MOLOKAI: AN ISLAND LOST IN TIME AND IN A RACE AGAINST EXTINCTION

Molokai, the "real" Hawaii nobody knows. 65 miles and a world away from Honolulu. Home to our country's longest fringing reef system and the world's highest sea cliffs. A population of just 7,000 people - with over 60% identifying as native Hawaiian - but with the highest rates of poverty and unemployment in the state. An island lost in time and in a race against environmental and cultural extinction.

• Molokai has one of highest rates of extinction in the world. It makes up less than 0.1% of U.S. land, but has over 25% of the plants and animals found on the nation's endangered species list. Because the Hawaiian archipelago is so geographically isolated, new species were introduced at a rate of only one every 100,000 years. But with the arrival of man - and especially Europeans - scientists estimate new species are being introduced at 2 million times the natural rate. As a result, native species are under constant threat from aggressive non-native species, such as the kiawe tree, a thorny relative of the mesquite native to Peru. In 1828 a single tree was planted in Honolulu. Today, it dominates the lowland ecosystems of all the islands, but especially Molokai, where it's out-competing native vegetation at an alarming rate.

• Every year thousands of tons of topsoil smother Molokai's precious reef system, erosion caused by the human introduction of cattle, goats, deer, pigs, sugar cane, and pineapple.

• Molokai's Native Hawaiian population faces severe economic challenges. Unemployment on the island is almost double the statewide average, and the per capita income is among the lowest in the state. Molokai also has the highest percentage of young children living in poverty. Hawaiians on the island have adapted by returning to their cultural roots, practicing traditional and sustainable substance fishing, farming and hunting to survive.

• Molokai is under intense development pressure from international corporations which offer little beyond minimum wage work in exchange for paving over a vast array of cultural, archaeological, subsistence, environmental, agricultural, and recreational resources. For a community which does not view land as a commodity but rather as the foundation of their identity as Hawaiians, time is of the essence to develop viable, environmentally sensitive and sustainable economic alternatives.

WHAT IS THE MOLOKAI LAND TRUST?

In 2006, The Molakai Land Trust was formed as a non-profit community-based organization with a mission to conserve the island’s precious lands and return them to their natural state, protecting its unique diversity and cultural heritage for future generations. As a 501(c)(3) organization, all donations to the Molokai Land Trust are tax deductible!

Molokai Land Trust owns or manages nearly 3,000 acres of native wilderness.

• Mokio Preserve - This 1,718 acre parcel on the dry, northwestern part of Molokai contains approximately 5 miles of rugged shoreline, remnant native coastal strand and dune ecosystems, a seasonal wetland, and several ancient Hawaiian sites, including an adze quarry and the remnants of a seasonal housing complex. In 2010, MLT's staff discovered a single specimen of the endangered ohai plant which had not been documented in the area for a 100 years. From this one plant, we were able to successfully cultivate and reestablish a new population of ohai on the preserve. Today 136 specimens thrive on the site and over 300 seedlings are ready to be replanted from our nursery stock.

• Kawaikapu Preserve - In 2009, MLT purchased  the 196.4 acre Kawaikapu Ranch located on the wet, southeast part of Molokai. This environmentally and culturally significant land purchase stretches from sea level up to 1600 feet. The valley is rich in cultural history as the site of an ancient and extensive taro loi complex, with sites scattered throughout the lower watershed. Protected in perpetuity from development, Kawaikapu represents an opportunity to work with local residents to nurture the native plants used for cultural purposes, manage subsistence gathering, and reestablish and protect the native forest.


• Mo'omomi Preserve - The 921-acre Mo'omomi Preserve is the most intact coastal beach strand and sand dune area in the main Hawaiian Islands.  Owned by The Nature Conservancy, MLT was contracted in 2010 to assist them with stewardship activities in the preserve. By protecting the dunes and beaches of Mo'omomi, MLT is safeguarding native plants found nowhere else on earth, as well as criticial endangered species habitat and nesting sites for the rare Hawaiian owl, Hawaiian monk seals, seabird nesting colonies for the wedge-tailed shearwater, and endangered green sea turtles.
  

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  WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?

