E nga mana, e nga reo, e karangatanga maha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. He mihi nunui tenei ki a tatou katoa, e nga tangata whenua, huri noa i te moana nui a Kiwa.
News
* The fellows re-assembled on 18 May in Hawai'i for the next place/problem based learning opportunity; the second in the series (following the Aotearoa project) - the Hawai'i project. Hosted by program partner Kamehameha Schools, the focus for this project is the critical issue of the intersection between sustainability and tourism in Hawai'i.
* As in the Aotearoa project where the fellows hosted a public forum (on Water issues), the fellows hosted a Hawai'i forum - this time focusing on sustainable tourism. Held in Hilo, Hawai'i at the 'Imiloa Astronomy Center on 24-25 May the growing and continued discussion of tourism and sustainability of Hawai'i was of primary focus. FNFP fellows coordinated and conducted the forum. Holding true to a discussion format of sharing information, invited guest speakers and general attendees shared in the role of relaying private knowledge into public knowledge. In opening channels of communication, the forum served its primary purpose of: if not initiating dialogue of sustainable tourism, then keeping the important discussion matter open/ongoing.
* FNFP 2007 Hawai'i Fellows applications were due (postmarked) 31 May, 2007. We congratulate all applicants in pursuing this opportunity. Final round notification letters inviting selected applicants to participate in an interview with the selection panel will be mailed by mid July, 2007. Interviews will be scheduled for late July 2007. Final notification letters inviting final selection of applicants to participte in the program will be mailed by July 31, 2007.
* As the fellows take a respite during these summer months, this newsletter will go on a bi-monthly issue release. We encourage our readership to submit article ideas that are in line with the program's purpose for future issue considerations.
Hawai'i Forum on Sustainable Tourism: Aloha 'Aina Experiences: Sustaining that which sustains us
In the second part of the series of place/problem based projects, the fellows reconvened in Hawai'i from 18 May to 15 June 2007. As part of the project program, the fellows put together a forum held at the 'Imiloa Astronomy Center on 24-25 May. This Hawai'i forum focused on sustainable tourism. The forum was a dynamic learning experience where both invited guest speakers and general attendees were knowledgeable about and focused on the subject matter. The fellows conducted the forum with the goal of defining what sustainable tourism is, why it is important for Hawai`i, and finding intiatives or strategies that might help the participants to move towards a two-way flow of dialogue and thoughts.
While our FNFP fellows grapple with questions such as: What is the carrying capacity threshold of Hawaii - what are the direct, indirect, and induced effects on the people and economy regarding tourism - how to sustain Hawai'i's primary revenue generating industry at the same time sustaining Hawai'i itself - and many more -- the Hawai'i forum served a role in keeping the discussion and dialogue of sustainable tourism ongoing.
Held on two days on the Hilo side of Hawai'i island, the sustainable tourism forum was essentially divided into two parts: The current state: old paradigms and new opportunities; and, the future state: sustaining that which sustains us. FNFP and the fellows were privileged to have such a highly esteemed lineup of speakers and general attendees who participated:
Day 1: The Current State: Old Paradigms & New Opportunities
Professor Te Maire Tau, Canterbury University - Genealogical Relationships & Responsibilities
'Aulani Wilhelm Morton, Superintendent Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument - Lessons Learned at the Intersection of Culture, Environment & Economic Development
Operators Panel - Conditions on the Front Line:
Ronald Williams, President & CEO, Atlantis Adventures
Cy Bridges, Polynesian Cultural Center
Rob Pacheco, Owner, Hawai'i Forest & Trail
Mike White, General Manager, Ka'anapali Beach Hotel
Professor Peter Vitousek, Stanford University - Treasures & Trauma in Hawai'i's Environment
Professor James Roumasset, University of Hawai'i at Manoa - Smart Growth, Greedy Growth, or Sustainable Growth
David Cole, CEO Maui Land & Pineapple - Shifting the Paradigm
John DeFries, Native Sun Communities - New Models
Day 2: The Future State: Sustaining that which Sustains Us
Hannah Kihalani Springer - Lessons Learned at the Intersection of Culture, Environment & Economic Development
Operator Panel - Conditions on the Front Line:
Maile Meyer, Founder Native Books & Beautiful Things, Na Mea Hawai'i
Stacy Sproat, Executive Director Waipa Foundation, Voluntourism
Andrew Te Whaiti, past CEO Te Puia, Rotorua, New Zealand
David O'Connell, Ngai Tahu, Ngai Tahu Tourism
Len Materman, Coordinator of the Center for Ecotourism and Sustainable Development, Stanford University - People and Nature Bringing Value to Place
Professor Davianna McGregor, University of Hawai'i at Manoa - Malama 'Aina Experiences: What is kapu? What is essential?
