Naka Nathaniel: Is This A Hawaii We’re Proud Of?

Endangered species capital of the world, soaring housing costs and an increasingly displaced Indigenous population. But still, there’s hope.

Did we just miss another wake-up call? Another message reminding us that we can’t return to the status quo?

On Monday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that eight Hawaiian birds and a flowering plant last seen on Lanai were officially extinct.

We crossed off the Kauaʻi ʻakialoa, the Kauaʻi nukupuʻu, the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō, the kāmaʻo, the Maui ākepa, the Maui nukupuʻu, the kākāwahie and the poʻouli. The flower, the Phyllostegia glabra var. lanaiensis, was also officially moved from the endangered list to the extinct list.

“Federal protection came too late to reverse these species’ decline, and it’s a wake-up call on the importance of conserving imperiled species before it’s too late,” said Martha Williams, FWS director.

This wasn’t a great surprise — the USFWS had signaled a couple years ago that this was going to happen — but the announcement Monday further solidified Hawaii’s place as the extinction capital of the world.

Hawaii, are we proud of this title?

Sadly, it’s a title we don’t want to shake because losing the extinction capital title to someplace else means a lot of other animals and plants will have to disappear someplace else and that’s not a good outcome for the planet.

We should resign ourselves to being saddled with the title. The FWS said we have “the wake-up call” (and we’ve had many of them) so, what are we going to do to take collective action to make Hawaii proud?

In Hawaii, for many of us, it’s too easy to get caught up in living our lives in “paradise.” Our existence here, for those with money and housing, can be quite comfortable and social-media fabulous, on the surface and for now. 

The Maui parrotbill, or kiwikiu, is critically endangered. Disease-carrying mosquitoes, now reaching higher altitudes with warmer temperatures, have brought the species to the brink of extinction. (Courtesy: Bret Nainoa Mossman/MFBRP/2019)

I’m just wondering when we’re going to get going. We need to fix these situations. There is an imperative to act. We’ve all slept through too many wake-up calls.

I’m afraid we’re slowly allowing the status quo to return. 

Nearly two years after the jet fuel leaks were detected at Red Hill the defueling process just began, and there were  several other mishaps along the way.

Hawaii, are we proud of how this has played out?

On Maui, displaced residents are getting booted from their short-term rentals despite promises and safeguards.

Hawaii, are we proud of this outcome?

Hawaii has the highest housing costs in the United States. A house on Oahu has a median price of a million dollars.

Hawaii, are we proud of this designation?

The person that had the best chance to help solve Hawaii’s daunting housing challenges was chased from office by the followers of a highly-misinformed MMA star.

Hawaii, are we proud of this behavior?

There are now more Native Hawaiians living outside of Hawaii than in Hawaii. And there are no Native Hawaiians in the top ranks of electoral politics.

Hawaii, are we proud of this circumstance?

Hawaii has among the nation’s highest housing costs. (Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2021)

I’m not going to keep on going because that’s more than enough already, and I believe it’s not too late to lose hope.

I’m going to move on to what gives me hope. 

Last week, I visited Maui for the first time since the fires. As I went up to Civil Beat’s pop-up newsroom at Duke’s restaurant in Ka’anapali, I was struck at seeing the destruction. To mitigate the possibly overwhelming situation I looped the Cazimeros’ “Maui Waltz” on the car stereo as I drove up from Olowalu.

As a former war correspondent, I’ve covered a lot of terrible situations. That familiarity was helpful as I entered Lahaina. 

I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a tourist passing through Lahaina town on the way to your vacation destination. 

More than two months on, the destruction is contained behind fences reminiscent of how plywood boards were put up around Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. 

Black construction tarps have been installed as a barrier around parts of the burn zone in Lahaina. (David Croxford/Civil Beat/2023)

So I come back to it: Is this a Hawaii we’re proud of?

The signs of encouragement around the town —  literal visible words of love and support — and, more importantly, the people fighting for some semblance of the community they had before the fires, is what we should take pride in.

It was encouraging to learn this week that efforts to combat avian malaria, a primary threat to many of Hawaii’s endangered birds, is moving forward.

I loved how our communities stepped forward with the spirit of aloha in the wake of the wildfires. 

We need to show the same fight and aloha as we take on these existential challenges to Hawaii. We need to ask more of ourselves and hold back the old status quo.

I want to have happy, positive things to write about. I want to share Hawaii’s good example.

Here’s what I can offer for hope: Hawaii could solve problems at home and be for the world if we:

Look to past and current examples of reciprocal, not extractive, relationships with nature and make those practices the rule not the exception.

Recognize the dark side of capitalism, and how it’s created the opposite of Aloha, and embrace sharing of resources.

Work together, as communities and interconnected families, to demand better for everyone in society, as opposed to isolationist individualism.

We have the chance. Let’s answer these wake-up calls, find hope, and act.