Secretary Haaland stresses importance of indigenous knowledge in ‘era of climate crisis’ - Hawaii News Now

Secretary Haaland stresses importance of indigenous knowledge in ‘era of climate crisis’

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Hawaii leaders gathered in Heeia on Tuesday to underscore the importance of indigenous knowledge preservation in conservation efforts.

“I see healing all over this area where people are bringing back native plants and native ways of doing things and I think that indigenous knowledge is one of the absolute most important things that we can practice in this era of the climate crisis,” Haaland said.

On the grounds of Paepae o Heeia — a nonprofit organization that maintains the ancient Hawaiian Heeia fish pond — Haaland, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, Board of Land and Natural Resources chair Dawn Chang, ecologists, and special guests gathered in a historic moment for conservation efforts.

In 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant climate bill in U.S. history, which included $369 billion for clean energy and climate provisions. With funding from this act and additional funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Department of Interior is investing $2 billion in department-led integrative restoration initiatives.

Haaland, who is visiting Hawaii as part of the Biden Administration’s “Investing in America” tour, announced an integrative $16 million funding plan to protect Native Hawaiian birds from extinction earlier on Tuesday.

“These birds are an integral ecological and cultural component of the Hawaiian Islands. They reflect the health of forests and represent cultural connections between Native Hawaiians and the islands,” Haaland said.

Dawn Chang, who is the first Native Hawaiian woman to sit as chair of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, said that Hawaii is set to lose two species of birds in the next 60 days: the akikiki and kiwikiu.

Hawaiian Native forest birds have traditionally live at high elevations where it is too cold for mosquitoes. With climate change, mosquitoes are now attracted to warmer higher elevations, limiting the birds’ safe habitat.

One initiative supported by the new funding is the “incompatible insect technique,” which uses Wolbachia bacteria to prevent mosquitoes from reproducing.

But in addition to Western approaches to conservation, the new federal funding recognizes the unique contributions of indigenous conservation and land management.

“Native Hawaiians have lived sustainably off these lands and resources for multiple generations, and they have withstood time. So acknowledging their balanced approach to ecosystem management, I think provides us the best opportunity to tackle these larger issues like climate change,” Chang said.

Chang said that while the funding comes from the federal government, it is actually native communities who are contributing knowledge to its programs.

The location of the three key leaders’ remarks Tuesday was a product of indigenous knowledge and restoration itself.

The Heeia fish pond is a loko ia kuapa fish pond, a type of aquaculture found nowhere else outside of Hawaii. These ponds are constructed of volcanic rock or coral, creating a semi-circular pond.

Using makaha gates made of tree branches, the pond entices young fish inside but keeps them from escaping when they grow larger inside the pond.

This early technology allowed ancient Hawaiians to create more predictable fishing environments compared to the open ocean. Built between 600 to 800 years ago, the Heeia pond likely required numerous residents to collaborate in transporting and stacking rocks.

Prior to the arrival of Westerners, there were almost 500 fish ponds in Hawaii, but by the beginning of the 21st century, there were four ponds left.

Since then, several organizations, including Paepae o Heeia, have worked to restore these ancient ponds and practices as a means of connecting with ancestors and restoring Hawaiian food sovereignty.

“We passed the biggest climate bill that the planet has ever seen. Plus, there’s lots more to do,” Schatz said. “But you come out to a place like this and you actually feel hope. Its an urgent situation, but you can see an entire community, nonprofits and governments at all level people who have lived here for as long as anyone can remember. They’re all pulling together to try to save this ecosystem.”

Copyright 2023 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.