Mayor Harry Kim, County of Hawai'i - Shifting the Paradigm
Neil Hannahs, Director, Kamehameha Schools Land Assets Division - Can you See the Island?
Guest speakers had much mana'o to share. To follow are brief bios and snippets of their talks.
Dr. Te Maire Tau (Aotearoa, Ngai Tahu, Ngai Tuahuriri)
Dr. Te Maire has represented Ngai Tuahuriri at Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu since 2003. Ngai Tahu is a prominent South Island Iwi (tribe) in Aotearoa - New Zealand. Te Maire is a scholar and historian of oral traditions. His recent work includes the publication, 'Nga Pikituroa o Ngai Tahu', which focused on the oral histories and traditions of Ngai Tahu.
Highlights of his Hawai'i Forum presentation:
1. Tangata Whenua codified the landscape through whakapapa (genealogical).
2. The relationship with land, water and air was affirmed through ongoing use, continual occupation and inter-generational transfer of cultural and social responsibilities and understandings.
3. Tangata Whenua created organizational connections to the environment and its conditions with whakapapa (genealogy), kawa (natural order conventions), tikanga (man-made conventions) and te manga wahatai (accumulated knowledge based on experience and the transmission of understandings gained from one generation to the next).
4. Our environment is organized as genealogical connections to tangata whenua, as tupuna and therefore, are treated accordingly. This is expressed in the many practices (food gathering, ritual, travel, occupation ...) that reflect the understandings of tangata whenua and the respect accorded to tupuna.
'Aulani Wilhelm Morton (Superintendent Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument)
'Aulani is currently Superintendent for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, the largest single conservation area under US flag and the world's largest protected marine area.
Highlights of her Hawai'i Forum presentation:
1. We are engaged in re-learning how to take care of our kupuna. Finding our way to reclaim and honor our kupuna in modern times.
2. There is value in reconnecting ourselves to the world of our ancestors to understand our environment, its importance to our lives and our responsibilities to behave with good stewardship.
3. Rediscovering what we know (education - research and scholarship) about the land, sea and air of our places, to return to our own homeland (cultural connections) and understand our belonging to our places. US authority was sustained during WW periods, hotels (2), commercial and game fishing, ecotourism visits (economic take).
4. Fisheries surveys were taken to determine how much could be harvested. However, these activities were not sustainable. By 1940 the fish boat numbers diminished greatly to catch bottom fish.
5. The area is remote but not immune to man-made and accumulative effects.
6. U.S. President Bush set up Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument which included in its purposes the protection of Hawaiian culture and activities. The result of a small group of Hawaiian people seeking to look after the area better. The monument covers 140,000 kilometers of ocean area which is larger than New Zealand, and is the largest protected ocean area in the world.
7. Culture based on relationship to place, the ability to consume what the place provides for us.
8. Environmentalist and Hawaiians are not often allies. Being green is hard when there is a low trust environment from your own people and unreasonable expectations from many.
9. Hawaiian expectations to protect and enrich while use and access through ongoing participation with wahi kapu areas, fishing grounds and other cultural sites in this domain will test future management and developments.
