Kupaa heeia calls for heeia to stand firm. This slogan was coined by heeia native haunani KAY trask and used in the early 1990S to fight against a proposed golf course development in the heeia…

The Department of the Interior's Interior Business Center awarded a $1,600,000 Project Grant to Paepae O Heeia, a Native Hawaiian non-profit organization, under the Native Hawaiian Climate Resilience Program (CFDA 15.098). The grant, effective from October 2024 to September 2027, will fund the organization's "Kapapahuliau Climate Resilience Projects" to address climate change impacts in the Heeia ahupuaa (watershed) region of Hawaii.

The key products and services to be delivered through this grant include: 1) flood mitigation through clearing invasive vegetation, 2) groundwater recharge by planting native and Polynesian-introduced plants and crops, and 3) addressing coastal erosion and sea-level rise impacts through removing invasive mangroves and restoring fishpond walls. Paepae O Heeia will leverage its 23 years of local stewardship experience to integrate indigenous Hawaiian aquacultural and agricultural management strategies with scientific approaches for environmental restoration and climate resilience.

Kupaa heeia calls for heeia to stand firm. This slogan was coined by heeia native haunani KAY trask and used in the early 1990S to fight against a proposed golf course development in the heeia meadowlands (heeia ULI). Through kpaa heeia, paepae o heeia and kkoo IWI, two heeia ahupuaa- based non-profit organizations propose to employ indigenous hawaiian aquacultural and agricultural management strategies and solutions to address and mitigate climate change-related challenges. While western science model-based projections inform most climate solutions, our twenty-three years as active stewards in heeia employ INA-based solutions grounded in IKE hawaii. Our proposed kapapahuliau climate resilience projects will address program priorities 1. Coping with past and present climate change related impacts (coping response) and 2. Adaptation to climate change (adaptation). While the climate-related issues are numerous when trying to restore and entire ahupuaa (watershed), our proposed heeia ahupuaa kapapahuliau auwaa projects will attempt to address 1. Flood mitigation through the clearing of invasive vegetation 2. Groundwater recharge through the planting of native plants and polynesian-introduced vegetation and agricultural food crops and 3. Coastal erosion and shoreline buffering due to sea-level rise through the removal of invasive mangrove and fishpond wall restoration.