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Why Hawaii needs a break from tourism — perspective from local resident palanichang on tiktok

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Earth day is coming up! A lot of people will be hosting tree planting events, or giving away plants. This is a kind and lovey thing to do!

But let’s always make sure they are native species.

We often think “if it’s a plant, planting it is good for the earth”. But this is not the case. The health of the planet requires diverse, healthy, and functional ecosystems. And one of the most disastrous things to the health of any ecosystem is planting invasive plants. We can’t always tell if a plant will become invasive in an area, but we can know that non native plants carry that risk, and native plants do not.

And even if we plant something nonnative that doesn’t spread, we still might be creating a net- negative situation. Plants take up space, and often resources, to upkeep. Using those spaces and resources on non native plants is not helping the earth…it’s a part of what is destroying it.

So, this earth day, plant things that are native to your area 💚

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"No More Hotels"

Graffiti seen around Aruba in the Caribbean, denouncing the overconstruction of hotels and the extreme land loss the Indigenous people of the Island are facing.

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Tankair studio

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Hawaii Study Area Reasoning

Hawaii is an excellent case study in both biodiversity (being included in the Polynesia/Micronesia Biodiversity Hotspot) and endemic species. Hawaii is also ground zero for endangered species, with 44 percent of all endangered/threatened plant species in the US being found in Hawaii despite Hawaii being only 1% of the US landmass (SPECIES BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE 2022). While I may have originally gotten interested in Hawaii due to a mix of worldbuilding research and Star Wars/Jurassic Park, after using it for some projects in my bachelor degree program I began to realize how important the island chain is for both sustainability and biodiversity. 

The biggest thing I found in my bachelor degree was the use of biocultural restoration in the Hawaiian Islands. This interested me due to the meshing of community involvement, familial commitment, holistic approaches, and intergenerational integration which all together enable more resilient methods to protect native biodiversity. I was lucky enough to see this in action a few weeks ago when I visited Kualoa Ranch on the island of Oahu, where they still use traditional methods to grow crops and raise livestock. Using both past research and my recent experiences, I’d like to dig deeper to see what techniques are most helpful to biodiversity.

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Tahitian Woman in Traditional Headdress

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Marquesan Tattoo

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"End the Occupation"

Seen in Shadwell, London, UK

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