Indigenous Agricultural Ecosystems on the “Extinction Capital”
Season 3: Episode 13
Hawaii makes up barely 0.3% of the nation's total land mass yet it is home to 44% of the country's endangered and threatened plant species. Making a name for itself as the “extinction capital.”
On this episode of Climify, we are joined by Katie Kamelamela, an educator and researcher with the Global Discovery and Conservation Science, whose work gives a hot take on curated landscapes. Her own cultural, ancestral, and spiritual connection to Hawaii brings a human touch and hope to Project Drawdown’s solution sectors on Land Sinks and Indigenous Peoples’ Forest Tenure. Katie observes community and society’s connection, patterns and interactions with land and cultural heritage in order to preserve those very systems at risk.
Leading with a meditation opened the discussion to wonder: What does a forest mean to you?
Life.
Water.
To Katie, forests in Hawaii serve functional yet spiritual ways in sustaining all of life that it inhabits. Capturing water, hydrating aquifers or giving life to the ocean, forests are the soul of Indigenous agricultural systems.
Listen to this episode on: Spotify, Apple, Google and other places you get your podcastsAbout our guest
Dr. Katie Kamelamela (Kanaka Maoli) is an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University and a researcher in the Global Discovery and Conservation Science Center who studies ethnoecology, ecological restoration, Indigenous conceptions of wealth, and Indigenous economies.
Her research focuses on historical and contemporary Native Hawaiian Forest plant gathering practices and continues to expand policies that includes community input within forest restoration management.
On the web
Resources in this episode
Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science
Hawaiʻi Practices on Hawaiʻi Landscapes
Find more about how to teach climate design in your classroom at www.climatedesigners.org/edu
Music in this episode
Nature sound effect by bbc.co.uk – ©2023 BBC
Theme music by Casual Motive
Design Team
Consulting
Climate Design Assignments
At the end of each episode, we ask our guests what their ideal climate design project would be. They have four weeks with a class full of design students. We translated their response into a project brief that you can use for your class.
