(ethereal music) - [Ekolu] When we look at our Hawaiian creation chant, the Kumulipo, the Kumulipo tells us that life began in the ocean.

The coral polyp is the first living thing.

And the last living thing to come to life is man.

For every living thing in the ocean, there is a protector on the land, so we need to understand the duality of life.

Everything has a direct impact from land to ocean.

- [Narrator] Prior to Western colonization, the Hawaiian people embraced this duality, stewarding their island home through the creation of ahupua'a.

These pie-shaped districts traced fresh water from summit to surf, or from mauka to makai.

- [Cody] In the Ahupua'a system, it's all one body.

And when you live like an islander, whatever happens up mauka is impacting everything down makai, and same thing with makai up mauka, from the ocean to the mountain and mountain to the ocean.

(calm acoustic guitar music) - [Narrator] Today, this Hawaiian tradition of sustainable resource management endures through aloha 'aina, or love of the land.

- [Scott] Wherever you go in Hawaii, you always find people talking about how much they love the land, how much they want to care for the land.

Huli n lima i ka lepo Turn your hands into the soil.

That's the kind of the quintessential essence of how you express your love of the land.

That is connected directly to malama 'aina, which is caring for the land.

And that's embodied in the concept of kuleana, responsibility.

So we have a responsibility to care for our land.

- [Narrator] Across the island of Maui, scientists, land managers, and volunteers draw on the ancient wisdom of the Hawaiian people to revive traditional watersheds.

Even amidst profound loss in the wake of recent wildfires, islanders have strengthened their resolve to bring balance back to their cherished ecosystems.

How are local communities restoring Maui's watersheds and reefs from mauka to makai?

And what lasting impact will these efforts have on the islanders who call these places home?

(moving music) - [Announcer] Major funding for this program was provided by the Batchelor Foundation, encouraging people to preserve and protect America's underwater resources.

Additional funding was provided by Trish and Dan Bell and by the Parrot Family Endowment for Environmental Education.

(angelic choral music) - [Narrator] Nestled along the shore of the former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom lies the Lahaina reef.

The corals and sea life here face unknown impacts from the wildfire that ravaged the town on August 8th, 2023.

The unprecedented fire claimed over 100 lives and decimated some of Maui's most sacred places.

Dr. Andrea Kealoha is among a team of scientists dedicated to studying the effects of the fire on coastal water quality and coral reef ecosystems.

- [Andrea] After the fires, I think, you know, we were really in response and recovery mode for quite some time.

But unsurprisingly, it wasn't long before people in the community started turning their attention to the water.

And that's because the reef provides us with so many of the resources that we need to survive here.

And so it's a project that's responding to the needs of our community.

- [Narrator] Since the fire, Andrea and her colleagues have collected hundreds of water samples.

They measured not only the health of the reef, but also levels of contaminants from burned materials and heavy metals like copper, lead, and zinc.

- [Andrea] We also have sensors that have been deployed since October.

And so those sensors are monitoring just the general water quality parameters.

Holy moly.

It's dirty here.

Five sites are located within the Lahaina Burn Zone, and two sites are located outside of the burn zone.

And these sites serve as the control sites where we wouldn't really expect to see the impacts of the Lahaina wildfires on those reefs.

- [Narrator] As Andrea and her team begin to review sensor data, she stresses that these recordings only provide snapshots.

It will be years before long-term impacts are known.

- [Andrea] As far as we know, there's never been an urban wildfire adjacent to a coral reef.

With an urban wildfire, you have the burning of urban infrastructure and that releases all different types of contaminants.

And so we have some hypotheses about what we might expect to see in terms of stressors to the reef, but we're really learning as we go.

(somber music) - [Narrator] Andrea and other experts warn that the worst impacts may still lie ahead.

As Lahaina rebuilds, soil disruption and significant rainfall events will increase risks to the reef.

- [Andrea] So there's an 'olelo no'eau, which is a Hawaiian proverb, and it says...

He poi na kai uli, kai koo, aohe hina pkoa.

