Place, Knowledge, and Change: A Journey of Discovery Through Bioregional Education

 

Introduction

Choices made over a lifetime led me to a moment of complete recognition.  I had found my new home. My first sighting of Maui was experienced during the summer of 2007 as a volunteer crewman aboard the twenty-two meter Privateer Lynx, a replica tall ship that harkens back to the days of the War of 1812.  As we sailed northwest from the “Big Island” of Hawai’i, across the twenty-six nautical mile, 2,076-meter deep Alenuihāhā Channel, also known as “the great billows smashing,” I distinctly recall Maui, at first a shadowy hulking mass on the horizon, resolve itself into a lush green island full of deep, precipitously sloped, verdant valleys that concealed untold numbers of splendorous waterfalls, flora, and fauna.  

 

Formed by lava, and chiseled by the power of water over a million years, Maui, otherwise known as the “Valley Isle” captured my imagination and my heart.  After I completed my three-week stint working daysails and channel crossings aboard the Lynx, I reluctantly returned to New Hampshire, dreaming all the while of making a permanent move back to Maui.  Shortly afterward in December of 2007, I packed a suitcase and returned to Maui. Twelve years, two careers, a wife, a dog, and one baby girl later we are committed to this place for as long as we are able; in no small way, my studies at GMC are partly responsible for this continued dedication.   

 

Place

At the time when the earth became hot

At the time when the heavens turned about

At the time when the sun was darkened

To cause the moon to shine

The time of the rise of the Pleiades

The slime, this was the source of the earth

The source of the darkness that made darkness

The source of the night that made night

The intense darkness, the deep darkness

Darkness of the sun, darkness of the night

Nothing but night.  (The Kumulipo as quoted in Beckwith, 1992, p.58)

 

Out of the darkness came the light and separated the earth from the sky; the land rose from the depths of the sea, individual plants and animals were born, and the Hawaiians celebrated their genealogical connection to them all through the Kumulipo, a Hawaiian Creation Chant (Beckwith, 1992).  The chant began in the night at the beginning of time and scrolled through geological, plant, and animal succession to arrive at their societal climax, the Hawaiian royal family.  Capable of making accurate scientific conclusions, the ancient Hawaiians often embedded them within their poetic chants (Culliney, 2006). The Kumulipo, in part, reflects their cultural knowledge of species creation across the ages or “wā.”  It is from this vast and incomprehensible scale that we must link our understanding of the epochs to arrive within a human experience that encourages productive interactions within our local environment. (A History of the Central Valley Bioregion on Maui, 2017)

 

The excerpt above, created during Bioregional Theory and Practice, identified the kanaka maoli’s, or native Hawaiian’s, cultural understanding of creation.  For me, however, the opening of A History of the Central Valley Bioregion on Maui represented the beginning of my journey to develop a deeper understanding and connection to the place I now call home.  Bioregionalism, as put forth by Dodge (1990), outlined a physical, intellectual, and spiritual framework to examine a particular region.  My connection and practical knowledge of the region began with an examination of the anthropogenic and biotic shifts across watersheds, landforms, and elevation.  Maui’s Climatic Patterns , researched during Natural Systems Ecology, solidified my comprehension of the intricate relationship between climate and those elements used to determine a bioregional classification based upon naturally occurring vs. politically designated boundaries.  This structure and methodology provided an important contextual base to explore Maui from additional perspectives of study.

 

In Part I of my final paper, Theories of Sustainability and Resilience on Maui, I applied the knowledge of contemporary theory to an examination of the underpinnings of sustainability in Hawaiian culture before western contact.  In early Hawaiian communities, the integration of nature and society was embodied by the concept of the ahupua’a, an indigenous system of land and resource management that supported their subsistence culture.  Through this system, each ‘ohana, or extended family, had access to the resources that were available within their ahupuaʻa, which stretched from mauka (mountain) to makai (ocean).  Frequently, the political boundaries of the ahupua’a followed the contours of the naturally formed watersheds and ensured the equitable distribution of natural resources among families.  For it was the stream-filled valleys that carried the life-giving wai, or water, across the surface to the loʻi (wet taro plots) or infiltrated the porous lava to feed the freshwater aquifers below.  

