Indigenous Agricultural Ecosystems on the “Extinction Capital”

Hawaii makes up barely 0.3% of the nation's total land mass yet it is home to 44% of the country's endangered and threatened plant species. Making a name for itself as the “extinction capital.”

On this episode of Climify, we are joined by Katie Kamelamela, an educator and researcher with the Global Discovery and Conservation Science, whose work gives a hot take on curated landscapes. Her own cultural, ancestral, and spiritual connection to Hawaii brings a human touch and hope to Project Drawdown’s solution sectors on Land Sinks and Indigenous Peoples’ Forest Tenure. Katie observes community and society’s connection, patterns and interactions with land and cultural heritage in order to preserve those very systems at risk.

Leading with a meditation opened the discussion to wonder: What does a forest mean to you?

Life.

Water.

To Katie, forests in Hawaii serve functional yet spiritual ways in sustaining all of life that it inhabits. Capturing water, hydrating aquifers or giving life to the ocean, forests are the soul of Indigenous agricultural systems.