Day 1 Operators Panel Discussion
Ronald Williams (pictured left; left) joined Atlantis Submarines in 1995 as the General Manager of the Maui operation and progressed up the ranks, where he is now President/CEO for Atlantis Adventures, LLC, overseeing all of the Hawai'i Submarine locations as well as Atlantis Cruises, Sea Life Park Hawai'i and Waimea Falls Park.
Cy Bridges (pictured left; right) serves as the Director of Culture for the Polynesian Cultural Center. Cy's main responsibility is to oversee the cultural authenticity, training and presentations of the Cultural Center. In addition, Cy is the President of the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA), whose mission is to encourage the preservation and perpetuation of Hawaiian values, customs, language, and artifacts, as well as to promote research in support of the economic value of Hawaiian culture in the hospitality industry.
Rob Pacheco (pictured right; right) founded Hawai'i Forest & Trail, Ltd, in 1993 with his wife, Cindy. Rob is the current Hawai'i Island member of the State Board of Land and Natural Resources, Chairman of the Mauna Kea Management Board, President of T.R.E.E. Hawai'i and a board member of the Big Island Visitors Bureau.
Mike White (pictured right; left) has been the General Manager of the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel since 1985 and has represented the seventh district in the State House of Representatives from 1993 to 1998. In the Legislature, Mike has served on the Tourism, Economic Development and Finance Committees. At the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel, Mr. White and Dr. George Kanahele implemented Project Po'okela, a program designed to enhance employees' understanding of the Hawaiian culture and its values so that visitors will have a more enriching and enjoyable visit.
Ronald Williams, Cy Bridges, Rob Pacheco and Mike White provided first hand knowledge of front line experiences in the tourism industry. We thank them for their gracious appearance at the forum and insight provided.
Highlights from our Hawai'i Forum Day 1 Operators Panel:
1. Capacity - need an integrated approach. More about resource sustainability and capabilities for tourism such as how much cultural capacity we have rather than the number of tourists we want. The most restrictive element should define the capacity level. The settings should be very much values based. For example, do we need 99% quality or might we settle for less with the risks that such a setting would invite. Good for Hawaii to have a mix of visitors.
2. Maintenance - increase place-based returns. Look at where all the monies come from and return it back in practical ways to those areas. Industry willing to contribute more if they knew how the money was being spent.
3. Interpretation - important to increase understanding and sensitivity to Hawaiian culture through quality and well-geared interpretation activities and events. Provide for industry driven interpretation for authenticity/environmental protection instead of preventing commercial activity
4. Education - PR people are only sensitive to the culture in proportion to their understanding of the culture. This needs to shift positively in terms of understanding if we are to expect an increase of sensitivity.
5. Culture - Hawaiian culture may no longer be a reasonable foundation for building a tourism environment. We may need to focus more openly to the local culture which is inclusive and largely influenced by Hawaiian culture but not exclusively. Inclusion of local culture beyond perceptions of what is Hawaiian culture is natural given the increasing diversity that is now the Hawaiian community. For many visitors, their very best unscripted engagements is when you're not trying to portray the culture but instead you are an exemplar of the culture.
6. Value Judgements - important for Hawaiian communities to reclaim and continually affirm their pre-eminent role to sustain their commitment to fulfill kupuna responsibilities toward the welfare and well being of significant places and spaces. "Sad is the day when the words of your ancestors fall amongst the grass" - Cy Bridges.
Dr. Peter Vitousek (Stanford University)
Dr. Peter Vitousek is a Clifford G. Morrison Professor of Population and Resource Studies at Stanford University. His current research includes understanding the nature and consequences of nutrient limitation to plant productivity and other ecosystems processes. A key research focus has been the development of the Hawaiian Islands as a model system for ecosystem studies, and for research on the interface between archaeology and ecosystems.
Highlights of his Hawai'i Forum presentation:
1. Peter spoke about the unique characteristics of Hawai'i, and drew from his personal connections with the islands, alongside his extensive research.
