When poor land management and a quickly changing planet collide, we witness frightening natural disasters. Some seem to happen suddenly, as with the fire that destroyed Lahaina or the wildfires that engulfed large parts of Los Angeles. Some happen almost invisibly, as with the decline of our Native Hawaiian honeycreepers. But they happen because our actions are not in balance with our environment.
These disasters call on us, the people of Hawaii, to do better. They serve as stark reminders of the need to return to a reciprocal relationship with the natural world. Grounded in the sustaining and timeless values of aloha ʻaina, we have the blueprint for thriving communities and nature.
We recognize that a quickly changing planet is connected to carbon emissions, damages to our waterways, oceans and forests, and an extractive economic system. Across the world we are trying to fix this. We need to pivot toward our ancestral values, to a relationship of reciprocity.
The advanced stewardship systems and practices of our ancestors formed an ancestral circular economy which ensured ‘aina momona (flourishing lands which feed) from mauka to makai, sustaining a population roughly equal to ours today. They recognized the regenerative relationships between forests, streams, lo‘i (pond fields), loko i‘a (fishponds) and the ocean which are as pertinent and relevant today as they were 400 years ago.
As we care for our lands and waters today, we must relearn the deep interconnectedness of our natural world, water, forest, stream and ocean with life and the economy. We must adapt our approaches so we can navigate new challenges and build resilience to threats.
This approach is about more than protection or preservation. It is about understanding — and executing — our practices for resilient and thriving island communities. For example, community-led ‘aina-based collaboration on every Hawaiian island demonstrates how to deploy ancestral principles to contemporary challenges. In places like Ha‘ena, He‘eia, Ka‘upulehu, Miloli‘i, Kipahulu and Mo‘omomi, local leaders and nonprofits work together in returning abundance to coastlines through the creation of community-based subsistence fishing areas, restoration of traditional mariculture and agriculture systems, and state and voluntary rest areas.
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On Maui near Olowalu and on Hawaii island in Kealakekua and Kahuwai bays, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and community leaders are restoring and planting coral reefs. At Kuamo‘o near Keauhou on Hawai‘i Island, Aloha Kuamo‘o ‘Aina (AKA) is restoring the intellectual and physical landscape into a refuge for learning and integration of indigenous culture in modern life.
Yet these practices cannot continue without reliable funding rooted in our collective responsibility to ‘aina. Hawai‘i faces a $560 million funding gap to preserve nature and support our communities. Never has stable, local funding been more important than now, as federal agencies and programs are suffering significant cuts in budgets and staffing.
We urge elected officials to create an environmental stewardship fee, paid by visitors, to close the funding gap and provide steady resources for restoration, conservation and management. More than 75% of visitors surveyed support the fee, which would be used for community safety from fires and floods and resiliency for water and food production. It would create economic opportunity for residents through ‘aina-based jobs and protect public health with clean water for our families.
Our current situation calls us to rethink our relationship with the Earth and to shift from exploitation to stewardship, from overconsumption to conservation, and toward proven traditional practices that guide modern sustainability.
As we mark Earth Day this Tuesday and Earth Month 2025, may we all do our parts to discover, learn, embrace and commit to the values of aloha ‘aina in our lives.
Ulalia Woodside Lee is executive director, The Nature Conservancy Hawaii and Palmyra; Kamanamaikalani Beamer, Ph.D., is a professor and director of Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawaii-Manoa.
