Bishop Museum Press: Honolulu, Hawaiʿi.

Saldua, B. (Jan. 8, 2014) Personal communication.

Schroeder, T.A. (1981) Characteristics of local winds in northwest Hawaiʿi. Journal of Applied Meteorology, 20: 874-881.

Workshop participants included community freshwater managers and planners, decision makers, and climate experts from American Samoa, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, and Hawaii. They represented local utilities American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA), the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA), the National Weather Service, Meteorological Service experts, and local and regional resource and environment agencies (SPREP, etc). Using a climate scenario dialog framework, participants conducted interactive climate stories that contributed to the exploration of future best practices to preserve freshwater resources and minimize the impacts of drought, with an emphasis on the upcoming ENSO event. A key point raised was the need for improvement in inter-agency cooperation and communication to raise awareness of the state of knowledge of climate science, impacts, and adaptation and available climate and weather service products and services to support climate adaptation planning, disaster risk management, and “win-win” strategies for freshwater management.

At the workshop, Dr. Brewington presented the initial results of a study led by Pacific RISA Project Specialist Richard Wallsgrove on the Climate Adaptivity of Freshwater Regulations in American Samoa. The presentation evaluated the effectiveness of American Samoa’s adaptive policies and planning tools next to the criteria of being forward-looking, adaptive, integrated, and iterative. It also suggested 9 opportunities in which adaptive capacity could be improved in American Samoa. Also during the workshop, Chris Schuler, University of Hawaii graduate student, described the status of a groundwater model for the island of Tutuila being developed at the UH Water Resources Research Center (WRRC). The potential applications of the groundwater model include sustainable yield estimates, well-siting and future development, contamination potential, and climate change adaptation. Other presentations by the Fiji and Samoa Meteorological Services, SPREP, NWS, and ASPA contributed greatly to the enrichment of the climate scenario dialog.

Through the collaborative efforts of the workshop participants, local knowledge was combined with specialist technical advice to identify accurate, timely and regionally-relevant content that helps to preserve fresh water resources and minimize the impacts of drought. As a result of the dialogue, the user community is better informed about the current state of knowledge of climate variability and its impacts, and the provider community is better informed about what problems and questions are most relevant and better able to match products and services to user requirements. Click here for more information on the Pacific Climate Information System (PaCIS) Drought Dashboard.

Pacific RISA research assistant Duncan McIntosh recently attended the “Pacific Islands Climate Services Dialog: Preserving Freshwater Resources and Minimizing the Impacts of Drought” workshop which was held 23 to 25 April, 2014 in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is conducting a series of activities to enhance scientific and technical capacity to support climate change adaptation in the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS).  These activities include the development and delivery of new or enhanced products and services that focus on climate issues critical to the region and respond to unique user needs.

To support RMI decision makers who are preparing for and responding to climate conditions that affect fresh water resources, a team of researchers is gathering relevant resources that may provide early warning and descriptions of potential impacts to the RMI area in one place – a web-based “dashboard” with real-time updating. This effort is a collaboration between Pacific Climate Information System (PaCIS), Pacific RISA, the Pacific Islands Climate Science Center (PICSC), and the Pacific Islands Climate Change Cooperative (PICCC), with support from USGS, University of Guam, Pacific ENSO Applications Center (PEAC), and NOAA.  Product development will focus on the collection and aggregation of information from disparate sources and the tailoring and transformation of that information so that it is specific to sector and locale, and targeted to the nature and timing of decisions. Pacific RISA supported the development of the drought dashboard prior to the workshop by conducting interviews with high-level decision makers in RMI who manage freshwater and community during drought, and compiling the results into a report identifying key characteristics of the stakeholders, their climate-sensitive decisions and information needs, and the broader contextual factors that influenced drought management decisions.  A semi-structured interview protocol guided discussions with interviewees to identify their main responsibilities and duties, specify key decisions affected by climate variables, determine current understanding of climate impacts and use of climate information, and identify climate information needs for managing drought and fresh water resources.  At the workshop, key findings of the Pacific RISA report were presented to the plenary and utilized as a spring board to initiate discussion of climate stories from the local decision-makers’ perspectives.

At the workshop in Majuro, local knowledge was combined with specialist technical advice to identify accurate, timely and regionally-relevant content that helps to preserve fresh water resources and minimize the impacts of drought.  As a result of the dialogue, the user community is better informed about the current state of knowledge of climate variability and its impacts, and the provider community is better informed about what problems and questions are most relevant and better able to match products and services to user requirements.  Click here to view the workshop proceedings.

Pacific RISA recently launched a multi-year social network analysis project to examine how climate information spreads across different sectors and countries in the Pacific Islands region. Using the December 2012 release of the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) report as a spring board, researchers are collecting data to analyze the networks of climate change scientists and professionals.

To learn more about social network analysis, Pacific RISA Communications Coordinator Zena Grecni spoke with Dr. Kati Corlew, who is a community and cultural psychologist and serves as the project’s Research Fellow. She provided great insights about their research methods and the study’s importance to Pacific RISA’s mission.

Zena:  Thank you for talking with me today, Kati.

Kati:  Of course! Thank you, Zena.

Zena:  To start off, what is social network analysis, and why did you select this method to look at how information is shared in the Pacific region?

Kati:  Social network analysis is a way to look at connections and relationships in communities of people. With network analysis, we can explore statistical theories, but we can also create a map of these relationships to graphically reveal reasons, motivations, and implications behind them. We chose network analysis for this project because in the Pacific, climate change projects cross sectors, regions, and fields of study. We have a strong sense of collaboration, but at the same time, we all want to know how to make these collaborations stronger. With network analysis, we can see where the strengths are in our network of climate change professionals, and also identify opportunities for growth.

