Scholarly Journals and Articles

A collection of scholarly articles related to Natural Resources Management in the Pacific.

muse.jhu.edu/pub/5/article/671676/summary

Policy makers and resource managers in Hawai'i often look to the ancient Hawaiian system of resource management, known as the ahupua'a system, as a holistic and sustainable mountains-to-sea model for restoration of social-ecological system health and function. Many components of this ancient system, such as agriculture, aquaculture, and nearshore fishery management, have been documented, studied, and revived in the name of both sustainability and perpetuation of Hawai'i's indigenous culture. One relatively glaring hole in the context of our understanding of this ancient system is management of forest resources on a system (i.e., large-scale plant community) level. Five terms for identified and managed social-ecological zones, wao kānaka, wao lā'au, wao nāhele, wao kele, and wao akua, were used to delineate GIS layers in the model ahupua'a of Hā'ena. These were then extrapolated across the entire island of Kaua'i. The resulting map indicates that not all ahupua'a on Kaua'i had all five social-ecological zones, which gives valuable insight into how upland regions of the various ahupua'a may have been managed in the ali'i era. This research has implications for contemporary approaches to large-scale biocultural conservation initiatives and other resource management plans that aim toward having broader community support for such efforts. Analysis shows that broad overlap between the ancient system and contemporary management zones exists, which implies that it may be feasible to adapt this ancient approach in the bureaucratic system of the contemporary era.

The Moku System: Managing Biocultural Resources for Abundance within Social-Ecological Regions in HawaiʻiThrough research, restoration of agro-ecological sites, and a renaissance of cultural awareness in Hawaiʻi, there has been a growing recognition of the ingenuity of the Hawaiian biocultural resource management system. The contemporary term for this system, “the ahupuaʻa system”, does not accurately convey the nuances of system function, and it inhibits an understanding about the complexity of the system’s management. We examined six aspects of the Hawaiian biocultural resource management system to understand its framework for systematic management. Based on a more holistic understanding of this system’s structure and function, we introduce the term, “the moku system”, to describe the Hawaiian biocultural resource management system, which divided large islands into social-ecological regions and further into interrelated social-ecological communities. This system had several social-ecological zones running horizontally across each region, which divided individual communities vertically while connecting them to adjacent communities horizontally; and, thus, created a mosaic that contained forested landscapes, cultural landscapes, and seascapes, which synergistically harnessed a diversity of ecosystem services to facilitate an abundance of biocultural resources. “The moku system”, is a term that is more conducive to large-scale biocultural restoration in the contemporary period, while being inclusive of the smaller-scale divisions that allowed for a highly functional system.

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

Biocultural Restoration in HawaiʻiSpecial Issue in journal Sustainability: Biocultural Restoration in Hawaiʻi

In this Special Issue, we will highlight viable models in the larger effort to restore ʻāina momona, with some focus on the management of forest, streams, nearshore fisheries, traditional crop diversity, traditional food systems, and health and wellness; as well as the legal and policy steps needed to build a foundation that can facilitate this change. We want to emphasize the biocultural foundation in social-ecological system theory; and the manners in which restoration of biocultural diversity, along with the health/function of social-ecological systems, can be founded in cultural values and aligned with community priorities. Manuscripts focusing on biocultural restoration in Hawaiʻi will be accepted for consideration.

Marine Resource Management in the Hawaiian Archipelago: The Traditional Hawaiian System in Relation to the Western ApproachOver a period of many centuries the Polynesians who inhabited Hawai‘i developed a carefully regulated and sustainable “ahupua‘a” management system that integrated watershed, freshwater and nearshore ...

Indigenous Management Models and Protection of the Ahupuaʻa

This article discusses Hawaiian contemporary management models based on the ahupuaʻa (land division from the mountains to the sea) concept. It notes that Hawaiian resistance is concomitant with growing population and tourism pressure in Hawaiʻi. It describes Hawaiian conservation values, the traditional ahupuaʻa concept and its possible role in contemporary planning. The core of the article provides examples of ahupuaʻa management models on various islands.

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