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Environment

News stories regarding Molokai’s outdoor environment

Mana`e Moku Community Meeting

Saturday, October 19th, 2013

Community Contributed

By Walter Ritte, Aha Kiole Planning and Consultation

The second meeting regarding the Mana`e Watershed Plan, which calls for extensive fencing of our mountains from Kapualei to Halawa, will be held Friday, Oct. 25. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at Kilohana.

The first Mana`e Moku meeting was well-attended, and presentations were made explaining that the government and private landowners have formed a partnership to manage our mountains. A draft plan has been submitted and now community participation and input is needed.

The draft plan calls for the “improvement and protection of the existing watershed” in our mountains, relying on fencing as the primary solution.…

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Backyard Aquaponics

Saturday, October 19th, 2013

Community Contributed

By Paul Fischer

“Aquaponics” is a combination of “aquaculture,” or the farming of fish, and “hydroponics,” which refers to growing plants in water.  The crops help each other; the plants remove waste from the water, while fish fertilize the plants.  After some research, I decided to try this for myself.

I used an oval livestock trough for my fish tank, and a lined wooden tray filled with gravel  on top to hold the plants.  A very small fountain pump on a timer periodically floods the tray with water from the fish tank, keeping the plants wet and filtering the water through the gravel medium.  …

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It’s Wedgie Season

Wednesday, October 16th, 2013

Nene o Molokai News Release

October and November is fledging season for uau kani, when young birds fledge to a life at sea.  Wedge-tailed shearwaters (Puffinus pacificus), or “wedgies,” are part of a mixed flock of seabirds that commercial fishermen rely upon to locate schools of ahi and other marketable fish. Adult birds leave coastal colonies at dawn to feed on fish and return after dark. Behavior while in these colonies is generally nocturnal and throughout the night birds emit weird moans, groans and loud screams, thus they are nicknamed the “moaning bird.”

Seabirds were held in high esteem by ancient Hawaiians.…

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Molokai Irrigation System: Safe for drinking?

Wednesday, October 16th, 2013

Opinion by Walter Ritte

Molokai Ranch has decided not to build its own drinking water delivery line from its Well 17 to Maunaloa and Kaluakoi residents. The pure Well 17 ground water is put into the Molokai Irrigation System (MIS), which uses a large open-air agriculture reservoir. The water then goes into the MIS transmission line past the airport to Mahana. It is then pumped up the hill into another open-air reservoir and treated through a sand filter before being delivered to west end residents.

A dangerous situation now exists, as the open air MIS is now surrounded by Monsanto’s GMO fields.…

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For the Love of Limes

Wednesday, October 16th, 2013

Community Contributed

By Joe Kennedy

Limes can be easily propagated through a technique called air layering. Limes can also help prevent cancer. If you want to look at it another way, your garden is a combination pharmaceutical drugstore and neighborhood produce market, even with just a few plants involved.

Let’s just look at one issue, cancer. Science now tells us, in regard to the ongoing vast study of super foods, that there are all kinds of fruits, veggies and herbs that help the body heal itself and prevent disease. There are three main foods that help prevent cancer — limes, Concord grapes and arugula.…

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A Return to Konohiki

Thursday, October 10th, 2013

Community-based proposal to manage Hawaii’s resources

Last month in Kalaupapa, the state-mandated Aha Moku Advisory Council presented a plan that could change the way natural resources are managed in Hawaii. The plan calls for a return to the konihiki system, in which those knowledgeable about the ways of the ocean set guidelines for marine food gathering using traditional Hawaiian methods.

“The Aha Moku is set up to look at evolving power back to the communities as far as resource management,” said Sen. Kalani English, who was among a handful of legislators who attended the Kalaupapa gathering. “How do we do that within state law… that’s what we’re figuring out.”…

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Global Land and Water Issues Hit Home

Thursday, October 10th, 2013

A community discussion held last Monday about how the world is handling its natural resources lead to call for unity after an emotionally charged debate arose over agricultural corporations and their use of land and water on Molokai.

The event, hosted by the University of Hawaii (UH), gathered a panel guests from the UH and across the globe to hold a week-long series of public discussions in Honolulu and on Molokai about natural resource security and appropriation on a local and worldwide scale. Molokai was their first stop.

“When we think about the kinds of impacts that humans have had on the planet in the last 50 years, it is more damaging than any other period in human history,” said Noe Goodyear-Ka`opua, a professor from the UH Political Science Department.…

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Spinach by the Bucket

Wednesday, October 9th, 2013

Community Contributed

By Paul Fischer

One can easily grow a valuable and nutritious crop of Okinawan spinach in a 5 gallon plastic bucket.  We started doing this about a year ago and use this perennial salad vegetable almost every day.  It is incorporated into our family’s diet because it tastes good, doesn’t cost anything, is fresh picked, and it’s always ready a few steps outside our kitchen door.

There are several types of Okinawan spinach. One is dark green with purple on the undersides of the leaves, another is all green. The leaves are smaller and shaped differently than regular spinach.…

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County Awards Molokai Solar Projects

Wednesday, October 9th, 2013

County of Maui News Release

Several county facilities on Molokai will soon be outfitted with rooftop solar panels, announced the County of Maui last week. After releasing a Request For Proposals (RFP), the county selected a group of companies led by Hawaii Pacific Solar LLC of Lahaina, Hawaii to install photovoltaic (PV) panels on community facilities around Maui County. The RFP included 18 sites on Molokai and Maui, including fire and police stations, water treatment plants, aquatic centers, community centers and other county facilities.

“We will save taxpayer dollars because our starting price is lower than the MECO [Maui Electric Company] rate,” said Mayor Alan Arakawa.…

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Celebrating Kalo

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013

Celebrating Kalo

In the ancient days of Hawaii, each of the islands’ estimated 500,000 people would eat one seven- to nine-pound kalo plant per day, according to Alton Arakaki, a Molokai extension agent with the University of Hawaii College Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR.) Ancient Hawaiians carefully selected more than 300 kalo varieties to ensure food security and successful growth in many environments. Today, only about 70 of those varieties still exist — and without vigilant cultivation, that number may dwindle.

Last weekend, Molokai residents got the opportunity to select among more than 50 kalo varieties to grow in their own gardens, helping to carry on a tradition that can yield health, cultural understanding and economic benefits.…

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