"Though the sea be deep and rough, the coral rock remains standing."

And I think, you can hammer a reef for a short period of time and it will come back.

It is resilient, but also if you have these stressors that occur for many, many years, I really believe that we can cause a full shift in the ecosystem.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] High above Lahaina's reef, the upland ecosystem is overrun with the same fire-prone non-native grasses that significantly contributed to the wildfire.

This once-lush landscape was cleared over a century ago to make way for U.S. sugarcane and pineapple plantations.

(exciting music) Today, local community members aim to heal this landscape.

Despite enduring immense personal loss from the fires, they have not wavered in their aloha 'aina.

- [Dustin] So, just try for any of the plants, not just the vetiver.

Somebody can go do that along this edge all the way to the road.

- [Narrator] Aiding them is restoration ecologist Dustin Palos, who is committed to applying indigenous Hawaiian wisdom to the restoration of native lands.

- Indigenous people had these indigenous sciences and methods, and it wasn't written.

So I feel like it might be just in our DNA, or in our koko, in our blood, because it wasn't written.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] After the fires, Dustin and his team transformed the restoration garden at the University of Hawaii Maui College into a biocultural pu'uhonua, or refuge.

Using traditional practices, they've grown more than 5,000 native tree starts, which have already been planted across the island in fire-impacted communities.

- [Dustin] In the recent devastations here on Maui, we want to showcase and incorporate these biocultural pu'uhonuas that provide this multifunction sense of place, sense of wellbeing, a place where you can practice culture or harvest and cultivate from this culture and continue this perpetuation of what ike kupuna, or this ancestral knowledge, it looks like.

And pretty much Kauluwehi is that.

(atmospheric music) - [Narrator] Just east of Lahaina, in the culturally-significant Olowalu Valley, another biocultural refuge is thriving after more than two decades of dedicated restoration efforts.

Central to this transformation is the replacement of thirsty invasive trees with more fire-resistant native plants.

- We're trying to restore this valley into what it maybe looked like before sugar cane was here, before Westerners came in and changed the landscape.

We want to help to restore that ecological integrity of this valley from mauka to makai.

(stream babbling) - [Narrator] Flowing through the heart of the valley is the Olowalu stream.

Here, traditional planting methods also play a vital role in securing sediment upstream.

- [Karin] The stream runs through the entirety of our property that we steward, and we're very mindful of our practices here because of that stream water.

Everything along the way impacts the quality of that stream water, the health of that stream.

And that then flows out into the ocean, which in turn impacts the health of the coral reef and all of the marine life that's in that nearshore coastal area.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] The Olowalu reef is among Hawaii largest and healthiest.

500-year-old corals attest to an ancient lineage, but its significance is even more crucial.

This vast mother reef seeds not only Lahaina and all of West Maui, but also neighboring islands.

- [Ekolu] If we can understand the life and ebb and flow of the corals, and that they're not just inanimate objects, that they're alive, they're living, they're breathing, if we can take care of them as such, then they can populate the rest of these reefs in perpetuity.

- [Narrator] Ekolu Lindsey, a community leader whose ancestral home was destroyed by the Lahaina wildfire, has been a steadfast advocate for coral reef restoration through better land stewardship.

He emphasizes the essential role of Hawaiian values in Kipuka Olowalu's mission.

- There are a few cultural values, cultural processes that are important for us to learn how to take care of these things properly.

Kupono is honesty, honesty to build.

Malama is to cherish, to take care of things properly, to cherish relationships.

Kokua is to help without any expectations of reciprocation.

When we understand these processes and values, aloha becomes automatic.

Aloha is love and compassion for all living things.

(uplifting music) - [Narrator] On the South Maui coast, local residents are also centering Hawaiian cultural values in the restoration of local wetlands.

Employing the traditional practice of kilo 'aina, they carefully observe the land and the natural rhythms of the ecosystem.

- [Cody] Kilo 'aina to me, here, in Waiohuli Kai, is really about learning how to communicate with the 'aina.