 

It was through these generations of reciprocal relationships between communities and nature, paired with an intimate ecological and environmental knowledge, that supported the initial sustainability and resilience of pre-contact Hawaiian society.  It is the continued revival of these relationships and traditional practices through ancient lessons shared by the modern-day kahuna (elder experts in their respective fields) that will facilitate the recovery of the Hawaiian culture and its connection to ‘aina (land).  Only through an ever-expanding and intimate relationship to place can we hope to regain the local knowledge of our kupuna (ancestors) and apply it towards contemporary solutions that are rooted in a sense of place to solve current and future environmental issues. “Nana i ke kumu,” (look to the source).  

 

I believe that by synthesizing the traditional pre-contact Hawaiian worldviews and current theories of sustainability and resilience, we can better envision the necessary paradigm shift that will be required to achieve a sustainable and resilient society for future generations (Theories of Sustainability and Resilience on Maui, 2019). Therefore, it is my goal to utilize and apply the land-based environmental knowledge gained through the MSES program with past coursework and experience in Marine Sciences to help generate awareness, educate the community, and restore and preserve Maui’s ahupua’a from mauka to makai.  

      

Knowledge

The idyllic, tropical landscape on Maui belies a harsh social, economic, and environmental existence for its people, flora and fauna, and the ecosystem services that connect and support them all.  The MSES Program at Green Mountain College has provided me with the necessary foundational knowledge to begin to address several pressing environmental and community issues on Maui. Watershed protection and water rights, food security, and response to climate change are some of the critical areas of concern in my bioregion that require heightened community awareness and attention.  The broad array of coursework I participated in has supported both my professional goal of connecting students to their environment and community and my personal goal of becoming an informed citizen and parent.

 

Thayer (2003) stated, “[...] that we must all live in the world subjectively and that true knowledge can be gained only by a combined experience of inner and outer realities” (p. xvi).  It has been my goal throughout the MSES program to intentionally shape my graduate experiences to deepen my awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of this unique bioregion to help prepare myself, students, and the community for the environmental, social, and economic changes to come.

 

Watershed Protection

Hahai no ka ua i ka ulula'au, ‘The rain follows after the forest.’ Freshwater is an essential resource on Maui and is especially important to preserve and manage responsibly. Native forests provide the critical, yet often undervalued environmental services of improved water quality, increased carbon storage opportunities, increased resilience in the face of climate change threats, and reduced risk for invasive species colonization.  Less than 10% of native forest cover remains on leeward Haleakalā due to overgrazing by feral ungulates, fire, direct human land use, and the vigorous encroachment of invading plant species. It is imperative to bring awareness to our community of the importance of maintaining healthy watersheds through native forest restoration. (Native Plant Propagation Proposal, 2018)

 

My interest in landscape-scale watershed restoration began in 2004 in the “Treasure Coast” region along Florida’s eastern seashore.  I was a landscape designer at the time and was tasked with helping a wildlife biologist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prepare construction documents that would restore abandoned citrus groves to their native upland habitat at the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge in Sebastian Florida.  As part of this award-winning project, our secondary goal was to design and construct a series of ephemeral ponds, of varying depths and shapes, as an experiment to observe the wading preferences of the regional migratory and local waterfowl. That project, as my first exposure to restoration methodology and its interdisciplinary nature, made a lasting impression and has driven my MSES studies and collaborative community efforts towards a multifaceted exploration of our region’s watersheds.

 

I began my study of Maui’s watersheds during the Natural Systems Ecology course with a specific focus on the ecology of the ʻŌhiʻa Montane Wet Forest Community  The dominant species within the community were identified as well as the energy flow through the system, its limiting factors, and population ecology. In addition, the combined impact of human influences and pathogens on watershed health were specifically explored in The Cascading Effects of Ceratocystis fimbriata on the ʻŌhiʻa Montane Wet Forest Community (2018):

 

Devastating biological invasions introduced by humans into Hawaiʻi’s ecosystems are impoverishing island biodiversity (Loope & Medeiros, 1994).  Metrosideros polymorpha [the foundational tree species that accounts for 50% of the basal area within almost every habitat and moisture zone] is under threat from an onslaught of introduced organisms, pathogens, and habitat loss.  Kāhili ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum), and strawberry guava (Psidium cattleianum) disrupt and displace the ʻŌhiʻa canopy and lead to severe changes in the native trophic levels and nutrient cycles (Mueller-Dombois, et al. 2013).  Pathogens such as Ceratocystis fimbriata, or Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death, threaten to extirpate local populations on Hawaiʻi Island and alter forest composition, structure, and function (Mortenson, et al. 2016).

