The Mālama ‘Āina Plan offers an overall vision for pono stewardship of Moku o Lo‘e, a small 29-acre island in Kane‘ohe Bay that is home to the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, an Organized Research Unit of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM). The Plan is situated within a framework of Indigenous stewardship, and uses the eight considerations of pono stewardship as developed by elder councils (‘Aha Kiole) in Hawai‘i. It includes near- and long-term strategies for shoreline erosion and sea level rise, and biocultural stewardship practices, positioning Moku o Lo‘e as a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning within the ahupuaʻa of Heʻeia and the moku of Koʻolaupoko.  Co-designing with participants from the HIMB faculty, staff, and student body, the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve Kūpuna Council, and community members was central to the process. A cultural practitioner and professional subject matter experts guided participants in exploring place-based climate adaptation strategies. The Plan is based on three overarching design principles: restore a Hawaiian sense of place, expand cultural and physical access, and enrich and perpetuate educational and research legacies. 

Client: The University of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology
Principal Investigator: Phoebe White, ASLA and Priyam Das, PhD
Project Team: Lahela Mattos, Lynn Mayekawa, Beau Nakamori, Kaimana Tuazon, Jolie Wanger, Hunter Wells, Melissa Yoo
Course Integration:
ARCH696 Spring 2024