Moloka'i, Hawaii
2024 RWJF Culture of Health Prize Winner
Reclaiming Land and Restoring Cultural Customs Sustains a Healthier Molokaʻi
The Hawaiian Island of Molokaʻi has always been a place where land and people existed in a regenerative and symbiotic relationship.
Unlike other Hawaiian Islands shaped by tourism and outside interests, Molokaʻi has long prioritized its ʻāina, its community, its health, and its self-sufficiency. But this commitment has come at a cost, including limited access to services like healthcare, high poverty rates, and ongoing threats to land and resources. Today, the Molokaʻi community aims to address these issues by preserving and promoting the island’s unique culture, traditions, and customs, including an effort to buy back a large portion of its land to help protect the lifeways that sustain its people and its land. Key highlights of their work include:
- The creation of a local, member-managed nonprofit to buy back nearly one-third of Molokaʻi land, currently owned by a developer. The nonprofit promises to mālama—or protect—this land and its people to create ʻāina momona—health, vitality, and sustainability.
- Community-led, place-based partnerships are reclaiming the shoreline on Molokaʻi from invasive macroalgae that threaten nearshore fisheries. Over 35,000 pounds of algae have been removed and repurposed into a rich soil amendment.
- Approximately 65 local farmers and food producers are promoting locally-sourced produce through an initiative called the Mobile Market, which reinvests profits into Molokaʻi producers and its food system. The Mobile Market provides Molokaʻi families with access to fresh Molokai-grown, and locally made food including deliveries to several food hubs.
- To create a more stable and reliable energy future, a local coalition led an island-wide planning process to develop a portfolio of clean energy projects to achieve 100% renewable energy for Molokaʻi that is feasible, respectful of Molokaʻi’s culture and environment, and strongly supported by the community.
- A visionary plan aimed at fostering community resilience and adaptability in the face of rising sea levels recommended community-led adaptation strategies to mitigate the dangers of erosion and flooding.
Matt Yamashita (Center), a Molokaʻi filmmaker and board member for Sustʻāiainable Molokai, fishing with longtime friends Aaron Kealaiki and Kamalani Pali.
Mercy Ritte (L) and other members of the ROOTed Home School program harvest taro.
Bobby Alcain (L), a Molokai farmer and his intern, Lanikeha Albino (R), cultivate native species at his nursery, ‘Āina Pulapula.
Cameron Hiro inspects sea salt production at his farm on the island of Molokaʻi. Cameron participated in Sustʻāinable Molokai's Poultry Egg Education Project (PEEP), which is an effort to increase local egg production, boost the local economy, and support participants in their business goals.
Malia Akutagawa (L), attorney, professor of law and Hawaiian Studies, founder of Sustʻāinable Molokai, and obard member of the Molokai Heritage Trust; and Kawaipuna Kalipi (R), general manager for the Molokai Heritage Trust, discuss the importance of the Molokaʻi Ranch lands outside the Maunaloa Post Office. The Molokaʻi Ranch owners control over 55,000 acres of land on the island of Molokaʻi, nearly one third of the entire island. The Molokai Heritage Trust hopes to restore ownership of this land back to the community.
Kawaipuna Kalipi (L), general manager for Molokai Heritage Trust; Robert Nerveza Shizuma (C), Molokai Clean Energy Hui coordinator for Sustʻāinable Molokai; and Zhantell Dudoit Lindo (R), community outreach and emergency management specialist for County of Maui, Chair of the Molokai Planning Commission, and Ho'okele (Chair) of Molokai Heritage Trust, attend a testimony hearing for the Maui County Budget in Kaunakakai, Molokaʻi.