  The Molokai Land Trust recognizes and values the priceless resources right here within our own community on Molokai. We know that without community support, our organization can't take on the important work necessary to preserve and restore the cultural and natural resources that make Molokai so unique. So we work proactively to create opportunities for local residents and groups to interact with the land and sustainably use its resources in traditional ways.
  •  We carefully manage traditional subsistence activities such as forest gathering, la'au lapa'au (traditional Hawaiian herbal healing), hunting and fishing.
  • Our habitat restoration projects are highly successful. We aggressively clear out non-native vegetation, reintroduced entire native plant ecosystems all at once from seedlings we propagate in our own nurseries, then protect the projects with extensive fencing, remove non-native predators, and carefully monitor the progress of each reestablished habitat.
  • We've partnered with the Molokai public schools on environmental science and service learning projects. Our goal is to give every child on Molokai the opportunity to create their own connection with the land as the kapuna (elders) did generations ago.
  • We've partnered with AmeriCorp to offer paid internships to local and native youth, bringing much needed employment to Molokai while providing valuable work experience in conservation and land management techniques.
  • We respect the vision of Molokai's kupuna (elders) and work directly with them to preserve, protect and perpetuate core Hawaiian values. We envision a wise and caring community that takes pride in its resourcefulness, self-sufficiency and resiliency, and is firmly in charge of Moloka'i resources and destiny.

    
    HERE ARE SOME OF THE WAYS YOUR INVESTMENT WILL HELP THE MOLOKAI LAND TRUST SAVE THE LAST OF WILD HAWAII.

    
    
    
    • $10 can pay to gather wild seed, germinate and grow an endangered Ohai plant in our nursery
    • $25 can pay to plant it or another native plant at our Anapuka Dune Restoration site
    • $50 can pay to put a monitoring band on one wedge-tailed shearwater chick
    • $100 can pay to remove 1 invasive kiawe tree from Mokio Preserve
    • $250 can help pay to deploy albatross decoys on Mokio Preserve. The decoys are used to attract these endangered birds to the area in order to reestablish their historic nesting grounds.
    • $500 can pay to send a class of Molokai schoolchildren to Mokio and Kawaikapu to conduct hands-on scientific surveys, experiments and service learning projects
    • $1,000 can pay for 75' of new protective fencing to expand the Anapuka Dune Restoration Project
    • $5,000 can help pay for architectural work to design a new Operations and Service Learning Center. The new Center will consolidate our operations into one centralized location, increasing our efficiency, cutting down on costs, and will help us better meet Molokai's service learning needs by putting us within 1 mile of 75% of the island's student body
    • $10,000 can help pay for engineering to build the new Operations and Service Learning Center
    • $25,000 can pay to acquire as much as 4 acres of land from private owners and protect it forever from development
    • $50,000 can fund a full-time Molokai Land Trust employee position to help with habitat restoration and assist students in service learning programs

      
      GIVE BACK TO GET BACK.......
      MAKE YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TODAY TO RECEIVE THESE AMAZING PERKS!

      
      $100 PERK

      12-month Molokai wall calendar featuring stunning images from award-winning National Geographic photographers

      
      $500 PERK

      Receive a signed 16x24 archival print of this amazing wave image of taken at Papahoku Beach, on the West Coast of Molokai, by acclaimed National Geographic photographer and lecturer Dewitt Jones.

      
      $500 PERK

      Receive a signed 16x24 archival print of this iconic wave image of taken at Papahoku Beach, on the West Coast of Molokai, by award winning National Geographic photographer Richard Cooke.

      
      $500 PERK

      Receive this stunning 16x24 archival print of a "heart wave" captured at Papahoku Beach, on the West Coast of Molokai, by Creative National Geographic photographer Jonathan Kingston.

      
      $2,500 PERK

      "Molokai, An Island In Time" This limited collectors edition of Rikki Cooke's "Moloka'i, An Island In Time" was printed in 1984 and bound by Jesus Sanchez, Hawaii's premier book binder who learned his craft in the Vatican. The spine is made of Nubian goat skin, hand tooled with gold embossed lettering, and the binding is hand-stiched. Rikki Cooke will sign a personal a message for each book that's claimed. Only 20 of these books exist in the world.