Vision
Pelekane Bay is adjacent to Kawaihae Harbor, on the leeward coast of Kohala Mountain on the Island of Hawai‘i. Pu‘ukohola National Historical Park overlooks the bay, and the popular Spencer Beach Park is directly to the south. The two main streams that feed into the bay, Luahine and Waiakamali, originate 5,400 feet above, in the rainforest of Kohala Mountain.
Changes that have occurred upslope on the lands along these two stream corridors have transformed Pelekane Bay from a functioning and bio-diverse estuary into a sediment-filled and nearly barren ecosystem. There is no single factor that has caused this degradation, nor has it been caused willfully or intentionally. It has instead resulted from an interrelated series of natural occurrences and land-use practices, the consequences of which could never have been foreseen. In geologic time, it happened in a blink. The last native plant remnants are literally clinging to the walls of the gulches, one flood away from losing their foothold forever.
The overall health of any watershed depends on having the full array of species and habitats that fulfill specific ecological functions. Creating a diverse, stable, multi-layered, multi-aged forest of native trees, shrubs, and ground cover is the first step to restoring a healthy watershed. Then, as the forest matures and becomes more dense, changes in the soil and light provide an appropriate habitat for natural regeneration through seed recruitment. Sediment runoff is decreased and then eliminated. Previously absent fauna begin to return as the habitat balances, thus completing the ecosystem.
Watershed restoration on a landscape scale requires a committed partnership of landowners and natural resource managers, a clearly defined problem, a well-researched and feasible management plan, and adequate funding.
With all of these components in place, we expect that the continued degradation of Pelekane Bay will be slowed by the reduction of land-based pollutant loading to the coastal environment, resulting in increased coral colonization and recruitment of reef fishes and marine invertebrates. This will also increase the capacity of native reef organisms to outcompete alien invasive algae. Large marine animals, including Endangered Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schauinslandi) and green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas aggaziziare) known to use the area will benefit from improved water quality as well.
In turn, the communities surrounding the watershed will benefit from the improved coastal habitats, fisheries, and cultural sites. This is the vision of the Pelekane Bay Restoration effort.
