ʻĀina Momona, Honua Au Loli—Productive Lands, Changing World: Using the Hawaiian Footprint to Inform Biocultural Restoration and Future Sustainability in Hawai‘i
This article compares pre- and post-Western contact footprints and discusses the challenges and potential of recapturing the ‘āina momona of ancient times through biocultural restoration.
Subject Tags
- Ecosystem management
- Land management
Abstract
Pre-Western-contact Hawai‘i stands as a quintessential example of a large human population that practiced intensive agriculture, yet minimally affected native habitats that comprised the foundation of its vitality. An explicit geospatial footprint of human-transformed areas across the pre-contact Hawaiian archipelago comprised less than 15% of total land area, yet provided 100% of human needs, supporting a thriving Polynesian society. A post-contact history of disruption of traditional land use and its supplanting by Western land tenure and agriculture culminated in a landscape less than 250 years later in which over 50% of native habitats have been lost, while self-sufficiency has plummeted to 15% or less. Recapturing the ‘āina momona (productive lands) of ancient times through biocultural restoration can be accomplished through study of pre-contact agriculture, assessment of biological and ecological changes on Hawaiian social-ecological systems, and conscious planned efforts to increase self-sufficiency and reduce importation. Impediments include the current tourism-based economy, competition from habitat-modifying introduced species, a suite of agricultural pests severely limiting traditional agriculture, and climate changes rendering some pre-contact agricultural centers suboptimal. Modified methods will be required to counteract these limitations, enhance biosecurity, and diversify agriculture, without further degrading native habitats, and recapture a reciprocal Hawaiian human-nature relationship.
Citation
Gon, S.M. III, Tom, S, Woodside, U. 2018. ʻĀina Momona, Honua Au Loli—Productive Lands, Changing World: Using the Hawaiian Footprint to Inform Biocultural Restoration and Future Sustainability in Hawai‘i. Sustainability 2018, 10(10), 3420; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103420
TNC Authors
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Dr. Samuel M. ‘Ohukani‘ōhi‘a Gon, III
Sr. Scientist Cultural Advisor. Hawaii
The Nature Conservancy
Email: sgon@tnc.org -
Ulalia Woodside Lee
Executive Director, Hawaiʻi & Palmyra
The Nature Conservancy
Email: ulalia.woodside@tnc.org -
Stephanie Tom
Conservation Information Mgr. Hawaii
The Nature Conservancy
Email: stom@tnc.org