2. A key theme was land, life and culture (LLC).
3. These all interact to create the special nature of Hawai'i.
4. For example, one needs to understand that land was here before life, life preceded culture, and culture is influenced by land and life.
5. Moreover, we need to understand land, life and culture to understand ourselves, or our environment.
6. Peter emphasized how Hawai'i has unique characteristics, in particular, the strong winds that blow from Asia carry fertile soils from the Gobi Desert that are captured by the forests and provide fertility.
7. Hawai'i has an extensive history of agriculture, from which it is now understood that Hawaiians were prolific farmers, but this raises the question as to how this was supported on an island system.
8. Research can help breach these questions, and provide a lens on how agricultural practices can be more sustainable than what we presently consider.
9. In addition, Peter felt that it was difficult to pass information regarding agriculture, or the environment, without your hands in the soil ...
10. In respect of tourism, Hawai'i has an opportunity to do things differently and create greater understanding of the unique environment of the islands.
11. Tourists need to be encouraged to come to Hawai'i and connect with the environment.
12. Life, Land, and Culture is subject to alteration, and our understanding and perspectives help shape the world.
13. Land and Life came before culture. Land is about the evolution and origin of the species; life is about structure and culture is about the functioning of ecosystems, and development and sustainability of human societies. Culture shaped by land, land shaped by people and people shaped by culture. Hawai'i has something the world needs, can inform, enlighten and perhaps change the world.
Dr. James Roumasset (University of Hawai'i - Manoa)
Dr. James Roumasset is a Professor for the Deparmtent of Economics at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. His research interests are in environmental & resource economics, new institutional economics, and development microeconomics.
Highligts of his Hawai'i Forum presentation:
1. Do not need to lose in order for someone else to win.
2. Need to move away from win-lose to win-win strategies that reduce the iron triangle (state, bureaucracy and ...). Making clear who is gaining and who is losing, then move to a win-win strategy of engagement.
3. Tourism requires strong private and public sector relationships that are committed to community involvement and benefits that sustain the life style and increase life chances of the people, rather than subsidies from the state that brace dependency.
4. Inter linkages + Dynamic Efficiency = Intergenerational Equity.
5. Change the economic framework.
6. Maximum sustainable yield - doesn't include costs and future development. There is an opportunity cost for depriving future users. They need to be mindful of fixed costs and their impact on sustainable uses of resources.
7. When rents are too high, then farmers, other producers and middle men are unable to extract the value they require from their engagement in the value chain.
David Cole (CEO Maui Land & Pineapple)
David Cole presently serves as Chairman, President and CEO of Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc., a land holding and operating company in Hawai'i. He also serves as chairman of the The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i, Director of the The Twin Farms Collection (TwinFarms.com), Grove Farm Co., Inc., Hawai'i Superferry, Inc., Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. and Sesame Workshop (SesameWorkshop.org).
Highlights of his Hawai'i Forum presentation:
1. Ruthlessly segment customers.
2. Retaining identity of community in tourism.
3. Recognizing and valuing the unique features of community in tourism. Broad participation in tourism economy.
4. Maui Land and Pine has set aside 80% land and coast line for a marine conservation area.
5. Providing social and cultural opportunities through employment, mutually agreeable engagements and community support services.
6. Trail system and open communities. Also allows better stewardship because we know where to monitor.
John DeFries (Native Sun Communities)
John DeFries is President and CEO of Native Sun Business Group, Inc, which provides project management and consulting services to an array of clients.
Highlights of his Hawai'i Forum presentation:
1. Visions a hotel complex that is integral to the community, its people and institutions with acknowledgement and complimentary to these significant places.
2. Other currencies beyond cash: bank of ancestors, legacy, do we have reserves too?
3. Tourism developments need to be a community amenity.
Ulu Garmon
Ulu is a descendant from the prominent Kanaka'ole family, and offers her spiritual strength with preserving the 'aina (land), plants, animals and mankind. She also serves as a lecturer in the University of Hawai'i system at Hawai'i Community College in the Human Services discipline.
