Hawaiian Anchialine Ecosystem and Fishpond Conservation in the face of Climate Change
American Sāmoa | Wednesday, June 21 from 1:00-2:30 p.m.Hawaiʻi | Wednesday, June 21 from 2:00-3:30 p.m.Palau | Thursday, June 22 from 9:00-10:30 a.m.CNMI & Guam | Thursday, June 22 from 10:00-11:30 a.m.FSM | Thursday, June 22 from 10:00-11:30 a.m. (Weno) / 11:00 am-12:30 p.m. (Palikir)RMI | Thursday, June 22 from 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.
A Pacific RISCC Webinar via Zoom
Webinar overview:
Climate change, including sea level rise, and invasive species threaten anchialine ecosystems and Hawaiian fishponds.
What is happening and how can managers adapt to these changes?
June’s Pacific RISCC webinar will feature presentations from Dr. Lisa Marrack with the Santa Catalina School, Rebecca Most with The Nature Conservancy, Tyler Paikuli-Campbell, Kaileʻe Annandale, and Jackson Letchworth from Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, Kim Crawford from Hui Kaloko-Honokōhau, and Lehua Kamaka with Ka Loko o Kīholo and Hui Aloha Kīholo.
Program Schedule:
Times are in Hawai’i Standard Time (HST):
2:00-2:10: Welcome and introduction of speakers
2:10-2:25: Assessing the Response of Groundwater-Fed Anchialine Pool Ecosystems to Sea Level Rise on the Island of Hawaiʻi – Dr. Lisa Marrack, Santa Catalina School.
2:25-2:35: Hui Loko Network: Connecting, Restoring, Perpetuating – Rebecca Most, The Nature Conservancy.
2:10-2:25: Assessing the Response of Groundwater-Fed Anchialine Pool Ecosystems to Sea Level Rise on the Island of Hawaiʻi – Dr. Lisa Marrack, Santa Catalina School.
2:25-2:35: Hui Loko Network: Connecting, Restoring, Perpetuating – Rebecca Most, The Nature Conservancy.
2:35-3:00: In the Face of Climate Change: Kiʻo Wai (Anchialine) and Loko Iʻa (Fishpond) Ecosystems at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park – Tyler Paikuli-Campbell, Kaileʻa Annandale, and Jackson Letchworth, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, and Kim Crawford, Hui Kaloko-Honokōhau.
3:00-3:15: Looking to the Teachings of Our Ancestors as we Adapt to Climate Change at Kīholo, Puʻuwaʻawaʻa – Lehua Kamaka, Ka Loko o Kīholo and Hui Aloha Kīholo.
3:15-3:30: Questions and Answers
Speaker and Presentation details:
Dr. Lisa Marrack grew up on the island of Hawaiʻi and worked for 9 years at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park surveying anchialine pools and coral reefs. These experiences led to her doctoral work at UC Berkeley and subsequent research. Currently she is an Affiliate Researcher with UH Hilo and the Science Chair at Santa Catalina School.
Talk: Assessing the Response of Groundwater-Fed Anchialine Pool Ecosystems to Sea Level Rise on the Island of Hawaiʻi.
Groundwater-fed anchialine pools are tidally influenced coastal habitats that connect underground to the ocean through porous substrate. Hawaiian anchialine pools support endemic and endangered species of crustaceans, damselflies, birds, and gastropods. Introduced fishes, destructive land use, water pollution and withdrawal, and senescence fueled by introduced vegetation destroy or degrade pools – these threats may be exacerbated by sea level rise. Predictions of future anchialine habitat location and condition were mapped for sections of coastline on the island of Hawaiʻi at intervals between 2018 and 2080. Flood models incorporated field surveys of over 500 anchialine pools, in-situ measurements of groundwater levels, and estimates of flood magnitude and frequency that include probabilistic projections of future sea levels in the region. Combining groundwater and ocean levels in flood frequency projections enabled us to determine where future habitats will emerge, where current habitats will be lost, and where risks such as invasive fishes may spread as waters rise. Visualizing future scenarios will aid land managers to incorporate future sea level risk to coastal ecosystems into their plans and actions.
Rebecca Most is the Hawaiʻi Island Marine Program Director for The Nature Conservancy, where she supports community-led management strategies to care for and restore marine and coastal habitat. The Nature Conservancy facilitates the Hui Loko Network, which provides opportunities for network members to share lessons learned, research innovative techniques to restore habitat, collaborate on workdays to increase our impact, and provide outreach and education to our communities.
Talk: Hui Loko Network: Connecting, Restoring, Perpetuating.
Hui Loko is a network of Hawaiian cultural practitioners, coastal fishpond and anchialine pool landowners, and managers striving to make these systems healthy, productive, and abundant again. We are guided by the knowledge that a‘ohe hananui ke alu‘ia (no task is too big when done together by all), and we embrace the spirit of ka‘ana ‘ike and laulima (equally sharing knowledge and cooperation) to learn from and support each other’s efforts to restore and preserve these treasured places for Hawai‘i’s people and the native plants and animals that depend upon them. Hui Loko members represent community groups, businesses, conservation organizations, and government agencies working collaboratively to restore and perpetuate loko i‘a (fishpond) and wai ‘ōpae (anchialine pool) culture at more than twenty sites on Hawai‘i Island. The network provides a place for members to connect, share expertise, and resources. Members meet quarterly to exchange ideas, successes, lessons learned, and to brainstorm solutions for shared challenges. More than 200 acres of loko and wai ‘ōpae are collectively cared for within Hui Loko. Members remove invasive species, excess sediments and debris, and rebuild rock walls so these habitats can once again support native species. Local managers use and promote traditional practices, experiment with new restoration techniques, and carefully monitor changes in the pools, ponds, and adjacent waters to ensure they achieve desired results. Network members and their organizations host volunteer workdays where they share traditions and promote pono practices to build awareness and support for their efforts among the broader community. Thousands of volunteers have participated in the workdays, helping to restore loko i‘a and wai ‘ōpae across Hawai‘i Island and perpetuating the tradition of mālama i kou wahi.
Tyler Paikuli-Campbell, Kaileʻa Annandale, and Jackson Letchworth are employees of the National Park Service at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, which was established in 1978 for the preservation, protection and interpretation of traditional native Hawaiian activities and culture. Kim Crawford is part of Hui Kaloko-Honokōhau, which was established in 2015 as a grassroots and community led group dedicated to the perpetuation of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices, protection and advancement of ecosystem health, and education and the empowerment of community.
Talk: In the Face of Climate Change: Kiʻo Wai (Anchialine) and Loko Iʻa (Fishpond) Ecosystems at Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park.
In this presentation we will give a general overview of the kiʻowai (anchialine pool) and loko iʻa (fishpond) ecosystems at Kaloko-Honokōhau, sharing some of the specific conditions of various kiʻowai and loko iʻa. We will highlight some on-going monitoring and rehabilitation efforts around the Park including the amazing efforts of Hui Kaloko-Honokōhau, a community group of cultural practitioners.
Lehua Kamaka, Kiaʻi Loko at Ka Loko o Kīholo, and Hoaʻāina at Kīholo State Park for Hui Aloha Kīholo, is a native born descendant of Kona. Caring for the uplands, lowlands, shorelines, the waterways, fishponds, anchialine pools, and the ocean, with all residents (inhabitants), were traditional practices of her ancestors. Lehua continues these traditional practices as a Kuleana through Mālama. “Although I cannot be exactly like them, it is in my DNA to do what I can as a succession to continue living their legacy through me and to pass on these teachings to those who are willing to receive this kuleana that will come after me.”