Pacific Islander Indigenous Communities
Pacific Islander Indigenous Communities
Featured News
Scientists in the Pacific Islands Ensure Indigenous Knowledge is Represented in National Climate Assessment
Scientists in the Pacific Islands Ensure Indigenous Knowledge is Represented in National Climate Assessment
Featured Project
Lauhala: Weaving Knowledges and Practices with a Climate Resilient and Culturally Significant Plant on Hawaiʻi Island
Lauhala: Weaving Knowledges and Practices with a Climate Resilient and Culturally Significant Plant on Hawaiʻi Island
The Pacific Islands CASC partners with Indigenous communities throughout Hawai’i and the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands to better understand their specific vulnerabilities to climate change, to increase or assist with capacity to support adaptation planning, and to identify and address their climate science needs.
Highlights
Highlights
Learn about how the CASC network works with Indigenous communities in the Pacific Islands to support climate adaptation projects.
Explore Projects
Explore Projects
Use our Project Explorer tool to explore all CASC projects collaborating with Pacific Island Indigenous communities.
Meet PI-CASC
Meet PI-CASC
The Pacific Islands CASC (PI-CASC) is a partnership between the USGS and a university consortium hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa designed to support sustainability and climate adaptation in communities across the Pacific Islands.
Filter Total Items: 14
Science-Driven Methods for Scaling Afforestation of Dry Grass-Dominated Landscapes
Project Overview Restoring grass-dominated landscapes into resilient forested ecosystems is a key strategy for addressing the growing risk of wildfire Hawaiʻi. However, conventional afforestation efforts typically require regular maintenance due to the persistent invasion of grasses in planted areas. In collaboration with Native Hawaiian Organizations, researchers supported by this...
Transforming Community Climate Adaption Through Indigenous Place-based Connection
Project Overview Sea-level rise, stronger storms, and coral reef bleaching events occurring with climate change threaten infrastructure, livelihoods, and cultural practices in Hawai'i. Researchers supported by this Pacific Islands CASC project will integrate Indigenous Knowledge and scientific research to co-produce climate adaptation strategies and conservation guidance for the...
Using Changing Bird Migration Patterns to Connect Indigenous Hawaiian and Alaskan Communities
Project Overview Climate change is altering the timing of natural seasonal events (phenology). This is manifesting in many ways including altering patterns of bird migration between Molokaʻi and southcentral Alaska. Researchers supported by this Pacific Islands CASC project will combine Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and conventional science to track these phenological shifts...
Forecasting the Future of Ongeim’l Tketau (Jellyfish Lake), Palau in a Changing Climate
Palau’s Jellyfish Lake, locally known as Ongeim’l Tketau (OTM), is an iconic tourism site and an important area of biodiversity. This landlocked marine lake is part of the Rock Island Southern Lagoon UNESCO World Heritage Site, representing an expression of Palauan national pride, and has brought in millions of dollars to the local Koror State economy. OTM is also home to the unique...
Impacts of Climate Change on Water Quality and Fish Recruitment in Native Hawaiian Fishponds
Loko iʻa, Hawaiian fishponds, are part of a rich history of indigenous aquaculture dating back to the 1400s. These unique ecosystems serve as key models of food sustainability across Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region. Hawaiʻi, among the most geographically isolated regions throughout the world, currently faces many challenges including environmental uncertainties, increasing urbanization, a...
Using Oral Histories of Marshallese and Yapese Voyagers to Support the Development of Community Engagement for Sustainable Sea Transport
There is a growing movement in the Pacific to decarbonize sea transportation. The transition to sustainable sea transport is projected to reduce socioeconomic vulnerability to external rises in oil prices while lowering carbon emissions in a period of intensifying climate change. With potential periodic global breakdowns in transport of fuel due to potential hazards such as global...
Partnering with Indigenous Communities in the Pacific Islands
For millennia, Indigenous Pacific Islanders have stewarded natural resources to sustain their communities, traditional ways of life, and cultural identities. This close relationship with the natural world puts these communities at the forefront of climate change impacts. Drawing upon a strong history of adaptation and innovation, Indigenous communities are key collaborators on adaptation work...
Effect of Extreme Tidal Events on Future Sea-Level Rise Scenarios for He‘eia Fish Communities undergoing Ahupua‘a Restoration
For the past few years, “king tides,” or the highest tides of the year, have been occurring more frequently and significantly affecting coastal environments across Hawaiʻi. Now, disappearing beaches and waves crashing over roadways are seemingly the “new normal.” In response, the state of Hawaiʻi is implementing adaptation strategies to combat tidal flooding in coastal areas. While flood...
Increasing Climate Extension in the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center
Hawaiʻi and the United States Affiliated Pacific Islands face unique challenges in adapting to climate change due to geographic isolation, coastal hazards, close cultural and economic links natural resources, and underserved populations. To address these problems, the PI-CASC works to develop actionable research products through collaborative engagement with cultural and natural resource...
Malo‘o ka lani, wela ka honua (When the sky is dry, the earth is parched): Investigating the Cultural Dimensions of Indigenous Local Knowledge Responses to Changing Climate Conditions
Hawai‘i’s isolation, paired with limited water resources, make the archipelago sensitive to reductions in water availability. Drought can take different forms, varying across Island geographies with respect to frequency, intensity, duration, and extent. A drought event can exert hydrological, agricultural, ecological, and socio-economic impacts – and these impacts have been growing over...
Synthesis of CASC-Led Climate Training Activities for Tribes and Indigenous Communities
The Climate Adaptation Science Centers have conducted numerous training and skills development activities to support tribal and indigenous partners as they seek to use scientific information and techniques to understand and respond to climate change impacts. Because these activities were generated in different CASC regions, with different tribal / indigenous stakeholders, climate change...
Science Needs Assessment to Support Management of Loko Iʻa (Hawaiian Fishpond) Resources and Practices Critical to the Native Hawaiian Community
Loko iʻa (Hawaiian fishponds) are an advanced, extensive form of aquaculture found nowhere else in the world. Loko iʻa practices are the result of over a thousand years of intergenerational knowledge, experimentation, and adaptation, and once produced over 2 million pounds of fish per year throughout the Hawaiian Islands. These fishponds provided a consistent and diverse supply of fish...