Highlights of her Hawai'i Forum presentation:
1. Important that people learn and connect with whom they are and where they come from.
2. Genealogical relationships can only be accessed when you know who you are so that those who know of your family can share and connect with you.
3. Your kupuna are part of you and who you are - whatever you do, good or bad, will be owned by your descendants - strong inter-generational responsibility to absorb and act accordingly.
4. You are limited by your environment and you learn to be part of that environment. Failure to do this disconnects you from place and culture that may support your survival and renewal as a people.
5. Look at genealogy, the places we come from and why we stay there. Look at our names and the responsibilities that come with them and what we must do.
6. Learn about family then try to make sense of it because it is about you.
7. Hula as repository and transmitter of culture, knowledge and experience.
8. Different whanau through naming and inter-generational transfer look after different things - some look after hula, moana, land areas etc.
9. Connection between people and occupation (role); people, places, place names and practices - set boundaries and custodianship of knowledge and sharing.
10. Knowing about place names tells you different things.
11. When we change the name of place and people, we change the purpose and understanding of place and people -- which diminishes the accumulated wisdom that has been vested in place and people for the use and custodianship of future generations.
12. Hawaiian communities need to learn how to do Hawaiian activity, use and development of resources before passing on to others i.e. visitors. Need to keep going back to the things we are - we don't learn how to be Hawaiian, we remember to be Hawaiian.
13. What is the method of exchange, what is currency and what is important to share with each other?
Hannah Kihalani Springer
Hannah Kihalani Springer is a life long student of na mea Hawai'i and brings a kama'aina perspective to whatever she engages in. She has served at the State and County levels in both elected and appointed positions. She also sits on a number of volunteer councils and is a cultural advisor.
Highlights of her Hawai'i Forum presentation:
1. Children of the land - who remain despite the rise and fall of chiefs, the arrival and residency of others, the time of politicians and elected and appointed officers.
2. Little time and effort offered to politicians and others - time and effort is to acknowledgement and recognition of kupuna and that which they pass on to us for the benefit of today and tomorrow.
3. Place supports our weight from the time we are conceived to the time we will move on, and others will replace us.
4. Sustainable families and communities - to what extent can we be sustaining? Kekaha wai 'ole - a land without water. Our place shapes us; how we choose to be will shape our place.
5. Knowing our genealogies enables us to use our genealogies according to the context and circumstances of the purposes we face i.e. environment, education etc.
Day 2 Operators Panel Discussion
Maile Meyer (pictured left; right) established Native Books, Inc. in 1990; founded Native Books and Beautiful Things; and, in 1998, opened BookEnds, a retail book shop in Kailua. She is a member of the State Commission on the Status of Women, Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association, Malama Hawai'i, the Daughter's of Hawai'i and Hale Ku'ai Cooperative. Maile also sits on the Board of Directors for Hale Ku'ai.
Stacy Spoat (pictured above; middle) is the Executive Director of the Waipa Foundation, a non-profit Hawaiian education and agriculture organization that manages the use of an entire ahupua'a on the north end of Kaua'i. She is involved with many community organizations such as The Kaua'i Museum Association, The Kaua'i Taro Festival, and the Hawai'i Small Business Development Center.
Andrew Te Whaiti (pictured above; left) was CEO of Te Puia, New Zealand's largest tourism and cultural tourism business. During Andrew's tenure, increased emphasis was placed on the eco-tourism principles and an emergence of technologies to tell cultural stories. The key was "balancing commerce and culture." Andrew is passionate about cultural tourism and idigenous development. Andrew holds a number of governance roles within the tourism and education sector.
David O'Connell (pictured right) is the manager Toitu Te Whenua (Environmental Unit) for the tribal organization of the Ngai Tahu tribe, who occupy the majority of the South Island/Te Waipounamu of New Zealand. David has worked for the tribe for 14 years at both a corporate and local community level.
