#Ākoʻakoʻa

[aquitainequeen]

A collaborative effort of scientists and Hawaiian culture-keepers is preparing to undertake the largest restoration of coral reefs in the island chain’s history. While the scientists work to propagate and study the corals below, a cultural organization called the Kohala Center will work on land to educate how terrestrial activities impact the corals that give such rich life to Hawaiian seas. Named ʻĀkoʻakoʻa (pronounced ah kō-a kō-a), the effort shares a dual meaning: “to assemble” and “coral,” and is characteristic of the native Hawaiian involvement. “As a stage for the integration of cultural practice, management, and science, ʻĀkoʻakoʻa will seed a deeper connection between human and coral communities in an era of climate change,” said Greg Asner, director of Arizona State University’s Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science, who is spearheading the restoration work. Asner said corals are critical to reef biodiversity and home to millions of marine species, which dot the seafloor with a dizzying array of shapes and sizes, but they’re also the “canary in the coal mine” when it comes to our collective behavior—where corals flourish, land and sea are usually well stewarded.

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