A three-year project in East Oahu funded by NOAA is off to a “remarkable” start, administrator says. It’s been a year since eight conservation groups launched an unprecedented, large-scale restoration effort in the islands that tries to apply the Hawaiian concept of ahupuaa ridge-to-reef land management to one of Honolulu’s most heavily developed areas. So far, that $7.
8 million project, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has made early progress toward building pig-proof fences and reversing severe stream erosion in the upper forests of East Honolulu’s Wailupe, Niu and Kuliouou watersheds, organizers say. They’ve also re-planted more than 1,500 heat-resilient coral fragments in the watersheds’ lower reaches of Maunalua Bay, organizers report. That’s occurred during the first year of what’s slated to be a three-year campaign.
But the groups still face an uphill climb making measurable impacts in the critical middle section of those watersheds — the urban flatlands that make their ridge-to-reef restoration project so unique. Just four homeowners in those East Honolulu flatlands, which are covered in pavement and concrete, have agreed so far to install rain barrels on their properties and help prevent excessive stormwater from flowing into Maunalua Bay, according to Doug Harper, executive director of the nonprofit Malama Maunalua , which leads the consortium. “We have a lot of work to do,” Harper said last week.
“If every hom.