As chairman of the U.S. Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, established in March to push for action on climate change, Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz announced this month he is seeking input from Native Hawaiians and other indigenous people.

In partnership with Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), vice chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Schatz and the nine other members of the climate special committee have sent a letter asking leaders of Native Hawaiian, Native American and Alaska Native communities to suggest solutions “to this urgent threat.”

They reference the fourth National Climate Assessment, released in November, which seeks to “contribute to a more equitable future” by prioritizing the needs of lower-income, marginalized and indigenous communities more vulnerable to extreme weather and other climate change effects.

“It’s an unfortunate fact that native communities are disproportionately impacted,” Schatz told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, noting how sea-level rise threatens lands and aquifers of Pacific islands. “We want to create a structure so that these communities can articulate how climate change is impacting them and what kinds of solution sets they can show to us.”

Native Hawaiians knew how to live in balance with ecosystems, Schatz said, and it’s time to draw on their wisdom. “There’s a lot of conversation in D.C. right now about creating industrial processes to remove carbon from the atmosphere, but natural ecosystems are already doing so.”

Schatz cited the work being done by Hawaiian organizations to restore the ahupuaa of Heeia in Windward Oahu.

“I’m happy (the senators) are asking,” said Kanekoa Shultz, 41, Kaneohe Bay marine director at The Nature Conservancy Hawai‘i and executive director of Kako‘o ‘Oiwi, which has been rebuilding and farming traditional loi terraces in Heeia Valley with help from volunteers and funding from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Working with Paepae o He‘eia Fishpond, Hui Ku Maoli Ola Native Plant Specialists, Papaha- na Kuaola, Ko‘olaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club and others, Shultz said, Kako‘o Oiwi is applying the practicies of Hawaiian ancestors who managed the forests and built the loi and He‘eia Fishpond .

“Native forests, loi kalo and fishponds help mitigate flooding, help absorb and filter sediments and nutrients out of Kaneohe Bay,” Shultz said, noting the systems are a good model for the more extreme storms attributed to climate change. “Over 1,000 years, our ancestors learned to build resilient systems against storms.”

Paepae o He‘eia, a recipient of the senators’ letter, is rebuilding the fishpond seawall, removing invasive mangrove trees and algae, and growing native wetland plants. The traditional systems work together, Shultz said: The loi purify water entering the fishpond, and the pond helps keep saltwater from rising into the kalo patches during extreme high tides and ocean storm surges. He noted the Hawaiians developed varieties of kalo that can tolerate saltwater.

“We can’t do this without each other. We have to be together,” Shultz said, stressing the importance of community in mitigating climate change.

The letter also asks for ideas about economic opportunities that might accompany climate solutions in indigenous communities.

From a business standpoint, “We’ve got 3,000 years of (research and development) in sciences and technologies of integrated biosystems management” from Hawaiian ancestors, said Kamuela Enos, 42, director of social enterprise at MA‘O Organic Farms in Waianae, another recipient of the senators’ letter.

However, “It’s important to understand that our sciences and economic engines were not to create individual wealth but to create equilibrium between people and landscape, bequeathed to the next generation,” Enos added, citing MA‘O’s educational outreach in Waianae high schools.

“In running our organic farms, what we’ve found is that youth from our program go to college and move out of poverty,” he said.

For economics as well as ecosystems, “It’s closing the loop.”

Organic farming focuses on building naturally fertile soil, and healthy soil sequesters carbon, Enos said.

A former member of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Commission established by President Obama, he suggested that turning ecosystem and climate restoration into meaningful employment in underserved communities, such as MA‘O is doing in Waianae, is something that could be scaled up rapidly through investment from the federal government.

The farms also have earned enough to invest in growth. MA‘O started with 5 leased acres in 2001 and now has a total of 281 acres, 5 leased and 276 owned, said Claire Sullivan, 38, MA‘O director of development and outreach. “And we get to work with many young people, age 17 to 24, who give me great hope,” she said.

“We’ve developed the capacity to help our policymakers,” Enos said of the “incredible work” being done in Hawaiian communities. “It’s our job to provide the metrics to help them act on our behalf.”

The senators’ announcement, including a link to their full letter, can be viewed at 808ne.ws/ 2Y4QKfW. The deadline to respond is Sept. 13. The information provided will be compiled into a report to be issued next summer as background for climate legislation in 2021, Schatz said.

Schatz said all are welcome to comment by emailing Community_Leaders_ Feedback@indian.senate.gov.