Kilo is really about understanding the connection one thing has to another and how that connection makes things work.

In those terms, we develop this reciprocal connection between the 'aina and ourselves.

- [Narrator] Since 2017, Cody Nemet Tuivaiti has led the effort to protect these wetlands.

- In the beginning, we were just some local brothers wanting to care for our home.

And we've definitely been educated from the 'aina itself to a point where now we're teaching education as to why these areas are so important.

(cheerful acoustic guitar music) - [Narrator] In ancient times, this coastline was renowned for its Royal fishponds.

Expertly constructed by Hawaiian engineers, these walled ponds caught sediment, nourished the fish, and protected the reefs.

Native vegetation was strategically maintained in the wetland buffer zone to retain water and filter sediment.

However, urban development has nearly erased the traditional landscape.

- (Cody) And so it's very, very important that we have these wetlands, that we have these native and endemic plants to do those jobs the way that they should be.

He alii ka ina; he kau ke knaka Means, "The island is chief, and we are its servants."

And I try to live by that as much as possible by allowing the 'aina to dictate how we move forward.

There are no time restraints when it comes to that.

There are no due dates.

The 'aina will move on the 'aina's time.

The 'aina will reveal when the 'ainas ready to reveal.

(bright acoustic guitar music) - [Narrator] Farther afield, in Nu'u, on Maui's remote southeast coast, restoration ecologist Scott Fisher recognizes the value of patience and listening to the land.

- The application of ike kupuna, of traditional knowledge, does not allow for quick movements and quick activity.

You end up doing so much more destruction that way.

My first couple years here, I didn't plant any native plants, I didn't clear any invasives, because I wanted to understand what was the relationship that had developed here, now.

And so that process of observing was critical for understanding how to be more efficient and more effective.

- [Narrator] The Nu'u Refuge, managed by the Hawaii Land Trust, spans 82-acres of rugged coastline, and includes pre-contact petroglyphs and pristine natural habitat.

- The Pupuka Pond, although it's small, it is among the healthiest coastal wetlands in the state.

The endangered and threatened birds that we're trying to protect, actually use this as their launching off point to Hawaii Island.

So it's disproportionately important and valuable, which is why we're putting so much effort into protecting it.

(intriguing music) - [Narrator] This delicate pond habitat is especially vulnerable to tsunamis, which occur roughly every 11 years in the islands.

To gain deeper insights into the area's tsunami history, Scott and his team started by looking into ancient Hawaiian stories.

One local legend recounted the tale of two deities, including the God of the ocean, who devastated a fishpond near Nu'u.

- We took that legend very seriously and said, "Okay, well, if there was an event of that size, that it could completely destroy a fishpond that was once here, is it possible that it also left a signature on the ground?"

And so we began searching.

- [Narrator] Scott discovered compelling evidence scattered along the hillside: more than 60 coral boulders, some weighing up to 50 pounds, displaced by the force of the waves.

Using their weights and positions, he estimated a wave traveling five to six meters per second.

- [Scott] We also found what we call paleo-stage indicators, or markers of how high the wave height might have been.

And those are in the form of these waterworn pebbles that were wedged into these cracks.

So some of those were up to eight meters high and 188 meters inland.

So that tells you that there was a substantial wave.

So what we can do is we can actually design a forest around the pond in order to provide maximum protection.

(chainsaw buzzing) - [Narrator] In 2023, local volunteers began clearing invasive trees and planted the first layer of this forested bioshield which is designed to slow down an incoming tsunami and capture sediment.

When finished, these native trees and shrubs will create a living tsunami barrier nearly 200 feet deep.

In addition, Scott and his team are incorporating native plant species that are also revered for their medicinal and ceremonial significance.

- On one level, we're trying to protect a coastal wetlands, but also what we're trying to do is reinvigorate a culture, and especially the relationship between people and land.

Our vision is i ola ka ina, i ola mkou nei which is basically, "When the land thrives, we all thrive."

(uplifting music) - [Narrator] On the North Shore of Maui, the Hawaii Land Trust also manages the Waihe'e Coastal Dunes & Wetlands Refuge, one of Hawaii most culturally significant sites.