Over this time, David has seen and participated in the growth of the tribal interests in tourism. His staff have daily relationships with the staff of Ngai Tahu Tourism and its subsidiaries, and work to ensure the actions and investments of the commercial company do not undermine tribal and local values, sites and relatonships. They also work to ensure robust communication occurs between the tribal council and local Runanga communities and whanau (families).
Maile Meyer, Stacy Sproat, Andrew Te Whaiti, and David O'Connell provided first hand knowledge of front line experiences in the tourism industry. We thank them for their gracious appearance at the forum and insight provided.
Highlights from our Day 2 Operators Panel Discussion:
1. We are moving toward the establishment of a tribal economy which draws on members as a workforce to develop and maintain the strength that comes with the multiplier effect. (Te Maire Tau)
2. Understand the science of tourism. Creating currency through banging on doors and ringing often. Look at companies that understand the science of tourism and intellectually bank this information to draw down conceptual design elements for planning and implementing cultural tourism. Tourism is an enabler for cultural, educational, economic and social growth and affirmation. (Andrew Te Whaiti) 3. Use tourism "hosting" to get to know your culture and give/get back to your culture.
4. Not an operator but a manger of resources - not a retailer but a community builder.
5. Visitors become part of your family - give first without asking for anything back, so in the process you'll learn and be taught.
6. Leverage tourism industry to ecourage localization.
7. Sometimes we'll take a short term hit if we know it will benefit long term development.
8. Create an experience to educate people to make a difference in the world.
9. Access points - you might want to contain where things happen. Create access that is real as to build our capacity to look after our own, then to offer opportunities to others.
Len Materman (Stanford University)
Len Materman coordinates the activities of the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development at Stanford University. In this role, Len works with campus faculty and affiliated staff in Washington, DC and internationally to design, raise money for, and implement projects.
Highlights of his Hawai'i Forum presentation:
1. Need to assign value to nature, culture and community.
2. Growing eco-tourism market; Center for Ecotourism and Sustainable Development and Stanford University are engaging with indigenous communities.
3. There is increasing evidence of growing eco-tourism market in developing countries.
4. The key is to integrate communities, culture and the environment with the economy.
5. Len's research is considering supportive models for tourism development.
6. Communities and partners work together to raise money, build infrastructure and consider the impacts of indigenous areas.
7. There is a growing tourism philanthropy market, and an interest from tourists to give.
8. There is still the need for education and advice for tourists, and the correct paths for funding support, largely through non-governmental agencies.
Davianna McGregor (University of Hawai'i - Manoa)
Davianna Pomaika'i McGregor is a Professor and founding member of the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of Hawai'i - Manoa. She is a historian of Hawai'i and the Pacific. Her research focus on the perpetuation of Hawaiian culture and language in Native Hawaiian rural communities in Moloka'i, Hana-Maui, Waipi'o and Puna is featured in her 2007 book, Na Kua'aina: Living Hawaiian Culture.
Highlights of her Hawai'i Forum presetation:
1. Plan activities for the community that visitors can be invited to.
2. Be specific about tourism activities and definitions of tourism.
3. "Kama'aina want to be hosts. Kama'aina set the terms of visitation."
4. "Reserve the right to impose Kapu as needed."
5. Intimate scale for quality experiences for both community and visitors.
6. Highlighted a method for tourism planning.
Mayor Harry Kim (County of Hawai'i)
Harry Kim became Mayor of the County of Hawai'i on December 4th, 2000. Since 1976 he had been the Administrator for the Civil Defense Agency. During his time in office, Kim has advocated, among other initiatives, recycling projects and the creation of a new County office complex in the place of the defunct Kaiko'o Mall.
Highlights of his Hawai'i Forum presentation:
1. An older generation comes from another time of values.
2. Looking for the organizations like KS that can change the course of where people are going.
3. Asks what we have become as a people and if we don't work together then we could lose it all. Leadership is required to affirm values, what is important, and the way you want to live.
4. Our values guide our actions, behavior and decisions.
5. Island has 160,000 people in need of which 45,000 are in major difficulty. 1,200 sleep on the street, a % known that are at risk and live in congested situations and a number that are living with others, but they are not visible.
