conservation plan = more impacts? we don’t get it.

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conservation plan = more impacts? we don’t get it.

June 27, 2008 by kahea

A short video we put together on the new draft of a 15-year plan for the future of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.* We’ve read all 1,200 pages of it, and reviewed it with experts everywhere from Sierra Club to Environmental Defense. Our conclusion? We can do much, much better.

Now, we’re seeking signatures on a petition asking for a better, stronger Plan for this fragile wahi pana.

The current draft is a plan for conservation which, inexplicably, actually expands the footprint of human activity in this pristine and uniquely Hawaiian coral reef ecosystem.

In the largest no-take marine reserve on the planet, this draft of the Federal/State plan is proposing the construction of a “small municipality” on Midway, new cruise ships, more tourists, increases in extractive research, new risks of invasive species introductions, exemptions for fishing, and opening of the area to bioprospecting. An expansion of military activities–including sonar, ballistic missile interceptions, and chemical warfare simulations–would be allowed to go forward with no mitigations. The plan also disbands the existing citizen advisory council, which is pretty much the only opportunity for members of the public (non-government scientists, advocates, cultural practitioners, and resource experts) to participate in decision-making. Yeesh.

Over 100,000 people from all over the world helped establish the Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument and the Hawaii State NWHI Refuge–perhaps the most visionary legal marine area protections in history. We need to ask government managers for a plan which upholds these strong protections. We should be working towards full conservation, NOT creating and formalizing exceptions to the rules. That’s our position, anyway.

If you agree, please take a few seconds to add your name to the petition. This last intact, endangered and uniquely Hawaiian coral reef ecosystem deserves a plan for its FULL conservation. Unless we show broad public support, protections we fought so hard for will be paper, not practice.

*The hearings mentioned in the video are over, but there is still one week left to make your voice heard. More information at www.kahea.org. Deadline is July 8, 2008.

Posted in activism, ocean protection | Tagged coral, militarization, northwestern hawaiian islands, NWHI, ocean, ocean protection, oceans, pu'uhonua | 4 Comments

4 Responses

on July 1, 2008 at 9:49 am | Reply Where’s the public in this “public process”? « KA HEA: the call to protect Hawaii nei

[...] had the opportunity to be thrown into the deep waters of the 1,200 page Papahanaumokuakea Draft Monument Management Plan this summer, I’ve had a unique opportunity to observe the workings of this [...]
on July 8, 2008 at 5:04 am | Reply 15 more days to speak up for some of Hawai`i’s last intact coral reefs! « KA HEA: the call to protect Hawaii nei

[...] we’ll say it again! Without a better plan, we will be opening the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to : – Expanded military activities with NO [...]
on July 8, 2008 at 5:22 am | Reply Evan in Honolulu Advertiser: concerns persist over NWHI plan! « KA HEA: the call to protect Hawaii nei

[...] the Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law. He has spent much of the last month combing the 1,200 page draft plan for the future of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands–some of the last intact Hawaiian coral [...]
on July 9, 2008 at 7:16 am | Reply Honolulu Hearing Online « KA HEA: the call to protect Hawaii nei

[...] Marine Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands held in Honolulu on June 24th. The 1,200 page plan will direct the future of public trust resources in the last, large intact Hawaiian reef ecosystem [...]