The Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve has become the second marine protected area in the Hawaiian archipelago to win the prestigious Blue Park Award.
The Marine Conservation Institute started the Blue Park Initiative in 2017 to recognize marine reserves across the globe that operate with the highest conservation standards.
The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was one of the first sites to receive the award. Only one other location in the U.S., the Channel Islands marine reserve network off the coast of California, has been named a Blue Park.
When asked what Hawaiʻi is doing right, Blue Parks Initiative Director Sarah Hameed said Hawaiʻi's success stems from local and Indigenous leadership.
"Scientists have maybe been the slowest to realize how important community leadership and community involvement is in a successful marine protected area, one that really works, but we're there now," she said.
The Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission was created in 1994 by the state Legislature to manage the island and its surrounding waters.
"Receiving this award is a powerful affirmation of our decades-long efforts to restore and protect the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve," said Ashley Razo with the commission.
The commission was honored on Thursday at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France.
The recognition for marine conservation efforts in Hawaiʻi comes as the Trump administration strips protections for marine areas elsewhere in the Pacific.
In April, President Trump issued an executive order lifting restrictions on commercial fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, located about 750 miles west of Hawaiʻi. Environmental groups are suing to reverse the order.
"It's really disheartening to see the rolling back of these protections," Hameed said. "It's a sad moment, but here at the UN Ocean Conference, we're a little bit heartened to hear other nations stepping up and making commitments with a lot of new marine protected areas hopefully on the horizon."
