Welcome to Permaculture Island – Part II
Networking Sites, People Systems, Village Development — by Nichole Ross May 4, 2010
Malia Akutagawa, lead organizer of Sust `aina ble Molokai
On behalf of the Permaculture Research Institute USA, I am very honored and excited to announce our recently formed partnership with Hawaii-local grassroots group Sust `aina ble Molokai. The two organizations have pledged to work with one another and the community by sharing resources to create an island-wide Permaculture and sustainability education program. This Program is part of an ongoing local effort to heal the island’s denuded and eroded leeward mountain slopes, heavily silted reefs and threatened water table. This initiative exists in conjunction with Molokai’s long-term goal for a sustainable future, as put forward in the community initiated plan “Molokai: Future of a Hawaiian Island”. Sust `aina ble Molokai is adding to that vision and is in the process of creating a 10-year sust`ainability action plan with the community that emphasizes Molokai’s living culture and people, living in balance with `aina (land).
Last month, fellow PRI-USA colleague Jill Ross and I took a trip to Molokai to and had the pleasure of meeting Malia Akutagawa, lead organizer of Sust `aina ble Molokai. Malia, along with Harmonee Williams, also with that organization, took us on an amazing tour of some of the sites that are important to key environmental and cultural happenings on the island. Not only was Malia an excellent tour guide, she is also a profound storyteller of Hawaiian history and culture. We learned a lot about her island that day. It was a great start to our new partnership.
Through this Partnership, PRI-USA and Sust `aina ble Molokai will create and offer Permaculture training/courses, within the context of island-wide, on-the-ground projects. Courses will be available for both local and non-residents interested in both classroom and applied learning on Molokai. This model, commonly used in Permaculture training, will provide an opportunity for locals to become trained Permaculture teachers, designers and project workers, with added hands and expertise outside of Molokai to contribute to the repair of the island.
PRI-USA will provide the instructors for the initial courses. However, as locals are trained in Permaculture, they will become the trainers. The people of Molokai possess a deep knowledge of Hawaiian traditional agriculture practices. Bill Mollison had a special place in his heart for the Island of Molokai. He based Permaculture on many of these traditional Hawaiian practices. The people of Molokai who possess this knowledge will make ideal Permaculture teachers.
Sust `aina ble Molokai is a local, grassroots group formed to inspire youth and all Molokai residents to work toward a more sustainable future for the island. As a community-led and driven process, Sust `aina ble Molokai adopts a broad and inclusive approach and draws upon the strengths inherent in the island’s close-knit community; cultivates symbiotic partnerships; and seeks diverse partnerships for projects designed to become self-supporting. Sust `aina ble Molokai conducts education and advocacy work for sustainability that honors traditional and cultural pathways alongside modern strategies for sustainability. Sust `aina ble Molokai draws upon the strengths of its partners and community networks to restore `aina momona (abundance) to the land and people.
Sust `aina ble Molokai recently put together a sustainability conference titled "Sust `aina ble Molokai – Future of a Hawaiian Island" in July 2009 for over 400 Molokai residents and 60 off-island guests. Over 100 volunteers and local businesses helped with the event. The conference raised community awareness of innovative sustainable industries and successful models occurring in Hawaii and around the globe as they relate to food security, green building, alternative energy, education, waste management, green economies/jobs, indigenous knowledge and traditional resource management. The conference brought several of the world’s indigenous leaders and green innovators to Molokai to share practical knowledge and cultivate fruitful partnerships with the community.
Eventually, as funding becomes available, Sust `aina ble Molokai would like to set up a permanent sustainability center on the island. The Center would teach and model all aspects found on the group’s 12-point sust`ainability wheel.
Sust `aina ble Molokai intends to meld Hawaiian traditional wisdom with western sustainability concepts and take a multi-disciplinary approach in its education and training format. Courses would include sustainable construction and technology, architecture and design, environmental and traditional stewardship practices, Permaculture, renewable energy, etc. Sust `aina ble Molokai intends to do outreach into the schools from K-12 as well as cultivate college/university partnerships that would aid in providing vocational training as part of preparing Molokai’s workforce for 21st century, sustainable jobs.
Sust `aina ble Molokai would like to include in its concept for a sustainability center a strong partnership with PRI-USA to conduct ongoing Permaculture education and training, with Permaculture activities taking place onsite that would include a food forest and stand of sustainable building materials accessible to the community. Ultimately, Sust `aina ble Molokai would like to partner with large landowners to begin healing damaged landscapes and ahupua`a that have been denuded over decades of ranching, watershed diversions, and a high population of ungulates (goat and deer) and have subsequently impaired the island’s heavily silted fishponds and fringing reefs. Students and interns learning at the sust`ainability center would then have an opportunity to work on large Permaculture projects throughout the island.
PRI USA has been involved with the Island of Molokai since March 2009. We have held three Permaculture courses on the Island, including the 72-hour Permaculture Design Course, “Planning & Implementing a Permaculture Project” and “Permaculture Strategies for Tropical Drylands”. In conjunction with these and future courses, we also continue to work on establishing food forests at two different local sites. We are very fortunate to have made numerous connections with like-minded local residents during our visits that are always eager to lend a helping hand and work together to care for the Island.
Permaculture courses, in conjunction with this Partnership, will begin on Molokai in the fall. We plan to offer a sequence, that will include a PDC, a practicum and a teacher’s training course. Check back soon in our course listings for further details.
It is our hope that this partnership between PRI-USA and Sust `aina ble Molokai will help the island reclaim it’s title as the breadbasket of the Hawaiian Islands or “`aina momona” (the fat and abundant land) and lead others in Hawaii, throughout the Pacific Rim and beyond, as a positive model of true sustainability.
Click here (warning: 18mb PDF) to see Sust`aina ble Molokai’s latest newsletter announcing the partnership with PRI-USA and their goals for the Island of Molokai.
See the original “Welcome to Permaculture Island” article for a more complete background on the Molokai: Future of a Hawaiian Island document.
For inquiries related to Sust `aina ble Molokai, contact Malia Akutagawa at sustainablemolokai (at) hotmail.com
For inquiries related to the Permaculture Research Institute USA, contact Nichole Ross at nichole.ross (at) Permacultureusa.org
Comments (3)
We at PRI USA are very excited about this opportunity to work with Malia and the people of Molokai.
Comment by Nichole Ross — May 4, 2010 @ 9:02 pm
An opportunity to actually get the work done and return Molokai back to her rightful place as “the breadbasket of the islands”. I am honored to be a part of this. Malia, Harmonee, and the rest of Sust’aina ble Molokai, along with the community of Molokai have a determination that, once paired with permaculture, will reach the goals set forth in the sustainable Molokai plan far earlier then we can even imagine. This is exciting. Mahalo nui to Malia and Nichole for all their hard work.
Comment by Jill — May 4, 2010 @ 10:02 pm
Mahalo nui loa Nichole, Jill, Eric, and all at PRI for your partnership and friendship. You are doing phenomenal work around the globe. Thank you for your aloha for our island Molokai and the good work you are doing for our planet.
Special thanks goes out to Eric for putting together an excellent Intro to Permaculture workshop for Molokai residents and homesteaders. I’ve heard so many positive feedback from our community and an excitement to learn more. I look forward to organizing with PRI more workshops in the future. Mahalo Eric for working tirelessly for a month at the Nash `ohana property in Kawela, as they continue to nurture a budding food forest and demonstrate for the rest of us the possibilities of permaculture in healing our eroded landscapes.
Aloha,
Malia
Comment by Malia Akutagawa — May 5, 2010 @ 12:55 pm
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