RESEARCH PROJECTS
   > Hawksbill Sea Turtle Recovery Project
   > Hawaiian Monk Seal projects
   > Makai Watch

CONSERVATION PROJECTS
   > HWF Hawai'i Island Marine Debris Removal
   > Waiohinu – Ka`u Forest Reserve Protection
   > Managing Better Together Learning Network
   > Maui Reef Fund

> Hawksbill Sea Turtle Recovery Project
HWF has been conducting research and monitoring the nesting activities of hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) since 1996. There are fewer than 100 adult female hawksbills that nest in Hawai‘i, and the species is listed as critically endangered in Hawai‘i and worldwide. They need our protection. Through conservation efforts, public awareness campaigns, installation of a fence to promote dune restoration, radio and satellite tracking, and coordination of a volunteer nest watch program, HWF is helping to preserve hawksbills and their nesting habitat.
   MORE > TURTLES

> Hawaiian Monk Seal projects
For the past 10 years, HWF has voluntarily coordinated the Monk Seal Watch on Maui, educating the public and protecting monk seal "haulouts." HWF recently hired naturalist Nicole Davis as the Monk Seal Watch's new program manager. Her position is funded by a generous donation. Volunteers with the Monk Seal Watch create a "safety zone" around hauled out seals, marking the area with yellow tape and standing guard to ensure the animals are not disturbed. Recent years have shown an increase in both the numbers of adult seals sighted in the main Hawaiian islands and an increase in pups born here.
   MORE > SEALS

• HWF is currently assisting National Marine Fisheries Service in establishing a Main Hawaiian Islands photo ID catalogue.
• HWF's co-founder, Bill Gilmartin, coordinated the relocation of aggressive male monk seals from the Northwestern Islands to the Main Hawaiian Islands in an effort to reduce the "mobbing" of females by males during breeding.
• HWF conducted monk seal research on Midway Atoll for three years in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. The resulting data are used by the National Marine Fisheries Service to assist in the recovery of this unique and endangered species.

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> Makai Watch
Makai Watch is a coastal area monitoring and protection initiative that grew from a collaborative effort of community organizations, volunteers, conservation groups and state agencies. Now officially sanctioned by the State of Hawaii, Makai Watch works to restore and sustain Hawaii's coastal resources
through community involvement. HWF established Maui's first Makai Watch at Ahihi Kina'u Natural Area Reserve and Keoneo'i'o in 2003.
   MORE > MAKAI WATCH BROCHURE (PDF)

Makai Watch works to:

• Raise awareness and reach out to the community: Makai Watch participants provide ocean users with information about marine ecology, culture, history, regulations, safety, and appropriate behavior.
• Monitor sites for biological and human-use: Makai Watch participants collect information on the human use of marine resources (fishing, kayaking, collecting, etc.) and on the biological condition of those resources. Community members help to create a baseline inventory and use the results to gauge the success of their project such as increased numbers of fish or improved coral health.
• Observe sites and encourage compliance: Makai Watch participants observe the area, encourage users to learn and obey area regulations, and identity and report illegal activities.

> HWF Hawai'i Island Marine Debris Removal Project

A combination of tradewinds and ocean currents along the southeastern shore of Hawai'i Island (“Big Island”) cause very high quantities of fishing nets, line, tires and all kinds of plastic debris to wash up on this remote coastline. This coastline is frequented by endangered Hawaiian monk seals, endangered humpback whales, and nesting beaches of the endangered hawksbill turtle are on both ends of this stretch of debris laden coast.

Hawaii Wildlife Fund organized the first community shoreline cleanups here in 2003 and the effort has been continuous since then. Four years of work has resulted in over 90 tons of debris removed from nine miles of coastline.

The big problem is that the debris keeps coming ashore at a rate we’ve estimated to be 10-20 tons per year. Most of the large bundles of net, many weighing well over 1,000 pounds, are removed with special equipment we’ve built, and HWF works with Matson to ship the net and line to Honolulu where it is used to generate electricity in a trash-to-energy conversion plant (H-Power). HWF takes all of the other trash, including the 2,000+ bags of small plastic items collected to date, to the county for burial in a landfill.

Volunteers are a critical part of this shoreline effort and they’ve come from all over to participate: the island, the state, the world.

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> Waiohinu – Ka`u Forest Reserve Protection

The natural and cultural resources of a coastal strand along the southeast Hawaii Island (“Big Island”) came to the attention of Hawaii Wildlife Fund in 2001 with the birth of a monk seal pup on the beach.

At that time, this very large tract of land that ran for several miles into the uplands was being leased for cattle grazing. Coastal access was extremely difficult over five miles of soft volcanic ash and very treacherous lava fields. The coastal 1,300 acres included over three dozen species of native Hawaiiian plants (one endangered), fields of Hawaiian petroglyphs, and four anchialine ponds (nearshore pools fed underground by both fresh and sea water - unique in the US to Hawai'i).

HWF initiated action to protect this resource-rich site by working with the responsible state agencies to facilitate a transfer of the coastal strand from grazing lease to “forest reserve” status, an action that was approved by the Hawai'i Board of Land and Natural Resources in 2005.

HWF is paying for the boundary survey and costs of formal subdivision to complete the transfer. HWF is also seeking grant funding to support a community-based project to restore the anchialine ponds to native ecosystems and will work with the state to develop a management plan for the site.

> Managing Better Together Learning Network
HWF works with several other Hawaii-based non-government organizations to coordinate the bi-annual meetings of community marine management practitioners across the Main Hawaiian Islands. This "Managing Better Together (MBT) Learning Network" brings together coastal communities from around the Main Hawaiian Islands to enhance community-based marine management in the areas where participants live. Through the network, community members build skills and share their ideas, experiences and lessons learned through workshops, meetings and exchange visits.

MBT Learning Network accomplishments include:

• Annual workshops since 2004 drawing about 80 community practitioners, local non-government organizations, state government officials and elected representatives.
• At least five exchange visits annually which bring community members to project sites on other islands to learn first-hand about those projects.
• Annual meetings for community representatives since 2005 drawing about 40 participants to address plans and goals for the MBT Learning Network and each community.

> Maui Reef Fund
   MORE > MAUI REEF FUND

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