6. Need to sustain people who care.
Neil Hannahs (Director, Kamehameha Schools Land Assets Division)
Neil J.K. Hannahs (more affectionately known as "Uncle Neil") directs the Land Assets Division of Kamehameha Schools and is responsible for the team that manages Kamehameha's 347,000 acres of agriculture and conservation lands in Hawai'i. He is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools and received his BA and MA degrees from Stanford University.
Highlights of his Hawai'i Forum presentation:
1. Took account of what the speaker covered in terms of environment, community expectations, social issues and cultural imperatives.
2. Noted work that Fellowship has done with multi-value evaluation tool.
3. Align these issues to the multi-value evaluation tool and its application to tourism.
4. KS primary purpose is education - but intends to make a difference in the community by extending the reach.
The Hawai'i forum proved to be a worthwhile gathering for a sharing of mana'o from all perspectives. Keeping communication lines open is always the key to success, and the forum served as a mini-facilitator in that regard. With the conclusion of the Hawai'i Forum -- as with the old cliche, this is not an end, but only the beginning of our discussions on sustainability.
In our next issue, we take a look at the entire Hawai'i scope and project undertaken by our FNFP fellows and reflect about the past FNFP journey while looking forward to the next.
'Aulani is currently Superintendent for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, the largest single conservation area under US flag and the world's largest protected marine area.
Dr. Peter Vitousek is a Clifford G. Morrison Professor of Population and Resource Studies at Stanford University. His current research includes understanding the nature and consequences of nutrient limitation to plant productivity and other ecosystems processes. A key research focus has been the development of the Hawaiian Islands as a model system for ecosystem studies, and for research on the interface between archaeology and ecosystems.
Dr. James Roumasset is a Professor for the Deparmtent of Economics at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. His research interests are in environmental & resource economics, new institutional economics, and development microeconomics. 
David Cole presently serves as Chairman, President and CEO of Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc., a land holding and operating company in Hawai'i. He also serves as chairman of the The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i, Director of the The Twin Farms Collection (TwinFarms.com), Grove Farm Co., Inc., Hawai'i Superferry, Inc., Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. and Sesame Workshop (SesameWorkshop.org). 
John DeFries is President and CEO of Native Sun Business Group, Inc, which provides project management and consulting services to an array of clients.
Ulu is a descendant from the prominent Kanaka'ole family, and offers her spiritual strength with preserving the 'aina (land), plants, animals and mankind. She also serves as a lecturer in the University of Hawai'i system at Hawai'i Community College in the Human Services discipline.
Hannah Kihalani Springer is a life long student of na mea Hawai'i and brings a kama'aina perspective to whatever she engages in. She has served at the State and County levels in both elected and appointed positions. She also sits on a number of volunteer councils and is a cultural advisor.
Len Materman coordinates the activities of the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development at Stanford University. In this role, Len works with campus faculty and affiliated staff in Washington, DC and internationally to design, raise money for, and implement projects.
Davianna Pomaika'i McGregor is a Professor and founding member of the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of Hawai'i - Manoa. She is a historian of Hawai'i and the Pacific. Her research focus on the perpetuation of Hawaiian culture and language in Native Hawaiian rural communities in Moloka'i, Hana-Maui, Waipi'o and Puna is featured in her 2007 book, Na Kua'aina: Living Hawaiian Culture.
Harry Kim became Mayor of the County of Hawai'i on December 4th, 2000. Since 1976 he had been the Administrator for the Civil Defense Agency. During his time in office, Kim has advocated, among other initiatives, recycling projects and the creation of a new County office complex in the place of the defunct Kaiko'o Mall.
Neil J.K. Hannahs (more affectionately known as "Uncle Neil") directs the Land Assets Division of Kamehameha Schools and is responsible for the team that manages Kamehameha's 347,000 acres of agriculture and conservation lands in Hawai'i. He is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools and received his BA and MA degrees from Stanford University.
