LOCAL PARTNER: ‘Āina Momona
Young adults are trained in indigenous natural resource management, cultural resource management, and in promoting a traditional and holistic approach to caring for the land and building capacity in young leaders to revitalize food sovereignty in Hawai‘i.
Under this program participants were able to make crucial improvements to Keawanui fishpond, learninghands on skills connected to loko iʻa restoration and maintenance. They also studied the connections between food systems on the land and in the sea. Participants additionally worked to restore degraded wetland taro patches, or loʻi, restoring the water ways to these inland patties and platning half an acre of kalo for community consumption. Participants were given hands on training from elders and community experts, working to learn about our ancestral land management practices, food systems, and traditional governance. This educational program built much capacity on island, training a new generation of native stewards.