East Moloka‘i Watershed Partnership
History & Mission
The East Moloka‘i Watershed Partnership was formed in November 1999, to protect the best remaining native forest watershed areas on the East Moloka‘i Mountains. At that time, communities were invited to apply for a federal designation called the EZ (Empowerment Zone) to revitalize a community’s economy, health and environment. Unlike previous federal initiatives, the federal government was not telling those communities what it wanted to see, but asking those communities, “What is your plan? What do you want to see?”
Grassroots efforts led to Moloka‘i receiving the designation of a USDA Enterprise Community or EC. The EC, also called “Ke Aupuni Lokahi (KAL),” helped kick off the partnership’s first project, the Kamalō/Kapualei Watershed Project, a top-voted project by the community to construct a five-foot high, 5.5-mile contour fenceline. This fence, built by Molokai locals, would prevent goats from continuing to eat their way up the mountain and take the last 13% of native forest that remained, a forest home to hundreds of native species and providing millions of gallons of water every single day to its residents.
The partnership began with just five landowner partners, and today has grown to over 27 landowners and partner agencies. It continues to be led by The Nature Conservancy of Molokai with the mission of maintaining a healthy watershed in order to sustain the future quality and quantity of Molokai’s fresh water supply.
Partners
- Kainalu Ranch/Dunbar Ranch Partners
- Kalua‘aha Ranch/Dunnam Trusts
- Hawaii Dept of Health
- Hawaii DLNR DoFAW
- Ilima General Partnership
- Kalaupapa National Historical Park
- Kamehameha Schools
- Kapualei Ranch
- Kawela Plantation Homeonwners’ Association
- Ke Aupuni Lokahi
- Molokai Enterprise Community Governance Board
- Molokai Land Trust
- Moloka‘i-Lana‘i Soil and Water Conservation District
- Maui County
- Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU)
- Pearl Alice Friel General Partnership
- Pu‘u o Hōkū Ranch
- Thacker Corporation
- The Nature Conservancy
- USDA NRCS
- US EPA
- US Geological Survey
- US Fish & Wildlife Service
- Vernon T. SuzukiWest ‘Ōhi‘a, Sam Pedro
Our Logo
The EMoWP logo is an ‘āma‘u fern with a water droplet, representing that our native species are the source of our island’s water supply.
Management Priorities
The partnership uses the traditional Hawaiian land division, or ahupua‘a, approach to protecting the EMoWP watershed landscapes, with the upper native forests systems as the highest priority. Such an approach tries to protect watershed areas from the mountain top to the sea. Controlling threats such as hoofed animals and invasive weeds are key strategies to protecting the best remaining native forest areas and to increase vegetation to the highly denuded, eroding mid-elevation slopes and thus reducing the sedimentation rate that severely impacts the adjoining fringing reefs.
Key strategies include:
- Fences to protect the upper forest systems.
- Reduction of feral animal populations.
- Monitoring systems that help guide and document management actions.
- Community outreach that engages, educates and gains the support of the local communities.
- Continual development of the partnership through fundraising, capacity building and landowner expansion.
- Involvement with fire (Moloka‘i Fire Task Force) and island invasive species efforts (Moloka‘i subcommittee of the Maui Invasive Species Committee).
Ecosystem Highlights
Since the early 2000’s US Geological Survey has studied Kawela, a watershed on Molokai’s south slope whose middle elevation lands were eroding at a rate 100x that of the natural rate of erosion. This was because of goats, which would eat the vegetation down to the ground, leaving nothing to hold the soil. When it rained, all would wash down, clogging the coastal highway and clouding the reef. Since implementing animal control and fencing, EMoWP has been able to reduce sedimentation by nearly 100 fully loaded semi-tractor trailers’ worth of dirt being dumped into the Kawela stream every year!
While sedimentation has not been eliminated, there are early signs of recovery to the south shore fringing reef: coral is now growing closer to shore and baby coral heads are popping up.
Though just 13% of Molokai’s native ecosystems remain, they are home to numerous native species, some only found on Molokai and nowhere else in the world.
Top Threats
- feral ungulates
- invasive plant species
- fire
- avian disease
- climate change
Map of Area
Coming soon!
How You Can Help
Ma‘ema‘e Moloka‘i! [Let’s keep Moloka‘i clean!]
Moloka‘i is free of many weeds, alien species and diseases, like Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death fungus, found on other islands. When visiting Moloka‘i and particularly one of it’s more pristine areas, use Moloka‘i-only gear that is free of dirt and debris, and that has been sprayed with a 70% alcohol solution.
News, Updates, Job/Volunteer Openings:
Any jobs available will be posted and can be applied for at:
Media Gallery
Coming soon!
Resources:
- Coming Soon!
Contact Information
Russell Kallstrom
EMoWP Coordinator
The Nature Conservancy
rkallstrom@tnc.org
808-954-6589
