Pilina — Mālama — ʻāina Momona A Community-Driven Monitoring Program To Understand Health And Well-Being Of People And Place In Hāʻena, Kauaʻi

Abstract

Indigenous communities assess health and well-being holistically because they view people, place, and resources as interconnected. Contrary to this, centralized governance systems use monitoring tools of selected resources rather than connecting across to ecosystems and human well-being. In Hawaiʻi, there is a shift towards community-based fisheries management. However, communities are struggling to balance their ways of understanding resource health under the governing standards of scientific rigor, and monitoring expectations. Lack of integrative monitoring that addresses resource health is a critical gap in community-based management. The purpose of this project was to develop a community-driven monitoring program in Hāʻena, Kauaʻi. I used a Community-based Participatory Research approach of mixed methods such as focus groups, coastal monitoring, and seasonal observations. The results of this project offer a process in a holistic understanding of resource health, integration of knowledge systems, building relationships and community collaboration towards ʻāina momona, a thriving people and place.