 

The awareness of the situation and its impact on my island home compelled me to deepen my studies of Metrosideros polymorpha in an effort to apply the knowledge and affect real change.  The Field Botany course built upon the fundamental ecology concepts explored in Natural Systems Ecology by narrowing my scale of study through the development of a comprehensive species monograph for the keystone tree species Metrosideros polymorpha Gaud., or the ʻŌhiʻa Lehua.  Equally important, supporting work in this course provided an experiential opportunity to develop first-hand knowledge of plant communities within my bioregion.  Field techniques such as the identification of morphological traits, via field notes and specimen collection, and their application to synoptic keys in the regional flora were put into practice and used to identify plant species within different communities.  All are useful skills that will be shared with my students in the Living Classroom through the Native Plant Propagation Program at the Montessori School of Maui. The work completed in these courses satisfied the main goals of my self-designed program by generating awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of the ecosystems that provide the critical hydrological services of water capture and sequestration on Maui.

 

Water Rights

Water is a critical resource for all life on Earth.  In all of its forms, liquid, gas, and vapor, it has sustained and enriched our civilizations and ecosystems since time immemorial.  In Hawai’i, water is regarded with such high value that its conservation and use are legislated and thereby “held in trust by the state for the benefit of the people” (Schenfeld, 2017).  In pre-contact Hawaiian culture, water, or wai, was considered sacred and their practice of equally sharing water gave them their word for law, kānāwai, and their word for wealth, waiwai (Williams, 1997, p.105).  As is true with most things that carry value, debates have arisen between fundamentally opposed parties regarding the fair and equal allocation of this precious resource. (A Philosophical Exploration of the Water Rights Debate on Maui, 2017)

 

The Environmental History & Philosophy course was the first step in my exploration of the underlying origins of Western and Hawaiian worldviews and how those deep-seated beliefs had evolved to shape their disparate environmental practices and values with respect towards this precious resource.  

 

To better comprehend their divergent conceptual frameworks, I embarked on an in-depth analysis of the origin of their opposing organismic and mechanistic perspectives.  The final paper, A Philosophical Exploration of the Water Rights Debate on Maui, focused on the contemporary and divisive local issue of water conservation and its allocated uses. These theoretical models, which represented a collection of entrenched background assumptions and core beliefs, allowed me to explore mankind’s ecological interactions with nature from two opposing viewpoints. Early Hawaiian society differed from Western culture in that they believed water to be alive with consciousness and was therefore deserving of moral considerability based on its intrinsic value.  In direct contrast, however, Western society operated from an anthropocentric worldview, which held human beings above nature. To them, water carried instrumental value only with no direct moral standing or value outside of its usefulness to irrigate agricultural lands and supply fresh drinking water.

 

That philosophical and ethical exploration laid the foundation for additional studies during the Environmental Law and Policy course.  The concepts studied during this course offered an understanding of common-law and regulatory mechanisms that I later applied in Water: Under the Public Trust Doctrine in Hawaiʻi, which was a detailed summary of the history of the surface water rights debate in Hawai’i, from Western contact through 2018.  The highly complex and deeply nuanced topic of water law in the State of Hawaiʻi offered a fascinating glimpse into the legal history of water in the region.  I hope to use these studies in the future to further analyze the fundamental differences between these two vastly dissimilar cultural perspectives, and draw out commonalities that will identify a middle pathway.  I believe that it is this unique perspective, gained through the interdisciplinary studies of the MSES program, that can be used as a basis to help resolve conflicts and achieve mutually beneficial solutions to shared social and environmental issues of water access and the restoration of watershed functions.  