This area was once home to two prosperous Hawaiian villages and an expansive inland fishpond.

But large-scale agriculture drained this land of its once-flowing water years ago.

- My main focus as a steward here in Waihe'e is to bring the water back to the wetlands.

And the water is important to bring back because it's water, it's wai.

And wai to us, for kanaka, is very, very important because it's life.

(river rushing) - [Narrator] High above the coastal refuge, the wild flow of the Waihe'e River is harnessed by ancient irrigation canals to nourish traditional Hawaiian farms growing kalo, a plant of profound significance in Hawaiian culture.

- If you have a pretty healthy ahupua'a, you have your river that comes down, you have kalo farmers who take the wai for their kalo, it goes back into the river, and that's how it's supposed to be.

The overall health of ahupua'a system is dependent on everybody who uses the system.

And it's trying to figure out what can we do as users on the same system that will help each other out you know.

- [Narrator] Because the southern irrigation channel is losing nearly half of its water to leaks, the Land Trust is working with farmers to repair it.

(trimmer buzzing) After clearing invasives, they must dredge the canal by hand to remove accumulated sediment, ensuring the faster, cooler water flow crucial for nourishing the kalo plants.

(mud squelching) This waterway will one day be reconnected to the wetlands and inland fishpond at Waihe'e Reserve.

However, restoring this ancient watershed still requires years of work ahead.

- A fishpond is really a reflection of the health of your ahupua'a, because it really shows how much the entirety of your system is working in harmony.

And this space hasn't really had water for about 100 years or so.

And that really changes the 'aina, the community, and also the spirit of the place.

There are a lot of different ways to heal 'aina and to heal people.

That's why the work that we do here, which is bringing water back, is very important because the physical embodiment of wai can change the spirit of the land and the community.

So a lot of it comes through understanding identity and empowerment of being kanaka.

(ethereal music) - [Narrator] All across Maui, the efforts of community volunteers, land managers, and restoration ecologists mark a transformational shift toward ancient Hawaiian practices.

Islanders are reconnecting with the land through aloha 'aina.

This deep-rooted love for the land is not only revitalizing ecosystems but also restoring communities from mauka to makai.

[Scott] He alii ka ina, he kau ke knaka, "The land is the chief, and the people are the servants."

None of us are gonna be here forever.

We're all gonna hala i ka po We're all going to pass on into the next world.

But if we share that sense of aloha 'aina, then we can ensure that the subsequent generations take on the kuleana, the responsibility of caring for the land.

Anytime you talk about land, the first thing you ought to think about is kuleana, is responsibility.

- We continue to forget that we need and have kuleana or responsibilities, as older siblings, as kinship.

I tell the kids, the keiki, that's what this is for.

This is not for us.

This is not for me.

This is for the community.

This is for our lahui, our nation.

This is for the future.

That's what conservation and preservation is about: preserving and conserving resources for the next generation, not for us.

- If you just give it time, give the 'aina time to acclimate to the changes and the impacts, it'll slowly begin to bounce back.

You just gotta pay attention.

You gotta give it time.

He alii ka ina, he kau ke knaka.

Know your land, know your space before you traverse.

If we don't know these things and we continue to just be separated from them, then we're really not being islanders, we're really not being kanaka.

It's really about peeling back all these layers of colonialism, and revealing the islander within ourselves.

This is how we're gonna help to malama and care for these resources.

[Ekolu] I ka w ma mua, ka w ma hope.

"The future can be found in the wisdom of the past."

So in the Hawaiian lens of looking at things, the answers are already there.

We look behind us to see where we need to go.

There is no perfect answer for anything out there.

There's only, "Let's try it."

(waves lapping) (moving music) - [Announcer] Major funding for this program was provided by the Batchelor Foundation, encouraging people to preserve and protect America's underwater resources.

Additional funding was provided by Trish and Dan Bell and by the Parrot Family Endowment for Environmental Education.

(exciting music)