Nature Briefs
Sitka deer rely on Alaska’s old-growth forests, and rare Amargosa toads depend on a short stretch of river in the northern Mojave Desert.
Marine Program Manager ‘Alohi Nakachi advances The Nature Conservancy’s partnerships on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, including at He‘eia, where Indigenous knowledge and stewardship practices are healing the land and restoring stream flows, benefiting native fish like the ‘o‘opu
How did your path lead to TNC?
My family lives on the island of Hawai‘i, and we have supported traditional stewardship in our ancestral ahupua‘a my entire life. My parents instilled in me the importance of academics, so I grew up navigating the duality of my cultural heritage and the Western stewardship approaches favored in academia. I earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in marine affairs and science at the University of Miami. I came home for my master’s research, which led me to explore Indigenous knowledge in resource management at the University of Hawai‘i. I started working with TNC while I was completing my Ph.D.
What role does TNC play in conservation on O‘ahu?
Native Hawaiians see people and nature as one, a familial system. TNC looks to community-based partners to understand what support is needed in each place to restore and maintain that system. We help to secure grants, facilitate partnerships and provide technical assistance to complement the traditional knowledge our partners hold and continue to refine. My work is focused on He‘eia, a beloved ahupua‘a on the east side of O‘ahu.
Can you describe He‘eia?
Looking down from the mountain, there are vibrant green areas of restored forest and fields of kalo nestled among a highway and residential areas. Streams flow downward over black lava rock and waterfalls. That water nourishes wetlands and then joins the cerulean blue ocean.
How does conservation within He‘eia support fish like the ‘o‘opu?
That particular endemic fish is symbolic of mauka to makai. Their life cycle takes them from mountain streams to the ocean and back again. They confront so many challenges: poor water quality from urbanization, difficulty moving among hardened and diverted streams, and conditions altered by invasive plants. When we come together to address those issues, we are not only helping the ‘o‘opu–which are very cute–we are healing the entire system. What we learn here is shared, and we learn from others, like efforts in California to bring back other migrating fish such as salmon and steelhead trout.
SPOTLIGHT ON HAWAI‘I
‘O‘opu, or freshwater gobies, breed in upland streams. Their larvae are swept downstream to the ocean where they hatch. Months later, juveniles make their way back up the stream, even climbing 1,000-foot waterfalls, to spend their adult lives.
Spotlight on Hawai‘i
‘O‘opu, or freshwater gobies, breed in upland streams.
© Kelsie Dayna Designs
According to the Hawaiian creation chant, the coral polyp was the first living organism, the foundation for all other life. Beyond this cultural significance, the intricate reefs along island coasts break energy from storms, support the state’s tourism economy and harbor fish that nourish communities.
But Hawai‘i’s reefs and the benefits they provide are at risk. In addition to reducing land-based stressors, a collaboration among TNC, global experts and local groups aims to hasten reef recovery through coral restoration.
Corals release tiny larvae only once a year. The larvae float in the water column, become fertilized and, if they evade predators, settle on the ocean floor and grow at a slow rate that varies by species. On Hawai‘i, TNC and local partners are rescuing broken, yet living, coral fragments, reattaching them to the reef and letting them grow in an underwater nursery. With 95% surviving and a growth rate up to three times faster than conventional approaches, this direct colony reattachment has emerged as a promising technique for restoring certain coral species in West Hawai‘i and beyond.
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