It didn’t start out as a historic project. It just came out that way.

Researchers from the University of Hawaii joined colleagues from other universities and Native Hawaiian communities to assemble what turned out to be the largest collection of scientific publications by Native Hawaiians.

The research — focused on biocultural restoration in Hawaii — is found in a special issue of the peer- reviewed science journal Sustainability.

Lead guest editor Kawika Winter, who manages the Heeia National Estuarine Research Reserve and is an assistant specialist at UH’s Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, said the idea for the project grew out of a plea over a year ago by prominent Canadian ecologist and university professor Fikret Berkes, who wanted to cite peer-reviewed research on biocultural restoration in Hawaii for his own work.

In response, Winter and his colleagues approached the editors at Sustainability about the idea of compiling a special issue, and they agreed.

Nearly 100 authors answered the call for papers, generating 14 articles for the special edition. More than a third of the authors are of Native Hawaiian ancestry. Each paper had at least one Native Hawaiian author, and several papers had a Hawaiian lead author. Their contributions comprised what is believed to be the largest collection to date of scientific publications written by Native Hawaiians.

Additionally, the majority of authors are women, and two of the papers had 100 percent authorship by women.

It was only until later that the special edition editors — Winter, UH researcher Noa Kekuewa Lincoln and nonprofit Kua‘aina ‘Ulu Auamo Executive Director Kevin Chang — realized they had achieved a milestone.

Winter said he was surprised by how much of the scholarship came from women.

“But it’s not that big of a surprise when you think about it, when you think about who is caring for our Mother Earth and our island home,” he said.

What is biocultural restoration?

It is described as an approach that incorporates people and nature in a larger effort to restore the health, function and resilience of both landscapes and seascapes.

The special issue highlights models of biocultural conservation in the larger effort to restore the environment focusing on managing forests, streams, nearshore fisheries, traditional crop diversity and traditional food systems.

The papers explore such topics as the potential of breadfruit for bolstering food security, battling environmental degradation and improving public health in Hawaii. Other papers look at the lessons learned from a longtime fisheries management area in Kahana, how the practice of Hawaiian sacred rituals can enhance land stewardship, and the benefits of a resurgence of native crops in Hawaii.

Winter said the work collectively shows Hawaii is a global leader in biocultural restoration, and the work has a chance of influencing policy both locally and internationally.

Such efforts found the spotlight when Hawaii hosted the World Conservation Congress in 2016, he said, and the island community, its culture and conservation efforts have since resonated globally.

Sustainability is an international open-access online journal that explores the cultural, environmental, economic and social sustainability for human beings. A large portion of the publishing costs linked to the special issue came from the Hawai‘i Community Foundation.