Zena:  Will the analysis be limited to connections among people living in the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands, or does it look at regional and international flows of information as well?

Kati:  We are focused on Hawaiʻi and the USAPI, but much of the work done in this region is necessarily broader in scope. There are a number of climate change professionals who work in our region but who are based elsewhere. So, we expanded the network to capture these realities. We have participants from other parts of the Pacific, from the US mainland, and from all over the world.

Zena:  How many people did you expect to reach?  And, how many actually responded?

Kati:  Well, we were hoping for hundreds, and that’s what we got. We have 340 participants currently, and I expect a few more will be trickling in over the next few weeks.

Zena:  It sounds like you’ve been successful in collecting a lot of data. What do you hope to learn from the analysis?

Kati:  We’re doing two types of analysis. First, we will look for strengths and gaps in our communications network. This information will help anyone in our field get an idea of where, and with whom, they might want to work in the future. I’m hoping this information will also be useful when agencies are requesting funds for future projects. Like, “Here is proof that we are really connected in this area.” Or, “Hey, we really want to improve our connections to this other area.”

Kati:  The second type of analysis has to do with the theoretical drivers of network connection and our understanding of risk, as climate change professionals. With confidential, aggregated data, we will explore how network connection is related to climate change risk perception and to our psychological sense of community with other professionals. From this we hope to learn more about how and why people become actively involved in a community of climate change professionals.

Zena:  Have you had any surprises so far, in looking at the survey data?

Kati:  Wow, for me? I was surprised to realize how many professionals we knew (or knew of) who worked in climate change-related fields in Hawaiʻi versus other US -Affiliated Pacific Islands. I was able to compile a list of almost 500 people from Hawaiʻi, but for example in Palau I could only find contact information for 35 people. That’s a big difference, and already we can see that we need to further develop connections and capacity for future collaborations in Palau.

Zena:  How will the data and results be displayed?

Kati:  For the network connections, I am building a giant digital map. It will be broken down by physical region as well as by profession, to make it easier to search for strengths and collaboration opportunities. This will be freely available through our website. We’ll also write up what we learn in fact sheets, short reports, and journal articles.

Zena:  What is the ultimate significance of this project to Pacific Island decision makers and to those who provide information about climate to communities?

Kati:  The biggest takeaway is that we are connected throughout our region. We all know this—we are a series of islands connected by the ocean. But there is always room to build these connections. By mapping out how we communicate, we can find how best to strengthen our community.

There you have it, everyone, straight from social network analysis researcher Dr. Kati Corlew.  If you have additional questions about Pacific RISA’s social network analysis project, you may contact Kati at corlewk@EastWestCenter.org, or email us at info@PacificRISA.org. You can also find more information on the social network analysis project page.

A persistent drought in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has reached a severe level, affecting 8,000 to 10,000 people of the northern atolls. There has been little rainfall in the northern Marshall Islands this year, and well water is turning brackish, making it unsafe to drink or use for crop irrigation. With no alternative source of fresh water, the Marshallese Government has declared the drought a national disaster. In addition to the drinking water shortage, island communities are facing the threat of communicable disease as well as food shortage, as many subsistence food gardens have suffered from the drought.

Clint Simpson of the National Weather Service Office in Guam told Radio New Zealand that a high pressure system is lingering over the Central Pacific, causing the dry weather conditions. Typically, dry spells are offset by Trade Wind showers, but not this time. Forecasters warn that the drought is likely to get much worse in the weeks to come, as no rain is forecast for the near future. In fact, the drought may last through July, or possibly longer.

The Marshall Islands’ Foreign Minister, Phillip Muller, reports that the government conducted an assessment of the impacts on communities and says that the situation is “quite dire.” The United States government is making their own assessment, and if the need is found to exceed one million dollars, the US President will allow for additional aid to the country.  The US has already delivered solar-powered reverse osmosis equipment that can supply a small amount of water (about 300 gallons daily), but it will not be enough for island populations. The Australian government has also provided US$100,000 in emergency desalinization units. The United Nations recently sent an emergency grant and an assessment team to the RMI. Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, “The lack of clean drinking water is of acute humanitarian concern, and children are particularly vulnerable.”

While the water shortage is worsening for families in the northern islands, atolls south of the capital of Majuro have received enough rain to be spared dangerous water shortages. The large municipal reservoir at the Majuro Airport held 20 million gallons as of mid-April, which is a little over half of capacity.

The latest issue of the Pacific ENSO Applications Climate (PEAC) Center’s quarterly newsletter, released in early May, reports that rainfall should slowly build back to normal across the RMI, starting with Majuro in May, Kwajalein by June, and into the drought-stricken northern islands by July. Download the full newsletter, with climate conditions and outlooks for each Pacific Island group, here.

References

Australia To Assist RMI Amidst Severe Drought Conditions.  Radio Australia. 6 May 2013. Available from http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2013/May/05-07-10.htm.

The Marshalls Islands has declared a state of disaster in the island nation’s North due to the prolonged drought. Radio Australia. 10 May 2013. Available from http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacific/radio/program/pacific-beat/marshall-islands-declares-national-drought-disaster/1129120.

Marshall Islands drought to get much worse – forecaster.  Radio New Zealand, International.  7 May 2013. Available from http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=75859.

UN disaster assessment team arrives in drought-affected Marshall Islands. UN News Centre. 10 May 2013. Available from http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44871&Cr=drought&Cr1=#.UY2cM0rihYU.

The Pacific ENSO Applications Climate Center. Pacific ENSO Update,  2nd Quarter, 2013 Vol. 19, No. 2.,  issued May 2, 2013. Available from http://www.prh.noaa.gov/peac/peu/2013_2nd/PEU_v19_n2.pdf.

Cover photo:  Namorik Atoll, in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Courtesy of Darren Nakata.