Nonprofit claims nature is out of whack in Hawaii

A coalition of 17 Hawaii funders of conservation projects issued a report today that says the state’s environment is under pressure and out of balance, and calls for greater attention to protection of drinking water, renewable energy and marine management.

The report by the Hawaii Environmental Funders Group also urges greater budget and manpower support for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and state Department of Agriculture, the agencies responsible for being stewards of Hawaii’s environment.

The report, titled “He Lono Moku: The State of the Environment,” was released today in advance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress meeting in Honolulu, Sept. 1-10.

“Hawaii faces daunting environmental challenges from climate change to endangered species,” said Brant Chillingworth, senior program officer at Hau‘oli Mau Loa Foundation and chairman of the committee that compiled the report. “We can’t keep passing on these growing challenges to the next generation for them to figure out.”

Chillingworth said that with the IUCN meeting putting Hawaii on the world stage, the organization decided to take the opportunity to shine a light on some of the biggest environmental challenges faced right here.

“It is time for a renewed focus on sustaining Hawaii’s priceless environment,” Josh Stanbro of the Hawaii Community Foundation said in a news release. “Our society is not investing enough in protecting our watersheds, forests and oceans.”

Available at helonomoku.com, the report highlights some of the most pressing issues facing Hawaii’s environment as well as some of the strides being made.

According to the report, Hawaii supported a population of up to 800,000 sustainably for centuries. But now, seven generations after contact with the Western world, Hawaii has had its population nearly double to 1.42 million, and it is expected to double again by 2080.

The pressures, the report says, have left Hawaii’s environment out of balance, with the islands grappling with growing demand for food, water, energy and housing in the face of climate change.

The report says Hawaii consumes water at almost double the national average, with residents and nonagricultural businesses using an average 144 gallons of water per day, or 4,320 gallons per month, due in part to the impact of 7 million tourists a year.

Reducing public daily consumption is necessary to allow Hawaii’s water to go further, the report says. Some are working on the problem. For example, the state is conducting a feasibility study of recycling water at airports, one of the state’s biggest water consumers, using “scalping” technology — small treatment plants that treat wastewater to standards acceptable for reuse as irrigation or washing.

According to the report, Hawaii can’t afford to cut corners on programs that protect and restore its threatened watersheds. University of Hawaii researchers estimate that the economic value of the goods and services provided by the Koolau watershed, for example, is as much as $14 billion. And UH’s Economic Research Organization figured in 2004 that $43.2 million worth of conservation work in the Koolau Mountains could translate into more than $900 million worth of water, the report says.

On renewable energy the report points to successes and laudable goals but adds that there’s a long road ahead with serious hurdles to overcome, including coming up with solutions to high rates and delays in interconnecting rooftop solar systems, among other things.

“Hawaii’s remote location makes importing fuel costly, risky, and inexpedient — and results in the highest gasoline and electricity rates in the country,” the report says.

Moving to clean energy, it says, requires investment in new infrastructure and technology, with a payoff of saving $5 billion spent a year on oil, coal and natural gas — fossil fuels that worsen climate change and keep prices volatile.

“Currently, more than 10 percent of the state’s gross domestic product is spent on fossil fuel energy, twice the amount spent on education and more than half of what is brought in by visitor expenditures,” the report says.

As for marine resources, the report praises the state’s up-and-coming community-based marine management program but describes Hawaii’s overall marine management effort as “fractured and out of date,” with just 13 percent of near-shore waters actively managed by the state.

Other flaws, according to the report:

>> Hawaii is the only state with a recreational fishery that does not require some form of recreational fishing license.

>> There are no broadly recognized standards for coral health.

>> While many organizations carry out coral monitoring and research, there is no centralized, unified database.

Both the Department of Land and Natural Resources and state Department of Agriculture were featured in the report for their importance in taking care of the environment.

But DLNR’s enforcement division is severely understaffed, with only 120 officers assigned to patrol 1.3 million acres of state-owned land and 3 million marine acres, the report says. DLNR, it adds, oversees 30 percent of the state’s land and water resources yet receives only 1.1 percent of the budget.

Likewise, only 0.4 percent of the state budget goes to the Department of Agriculture, yet its responsibilities range from being the first line of defense against an onslaught of invasive species to regulating pesticide use.

“And as climate change gains momentum, increasing the risk of the spread of disease through avenues such as mosquitoes, HDOA’s role is more important than ever,” the report says.

State Board of Agriculture Chairman Scott Enright said many people don’t understand the important role his department plays in the environment. He also agreed that the department is underfunded.

“We need to grow that (budget) — certainly if the state of Hawaii is going to be proactive toward greater food sustainability, invasive species, bio-security, animal diseases and plant diseases,” Enright said.

Formed in 2010, the Hawaii Environmental Funders Group is a network of 17 local and national individuals and foundations which commits substantial investment in the environment and sustainability of the islands. In 2014 the 17 affiliates collectively gave almost $14 million toward environmental conservation in Hawaii.

Convened and coordinated by the Hawaii Community Foundation, the group includes members that range from the Atherton Family Foundation and Harold K.L. Castle Foundation to Kamehameha Schools and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

The group said it plans to issue a state-of-the-environment report every year.