 

Food Security

There is a growing movement in Hawaiʻi that seeks to address the important considerations of food security in the most geographically remote landmass on the planet (Kent, 2015).  “About 85-90% of Hawaii’s food is imported which makes it particularly vulnerable to natural disasters and global event[s] that might disrupt shipping and the food supply” (Office of Planning, 2012).  With a resident population of 1.4 million people (Hawaii Population, 2018) and an annual transient population of 8.8 million visitors, (Hawaii Tourism Authority, 2016), supplying enough safe and nutritious food is a challenging task.  To do so in a way that promotes food security, self-sufficiency and resilience will require a redesign of our current food system that includes increasing the amount of locally grown food. (Kalo: A Value Chain for the Future, 2018) 

 

Efforts in The Farm to Plate Sustainability course were directed towards understanding the components and characteristics of “sustainable value chains.” Through this work, I came to realize that we must envision and create improved food supply and value chains that are structured in a way that promotes food security, self-sufficiency, and overall resilience in our current food system.

 

Studies that surrounded these concepts resulted in Kalo: A Value Chain for the Future , an in-depth regional analysis and proposal to increase the production of this important staple crop through a holistic supply strategy in an effort to mitigate Hawai’i’s dependence on imported food.  The success of that proposal will require state support; innovation; collaboration between farmers, processors, and marketers; and increased consumer awareness and demand. After an increased supply is met, I see education and marketing as the keys to changing the perceptions and demands of the consumer.  Once they have more information about kalo and experience it through the multitude of value-added products, consumers will then become agents of change and will effectively “pull” the product through the chain.

 

That educational initiative began with our students at the Montessori School of Maui who have embarked on that journey through the agricultural production of dryland kalo on campus.  Efforts to propagate this important staple crop began in the Fall of 2018 while I was enrolled in The Farm to Plate Sustainability course and by studying the kalo in-depth and from multiple perspectives, I clearly saw the benefit and necessity of generating awareness and respect for this unique crop.  

 

It is my intention to not only learn about and practice the traditional methods of planting dryland kalo with my students but also to use our crop to promote demand in the marketplace.  As students harvest and process their kalo into traditional Hawaiian foods and modern value-added products, my hope is that they gain a “taste” for this magnificent food and share their experience within their respective communities.  In this way, demand will be increased and over time, and result in Hawai’i’s decreased dependence on imported foods.

 

Response to Climate Change

Hawaiʻi is experiencing climate change.  Regional indicators include rising air and sea surface temperatures, increased levels of atmospheric CO2, sea level rise, increasing ocean acidity, changing patterns of natural climate variability, irregular rainfall patterns, decreasing base flow in streams, and altered habitats and species distributions (Keener et al., 2012).  These changing patterns are associated with increased environmental, social, cultural, and economic impacts to Hawaiʻi, which is especially vulnerable due to its concentration of infrastructure and economy along the coastline. (Climate Change and Maui: Indicators, Impacts, and Responses, 2018)

 

The Climate Change and Resource Impacts course built upon my comprehensive understanding of my bioregion through the prior coursework of Maui’s Climatic Patterns and A History of the Central Valley Bioregion on Maui .  From that basis of regional application, RSC 5020 provided a global scale perspective of the oceanic and atmospheric systems that govern climate and the feedback mechanisms that cause changes in the Earth’s climate.  In addition, a rigorous study of marine and terrestrial-based proxies and their application to climate modeling provided essential knowledge used to strengthen my analysis and application of climate change indicators at varying scales.  In Climate Change and Maui: Indicators, Impacts, and Responses, specific attention was paid towards identifying regional indicators and the resultant impacts caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.  Possible solutions or mitigation of these impacts were also explored and summarized.

 

As the impacts of climate change increasingly manifest in Hawaiʻi, policy makers, conservationists, and community members have begun in earnest to assess the associated climate change risks to better safeguard our infrastructure, environment, safety, and way of life.  To prepare for these social, environmental, and economic changes, I believe that society as a whole must preemptively participate in the planning and policy changes that are necessary to protect our vulnerable community.

 

The cumulative principles gained from the MSES program has improved my ability to synthesize and apply the principles of environmental studies to effectively participate in ongoing community-scale discussions and activities that surround the issue of climate change and its impacts on resources and infrastructure.  It is my sincere desire to utilize this knowledge to help achieve viable and sustainable solutions for community resiliency in the face of climate change.  

