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Protecting native forests combined with transitioning fallow and unmanaged agricultural lands to '艑iwi (Native Hawaiian) and other place-based agroforestry systems has direct benefits for local fisheries, according to a new study in npj Ocean Sustainability by an interdisciplinary team from the University of Hawai'i at M膩noa, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Kamehameha Schools and Seascape Solutions.

These forest management and restoration efforts can improve local food production, biodiversity conservation and cultural connection in places from land to sea.

Mauka to makai

For generations, Kanaka '艑iwi, like other Pacific island cultures, managed from land to sea (mauka i makai) through a system of land divisions (moku) that ensured food security and ecological balance. However, colonization, land privatization and industrial agriculture disrupted these systems.

Over the past few decades, large-scale declines in plantation agriculture has now left 40% of Hawai'i's agricultural lands fallow and unmanaged, which can pose risks from elevated erosion, invasive species and wildfire.

The research found that combining native forest protection (100,000 acres) with transitioning suitable fallow agricultural land to agroforestry (400,000 acres) could increase sediment retention by 30%, thereby reducing erosion and boosting nearshore food production by almost 100,000 meals per year in some moku. Benefits of this magnitude were shown for west Kaua'i, the south shore of Moloka'i, west Maui and east Hawai'i Island, where communities are tightly connected to and reliant on fishing for livelihoods, subsistence and social networks.

Restoring fallow agriculture lands

While forest conservation and marine resources management receive significant attention in Hawai'i, lower and middle-elevation lands (wao k膩naka)鈥攖raditionally used for agriculture and food production鈥攔emain underutilized in natural resource management efforts. In pockets across Hawai'i, '艑iwi and kama'膩ina farmers are restoring fallow agriculture lands through Indigenous-informed agroforestry, integrating woody plants and crops to revitalize agriculture, enhance biodiversity and preserve cultural traditions.

"Our findings highlight the importance of forest stewardship from ridge to reef, including biocultural restoration of agroforestry systems in low to mid-elevation fallow agricultural lands which can enhance biodiversity, grow diverse and nutritious foods, on land and from the ocean, strengthen cultural ties, and create green jobs," said Jade Delevaux, lead author, former post-doctoral researcher in UH M膩noa's Water Resources Research Center, current senior fellow at the Stanford University-based Natural Capital Project and lead consultant at Seascape Solutions.

Connecting land stewardship, seafood availability

While nearshore fisheries are essential for subsistence worldwide, their value is often underestimated due to limited assessment methods. This research developed a method to map changes in seafood production due to reduced sediment runoff, using fishing pressure, fish surveys and habitat structure maps publicly available.

"Our straightforward approach to connect land stewardship and seafood availability can be applied even in data-limited places," said Kostantinos Stamoulis, study co-author and director of Seascape Solutions. "This study shows that agroforestry transitions can increase sustainable food production both on land and in the sea."

The study calls on policymakers, conservation organizations and funders to integrate biocultural strategies into conservation policies and funding mechanisms. Investing in community-led initiatives and cross-sector collaboration in the Pacific, and across the world, can drive impactful change for biodiversity conservation, food security and human well-being.