Environment

Watershed Protection Provides Strong Return on Investment on Kaua‘i

March 20, 2025

By Conrad Newfield, Nathan DeMaagd, Christopher Wada, Kimberly Burnett, and Leah Bremer Read the full report. Kaua‘i’s native forests play a vital role in sustaining the island’s freshwater resources. These biodiverse ecosystems capture rainfall and fog, allowing water to seep into underground aquifers, which serve as the primary source of drinking water. However, the expansion […]

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Return on investment for watershed protection on Kaua‘i

Native forests provide many societal benefits, including protecting freshwater resources that provide drinking water and sustain culturally, economically, and ecologically valuable springs, streams, and groundwater dependent ecosystems. The objectives of this report are to: (1) model future management scenarios for Kaua‘i’s native forests that are co-developed with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to quantify the impact […]

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Scaling biocultural initiatives can support nature, food, and culture from summit to sea

March 18, 2025

Biocultural nature-based solutions provide many social, cultural, and ecological benefits. Yet, there has been little research on related land-sea societal benefits, hindering our ability to finance and scale these solutions. To help fill this gap, we evaluate the land-sea benefits of scaling biocultural restoration initiatives in Hawaiʻi, including multi-strata agroforestry and high-elevation silvopasture combined with […]

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New UHERO Environment contribution in Ocean Nature Sustainability. Scaling biocultural initiatives can support nature, food, and culture from summit to sea. 

Biocultural nature-based solutions provide many social, cultural, and ecological benefits. Yet, there has been little research on related land-sea societal benefits, hindering our ability to finance and scale these solutions. To help fill this gap, we evaluate the land-sea benefits of scaling biocultural restoration initiatives in Hawaiʻi, including multi-strata agroforestry and high-elevation silvopasture combined with […]

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Carbon Benefits of Agroforestry Transitions on Fallow Agricultural Lands – New UHERO Environment publication in Scientific Reports

February 13, 2025

New UHERO Environment publication in Scientific Reports demonstrates important carbon benefits of transitioning fallow agricultural lands into varying agroforestry systems across Hawaiʻi. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-87891-y

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Carbon benefits through agroforestry transitions on unmanaged fallow agricultural land in Hawaiʻi

February 12, 2025

There are growing efforts to incorporate agroforestry into ecosystem service incentive programs. Indigenous and other place-based multi-strata agroforestry systems are important conservation and agricultural strategies, yet their ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration benefits, have received little research attention. To fill this gap, we draw on interviews with agroforestry practitioners and ecosystem service modeling in Hawaiʻi […]

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Considerations for understanding water availability in West Maui

January 21, 2025

This piece intends to highlight some of the inherent tradeoffs that make managing water in West Maui especially challenging. In particular, subtracting current/authorized use from “sustainable yield” as defined by the State Water Code and interpreted by CWRM may not be a reliable way to determine remaining water resources available for use. We hope summarizing […]

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New Study on Transfer of Development Rights and Sea Level Rise

December 6, 2024

The City and County of Honolulu Resilience Office recently featured a report coauthored by UH ISR’s Alice McLean and UHERO’s Kimberly Burnett, Makena Coffman, Justin Tyndall, Kaila Ronquilio, and Christopher Wada. The study assessed the potential of using Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for sea level rise adaptation on O‘ahu. Results from the analysis suggest that TDR alone is […]

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News: Co-Production of Knowledge at Sumida Farm Trains a New Generation of Community-Engaged Scientists

May 13, 2024

A collaboration between the University of Hawai‘i (UH), Hawai‘i Sea Grant, and the fourth generation of Sumida farmers focuses on training a new generation of locally engaged scientists. A key partner is UHERO, an interdisciplinary research group that informs public policy across Hawai‘i. The overarching goal is to build a healthy, resilient, and sustainable agricultural […]

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