 

Change Through Education & Community Involvement

As an educator, I feel that the best way to effect change in the world is to work with students and help them gain an appreciation and awareness of their interconnectedness between themselves, their communities, and the natural world.  To achieve this goal, I concluded that I must increase my awareness and education within the realm of environmental studies. I have a deep love and appreciation for the Hawaiian Islands and the cultural expertise that exists here. The bioregional approach to the MSES Program has afforded me the unique opportunity to contribute to the preservation of this magnificent archipelago.

 

Hawai’i is the most geographically remote group of islands on Earth, and as such has evolved to become host to a high number of endemic species.  In fact, 19% of the 2,176 marine organisms and 64% of the 11,511 terrestrial biotas found in the archipelago are considered endemic (Ziegler, 2002).  Despite its unique diversity, Hawai'i is an ecological disaster. Due to habitat loss and degradation; noxious alien species; introduced predators; and exotic diseases, “three-quarters of all America’s bird and plant extinctions have occurred within these islands [...] all four of its counties now rank in the top five US counties for federally endangered plants and animals, and forty-eight of the fifty-nine endangered species listed by the Obama administration [...] have been Hawaiian plants and birds” (Cabin, 2013, p.xxi).  As dire as all of this appears to be, there is hope to restore and preserve Hawai’i’s unique flora and fauna through the habitat conservation efforts of watershed restoration organizations that have unified across the state.

 

The Native Plant Propagation Program envisioned during the Grant Writing Workshop and currently under construction, is anticipated to support the watershed restoration efforts of local organizations, develop strong connections to the community in the spirit of cooperative enterprise, and provide a vibrant interdisciplinary approach to the existing project-based Living Classroom curriculum. The applied botany, ethnobotany, ecology, and economics involved in operating a plant nursery will translate classroom concepts into observable cause and effect. Furthermore, the collaboration between students and organizations fosters the development of communication skills, responsibility for one’s actions, teamwork, and empowers the children to become global citizens with sound ecological literacy.  The successful completion of this project embodies many of my professional goals and objectives and is the first step in generating awareness within the community of the importance of protecting our local watersheds.

 

The process of engaging society with these issues and potentially transforming conceptual frameworks and values begins with the intentional involvement and education of our youth .  Ecological awareness, knowledge, and respect are characteristics that provide the foundation for the next generation to approach the environmental, societal, and economic challenges that we will soon face.  As an environmental educator, it is my kuleana (responsibility) and privilege to prepare them to the best of my abilities.  The teacher is now prepared.

 

Conclusion

The more life experience I gain, the better I become at recognizing opportunities for personal growth, assessing their value, and intentionally choosing them.  Goals and dreams can sometimes come easy, as if by some unseen hand. However, that is frequently not the case, and it is the dedication to achieving those goals that often-times requires the most amount of fortitude to maintain.  It is important to recognize that those challenges do not diminish a goal’s value, but rather, they are essential parts of its overall meaning and often build character, knowledge, stamina, and a sense of empowerment through experience.  I look forward to the next series of challenges as I passionately apply the theoretical, physical, philosophical, and practical knowledge gleaned throughout the MSES Program towards the betterment of this spectacular bioregion.

 

As I reflect upon my graduate work in the MSES Program, I cannot help but notice how this journey was the natural result of a series of bold choices and commitments that began with that formative experience aboard the deck of the Lynx.  What was once “a shadowy hulking mass on the horizon” as viewed from a distance, has now resolved into a multifaceted splendor of detailed comprehension. A sensorial experience at first, that vision has now solidified and represents my personal, professional, and academic achievements obtained since that day in the Alenuihāhā Channel.

 

 

References

 

A History of the Central Valley Bioregion on Maui (2017).  ENV 5040 Bioregional Theory & Practice: September 19 - October 30, 2017.  Green Mountain College.

 

A Philosophical Exploration of the Water Rights Debate on Maui (2017).  ENV 5015 Environmental History & Philosophy: November 7 - December 18, 2017.  Green Mountain College.

