The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is funding two projects in Hawaiʻi working to help restore coral reefs.
Nearly $350,000 was gifted to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources to support its Makai Restoration Action Plans.
They plan to engage fishers to draft their Fisheries Habitat Action Plan, coordinate the restoration of reefs in Waikīkī, and use the money to support their Special Activity Permitting process and environmental review for coral reef restoration projects statewide.
Over $180,000 will go toward restoring the over 900-acre Olowalu Reef, which has been identified as one of the most essential reefs around Maui. It has been designated a Mission Blue Hope Spot — an area critical to the health of the oceans.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and Mānoa are working with the Nature Conservancy to research key drivers of reef degradation and plan for coral planting.
A study of Hawaiʻi's last mass bleaching event in 2019 found that marine heatwaves and bleaching are becoming more frequent and severe across the Hawaiian Archipelago.
"Climate change and other pressures are having disastrous effects on coral reefs around the world, including the waters surrounding U.S. Pacific Islands," said Tj Tate, director of Conservation for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
"Marine heatwaves like the one occurring right now in the southeastern U.S. demonstrate the need to act now to implement the restoration needed to stem the tide of reef degradation."
Other factors, such as damage by tourists, land-based pollution and overfishing, have threatened Hawaiʻi's reefs, which are essential to the ecological balance of both the ocean and the land.
The grants are funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
