Rx for Hawaii - environmental protection works of Dr. Noa Emmet Aluli for Hawaii - Earthkeepers - Column

American Forests, March-April, 1993 by John Falconer

For 17 years, Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli, a native Hawaiian, has been taking care of people's health on the island of Molokai. For the past 20, he's been looking out for their souls.

Aluli says that Hawaiian tradition teaches that the original inhabitants were descendants of the nature gods, thereby tying the people to their environment. So in order to heal souls, Aluli helps heal the environment.

His work on behalf of environmental and cultural causes in Hawaii has ranged from trying to stop the military from using the island of Kaho'olawe as a bombing range to his current efforts against a geothermal energy project on the slopes of the Kilauea volcano (see American Forests, July/August 1991).

In 1983 Aluli co-founded the Pele Defense Fund (PDF), named for the volcano goddess Pele. PDF is a group of native Hawaiians who are trying to preserve both the ecosystem and their traditional culture.

In the early 1980s a project was developed that would tap the Kilauea volcano for geothermal energy. Roads would be bulldozed through Wao Kele O Puna--the islands' largest contiguous lowland forest--and drill sites would be constructed to release natural steam. Dona Kokubun of the Audubon Society in Hawaii fears that the "network of roads would increase the establishment of alien plant species" in the rainforest. Since these species were not present as the ecosystem evolved, Aluli says, the rainforest would have no natural defense against them.

"Geothermal development on the Big Island of Hawaii is ugly, toxic, and costly, and sacreligious," Aluli says. The PDF has lobbied officials to reconsider the project, and has succeeded in forcing the state to conduct an environmental impact study. Aluli hopes the study will verify the threat that the geothermal plant poses to the ecosystem.

Aluli also fears the project will ultimately lead to problems with acid rain. Geothermal projects have been successful in other areas, but Aluli says the steam tapped on the Hawaiian islands is up to four times as toxic as what has been used in California.

Scientists disagree on how pure the rainforest actually is and, therefore, how grave a threat development would pose.

Hawaii was once a pristine environment, inhabited by many species of unique plants and animals. When Polynesians migrated to the islands, the environment underwent changes. Flightless birds fell victim to hunters, and lowland forests were cleared for farming. But the people still developed a reverence for their fragile ecosystem, and their culture came to center around the environment.

One hundred years ago, missionaries overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy. Thus began a new era of change for the environment. As people moved from the mainland, they introduced alien insects and plants into the environment. But the tradition of respect for the environment carried over to the new inhabitants. In 1903, the territory of Hawaii established the first Board of Forestry and Agriculture.

The protection of Hawaii's wildlife is important in part because of the number of species threatened with extinction or that died out altogether, said Mike Buck of the State Division of Forestry and Wildlife. Hawaii, he says, is viewed as "the extinction capital of the world."

Aluli says that the state is sensitive to the environment but not to the native culture in Hawaii. Hawaiians continue to value the rainforests as traditional hunting grounds, a source of medicine, and an integral part of traditional ceremonies. Their holistic view instills environmental values: When the rainforests are damaged, so is the community.

If all Americans want other countries to protect their rainforests, adds Aluli, we must set an example by starting with our own.