Marine 30x30 Initiative
The Marine 30x30 Initiative will support broad public participation and incorporate expert scientific and cultural guidance to achieve the goal of restoring abundance to Hawai‘i's nearshore waters so that the people of Hawai‘i can enjoy our coastal waters, support local livelihoods, and feed our families.
Background
In 2016, the State launched the Sustainable Hawaiʻi Initiative, a multi-pronged effort to ensure a healthy environment and economy for Hawaiʻi’s people. As part of this effort, the Department of Land and Natural Resources committed to effectively manage Hawaiʻi’s nearshore waters with 30% established as marine management areas by 2030.
The term marine management area refers to a balanced and nuanced approach to managing a specific geographic area for its marine resources and its uses. MMA regulations will vary depending on the area, such as regulating the type of gear used or instituting size limits for species to protect against over-harvesting. Hawai‘i leads the nation as the first state working to achieve the international conservation goal of protecting 30 percent of the planet by 2030 on a regional level. Leading scientists agree that this level of protection can help prevent mass extinctions, preserve critical ecosystem services, and help avert the worst impacts of climate change.
The Initiative carries forward commitments made by public and private organizations that launched the Aloha+Challenge, a statewide commitment to achieve Hawaii’s sustainability goals and framework to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and by partners who issued the Promise to Pae‘āina, which is a collective commitment for measurable change in Hawai‘i’s ocean.
HCF’s Role
HCF’s role is to launch and administer a pooled field of interest fund to support robust implementation of Hawai‘i’s Marine 30x30 Initiative. This will include providing grants and contracts to increase and augment state capacity to carry out the initiative and build a marine managed areas (MMA) program, as well as provide support for a range of partners and communities throughout the state to design, monitor, and steward MMAs, advance responsible or pono fishing practices, and to protect and restore Hawai‘i’s unique nearshore marine environments.
Priority Funding Targets
With a fundraising goal of $3 million per year for the next ten years, the Marine 30x30 Initiative will provide grants and contracts to strengthen the collective work of partners. The following are the funding priorities:
- Empowering Community Efforts – To support community groups and networks of cultural practitioners throughout the Hawaiian Islands to revive effective traditional stewardship practices.
- Leveraging Private Investments for Public Funding - To support efforts that create and advance measures to increase public funding for long-term ocean conservation and management.
- Building a Movement – Develop strategic messaging to effectively communicate the importance of marine resources to a full range of stakeholders and decision-makers.
- Ensuring a Strong Foundation in Science - The Marine 30x30 Initiative must incorporate leading scientific information to ensure that its MMAs will function as an ecological network, informed by traditional knowledge, and crafted with monitoring and enforcement in mind.
- Setting the Stage for Good Governance – To support coordinated, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, planning milestones, and transparent communication to ensure greater efficiency and accountability among partners.
Current Funders:
- Anonymous (1)
- Harold K. L. Castle Foundation
- Kamehameha Schools
- Koaniani Fund
- Marisla Foundation
- Oceans 5
- The Tiffany & Co. Foundation
- Vibrant Oceans Initiative, a program of Bloomberg Philanthropies
- Weissman Family Foundation
Funding raised to date:
- $7.15 M in committed funds to be spent over 3 years
Projects Funded
- Total awarded to date: $1,474,140
- Recipients of funding include three nonprofit organizations who support nine communities statewide (Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, and Kauaʻi) in the development of marine monitoring programs, the State of Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources, and Arizona State University’s Hawai‘i Monitoring and Reporting Collaborative (HIMARC).
- See below for details on recipients.
Conservation International: This grant funding will allow Conservation International Hawai‘i and partners to foster the development of a more inclusive and equitable marine monitoring approach for Hawaiʻi. Fishers, cultural practitioners, and other ocean users have tremendous knowledge and experience that can inform fisheries management and improve the understanding of the ocean however several hurdles prevent participation in formal marine monitoring efforts and the integration of different knowledge systems. With partners, CI Hawai‘i will co-convene a diverse network of ocean users to explore the opportunities and challenges facing integrated marine monitoring approaches. CI Hawaiʻi will also conduct legal analyses to identify means to safeguard Indigenous, traditional, and local knowledge and work with communities on the ground to advance integrated marine monitoring efforts.
Communities being supported:
- Hua ‘Āina O Hōnaunau - Hōnaunau Bay, Hawai‘i Island
- Mālama Maunalua - Maunalua Bay, O‘ahu
- Kalanihale – Miloli‘i, Hawai‘i Island
Kua'aina Ulu 'Auamo (KUA): The Hawaiʻi Community Foundation Marine 30x30 funds will be used to implement KUA’s Kuahui: Collaborative Co-learning & Collective Monitoring for Adaptive Management project which seeks to advance DAR's Holomua: Marine 30x30 Initiative through targeted adaptive resource management capacity-building for communities throughout Hawaiʻi. HCF funds will be used to co-create spaces for generative collaboration and co-learning between partners and kuaʻāīna communities within KUA’s networks that are already contributing substantively to marine management and abundance in Hawai’i, through training in culturally rooted monitoring frameworks by kilo ("observation") experts Pelika Andrade and Kanoeula Morishige of Na Maka Onaona and Roxanne Keliikipikaneokolohaka, as well as the piloting of a complementary community co-created E Kilo Pualu monitoring app designed in partnership with Natural Resource Data Solutions to increase engagement and expertise in community-based resource monitoring. Funds will also provide direct support for resource management planning with communities.
