Webinar on Indigenous-Led Restoration of the Anahola Coastline

In this webinar, presenters shared insights on Indigenous-led efforts to restore and revitalize the Anahola coastline in the moku of Koʻolau, Kawaihau District, on the island of Kauaʻi. The Hawaiian Islands are the homeland of the Kānaka Oiwi (Indigenous peoples of Hawai‘i), who maintain deep cultural and spiritual connections to the land and sea. However, over 200 years of settler colonialism led to the dispossession of ancestral homelands, the desecration of sacred sites, and the dismantling of the ahupua’a system, an Indigenous framework for managing land and coastal resources. As Kānaka Oiwi regain access to these spaces, there is an increasing need for efforts that prioritize the sustainable re-engagement of Indigenous knowledge systems, practices, and ancestral ties to place. This webinar explored how this project supported restoration planning for 432 acres of coastline, weaving traditional knowledge into modern conservation efforts for a more equitable future.