 

Beckwith, M. W. (1992). The Kumulipo: a Hawaiian creation chant. Honolulu: Univ. of Hawaii Pr.

 

Cabin, R. J. (2013). Restoring paradise: rethinking and rebuilding nature in Hawaiʻi. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press.

 

Climate Change and Maui: Indicators, Impacts, and Responses (2018). RSC Climate Change and Resource Impacts: November 6 - December 17, 2018. Green Mountain College

 

Culliney, J. L. (2006). Islands in a far sea: the fate of nature in Hawai’i (Rev. ed). Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.

 

Dodge, J. (1990). “Living by Life:  Some Bioregional Theory and Practice.”  In Andrus, V., Ed. (2007). Home! A Bioregional Reader. Gabriola Island, BC,  New Catalyst Books.

 

Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance (2009).  Climate change in the Hawaiian Islands.  Retrieved from http://www.hawaiiconservation.org/wp-content/uploads/HCA-Climate-Change-in-Hawaii.pdf

 

Hawai’i Population. (2018). Retrieved from http://worldpopulationreview.com/states/hawaii/

 

Hawai’i Tourism Authority. (2016). Annual visitor research report.  Retrieved from http://files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/visitor/visitor-research/2016-annual-visitor.pdf

 

Kalo: A Value Chain for the Future (2018).  SFS 5050 Vegetables & Fruits: Farm to Plate Sustainability: September 11 - October 22, 2018.  Green Mountain College.

 

Keener, V., Marra, J., Finucane, M., Spooner, D., & Smith, M. (Eds.).  (2012). Climate Change and Pacific Islands: Indicators and Impacts. Report for The 2012 Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment. Washington, DC: Island Press.

 

Kent, G. (2015).  Food security in Hawaii. In Chirico, J., & Farley, G. S. (Eds.). (2015). Thinking like an island: navigating a sustainable future in Hawaiʻi. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press.

 

Loope, L. L., & Medeiros, A. (1994). Impacts of Biological Invasions on the Management and Recovery of Rare Plants in Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaiian Islands. U.S. National Park Service Publications and Papers. 9. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/natlpark/9

 

Mortenson, L., Hughes, R., Friday, J., Keith, L., Barbosa, J., Friday, N., Liu, Z., Sowards, T.  Assessing spatial distribution, stand impacts and rate of Ceratocystis fimbriata induced ‘ōhi‘a (Metrosideros polymorpha) mortality in a tropical wet forest, Hawai‘i Island, USA. (2016). Forest Ecology and Management, 377, 83–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2016.06.026

 

Mueller-Dombois, D., Jacobi, J., Boehmer, H.J., & Price, J.  (2013). ʿŌhiʿa Lehua rainforest: born among Hawaiian volcanoes, evolved in isolation ; the story of a dynamic ecosystem with relevance to forests worldwide. Hawaii:  Friends of the Joseph Rock Herbarium.

 

Native Plant Propagation Proposal (2018).  COM 6070 Grant Writing Workshop: April 17 - May 28, 2018.  Green Mountain College.

 

Office of Planning, State of Hawaii. (2012). Increased food security and food self-sufficiency strategy. Retrieved from http://files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/op/spb/INCREASED_FOOD_SECURITY_AND_FOOD_SELF_SUFFICIENCY_STRATEGY.pdf  

 

Schenfeld, N. (2017, October 12).  The battle for water continues in East Maui.  Retrieved from http://mauinow.com/2017/10/12/the-battle-for-water-continues-in-east-maui/

 

Thayer, R. L. (2003). Life Place: Bioregional Thought and Practice. Berkeley, University of California Press.

 

Theories of Sustainability and Resilience on Maui.  (2019).  RSC 5050 Theories of Sustainability: January 8 - February 18, 2019. Green Mountain College.

 

Water: Under the Public Trust Doctrine in Hawaiʻi. (2018).  ENV 5011 Environmental Law & Policy: February 27 - April 9, 2018. Green Mountain College.

 

Williams, J. S. (1997). From the mountains to the sea: a Hawaiian lifestyle. Honolulu: Kamehameha Schools Press.

 

Ziegler, A. C. (2002). Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology, and Evolution. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.