Communities being supported:
- Mālama Pūpūkea-Waimea – Pūpūkea, O‘ahu
- Save Honolua Coalition, West Maui
- Na Maka Onaona – Kīlauea, Kaua‘i
The Nature Conservancy: This gift from HCF will be used to support on-the-ground community-based monitoring in communities working to effectively co-manage coastal resources in partnership with the State Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) under their Holomua: Marine 30x30 Initiative. We will also work with DAR, academic, and community partners to establish standardized community-based monitoring methods so that we can compare data across sites and build a better understanding of the health and abundance of coastal resources statewide. The goal of this project is to combine the latest science with local knowledge to build coastal and community resilience through effective co-management of nearshore marine resources.
Communities being supported:
- Ka‘ūpūlehu Marine Life Advisory Committee – Ka‘ūpūlehu, Hawai‘i Island
- Hui Aloha Kīholo - Kīholo, Hawai‘i Island
- Kīpahulu ‘Ohana - Kīpahulu, Maui
State of Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources: funds will be used to implement the Holomua: Marine 30x30 Initiative, including work to advance: (1) community-focused public process, (2) communications, (3) data monitoring and analyses, (4) legal and regulatory work, (5) expansion of the Makai Watch program, and (6) interim evaluation of DAR’s progress on the Initiative.
Arizona State University's Hawai‘i Monitoring and Reporting Collaborative (HIMARC): HIMARC is a collaboration among organizations that are involved in monitoring and management of Hawai‘i’s nearshore waters. Existing data collected by these programs is combined and serves as a backbone for data informed management decisions. HIMARC will serve as the primary resource for data housing, calibration, and analyses.
Marine 30x30 Fund Advisory Committee
The 10-member Advisory Committee was formed in July 2020 and is charged with identifying funding priorities that are best suited for philanthropic support to reach the goals of the Marine 30x30 Initiative. The Committee meets quarterly to review proposals and make recommendations to HCF’s Board of Governors on funding, and/or to review progress on existing awards and the status of identified priorities. The Advisory committee consists of representatives from various sectors of the community that share kuleana for the nearshore marine environment in Hawai‘i including marine science, conservation, community organizations, fishers, and cultural experts.
Dana Okano
Dana Okano is a Program Director in the Community Grants and Initiatives division of the Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF). Prior to joining HCF, she has worked as a land-based sources of pollution coordinator, coral reef management liaison, and coastal zone management specialist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as well as a coastal zone management planner for the County of Hawaii Planning Department. Dana has also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin, West Africa for 2 years.
‘Ekolu Lindsey
‘Ekolu Lindsey is the President of Maui Cultural Lands and Co-Founder of Polanui Hiu focused on bringing back balance to marine resources and the spirit of the people that utilize them.
Eric Co
Eric Co serves as the Senior Program Officer for Ocean and Resiliency at the Harold K.L. Castle Foundation. He has 25 years of professional experience working in the fields of marine science and management in Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, the mainland US and Australia through field restoration and monitoring, research, community organizing, program development, strategic planning and mentoring, organizational strengthening, fundraising and grantmaking. Eric enjoys fishing, hunting, farming, surfing, and carpentry.
Hi‘ilei Kawelo
Hi‘ilei Kawelo is the Executive Director of Paepae o He’eia, a non-profit organization that cares for He‘eia Fishpond, an 88-acre, 800-year old traditional Hawaiian fishpond. Hi’ilei is a fisherwoman who’s family stems from six generations of fishing in the waters of Kāne‘ohe Bay. Hi’ilei’s passion is Hawai’i, its land and sea, its people, practices, and traditions.
Jocelyn Garovoy Herbert
Jocelyn Garovoy Herbert serves as a Program Officer and Attorney at Resources Legacy Fund (RLF). She has worked with sustainable commercial fisheries, land conservation and kuleana land rights, and creating science-informed, stakeholder-designed network of marine protected areas. Jocelyn fell in love with Hawai‘i when visiting Maui as a child and playing in the nearshore waters, and has lived and worked on Maui, Hawaii Island, and Oahu.
Justine Nihipali
Justine Nihipali serves as the Program Manager for the Office of Planning, Coastal Zone Management Program. She has recently worked for the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center supporting course development for natural hazards. She enjoys chasing her two young children while they still think she is cool enough to hang with.
Ku’ulei Rodgers
Ku’ulei Rodgers is a Principal Investigator at the Coral Reef Ecology Lab at the University of Hawai’i’s, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and one of the original co-founders of the Coral Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program (CRAMP). She has worked in a wide range of ecological projects focusing on introduced and endemic species and global and local impacts to coral reefs. Her work is dedicated to working in Hawaii, with Hawaii, and for Hawaii.
Phil Fernandez
Phil Fernandez is a Project Manager for a joint project between a national financial services company and the American Red Cross. Phil has worked in corporate finance, business and finance consultant, ocean resources management, endangered species policy and management, and a co-founder of the Hawaii Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition (HFACT). Phil lives in Big Island with his wife and their cat, Baby.
Presley Wann
Presley Wann is currently the President of Hui Maka’ainana O Makana and participates in several community and Hawaii State organizations. He worked with the community of Ha’ena to create a Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area to establish a community-based management of their environment and its resources. He enjoys taro farming, surfing, fishing, and spending time with his four grandchildren.
Suzanne Case
Suzanne Case is the Chair of the State of Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources. She has worked in native forest stewardship, land protection, and coastal and marine conservation, directly and through collaborative partnerships, throughout the main Hawaiian Islands and Palmyra Atoll, the western United States, and the Asia/Pacific Region. Suzanne is a co-creator of the Hawaiian song, “Ke Ho’olono Nei”, a song about loss and stewardship of the native Hawaiian forest birds, sung by Leokane Pryor & Friends.
Resources:
- The MOU for implementation with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources, Resources Legacy Fund, and Hawaii Community Foundation, - - Signed MOU
- The Marine 30x30 Pooled Fund - 2-Pager
- HOLOMUA - Marine 30x30 Initiative – DAR webpage