Coastal Services Center

Government officials have long had the reputation of doing all the talking and none of the listening. Hawaii coastal resource managers are working hard to prove that stereotype isn't true by putting citizen concerns and participation at the core of their Coral Reef Initiative.

"We spent a lot of time listening instead of doing a lot of talking," said Claire Cappelle, planning and policy analyst for the Hawaii Coastal Zone Management (HCZM) program. "This was an example of the people moving the government rather than the government moving the people."

In 1994, the HCZM brought together researchers from universities and area agencies to assess and monitor the area's coral reefs, Cappelle said.

"I think they felt there was no way there would ever be enough money or scientists that could monitor the reefs," Cappelle said. "We all had respect for the community's knowledge. People who visit the same spot every day see a lot about that specific site that scientists who are looking over the whole reef might miss. We knew there was a wealth of information out there that we may never get unless we started talking to people."

The HCZM program funded a series of community meetings throughout the islands to get the public's assessment of the reefs and what needed to be done to protect them. These meetings were organized by a core group of volunteers and HCZM staff. "We knew it was going to be hard to get the kind of input we needed, and that we couldn't just put fliers out saying we were coming," Cappelle said.

She said they first selected a point of contact for each area who was well respected in the community. "The points of contact were instrumental in generating support for the initiative by spreading the word to the general community, fishermen, boat operators, and dive shop owners – letting them know what we were all about. It was a lot of work and responsibility."

Cappelle said she helped the points of contact develop fliers, determined dates and times to hold the meetings, negotiated use of facilities, and notified local newspapers.

She said the people who attended the meetings were "people who live by the beach, commercial divers, people whose business is taking tourists out, as well as college kids and high school students. It was a very diverse group.

"We tried to keep the meetings very casual," said Cappelle, who attended each meeting. "There was always food and drinks, and we all went over in t-shirts and shorts. We never dressed up like 'the government official.' "

Meetings were conducted by the point of contact, she said. "One of us in the core group might make a few introductory remarks, be we really tried to keep our participation to a minimum after the initial meeting."

During the first couple of meetings, residents were asked to give an assessment of the area of a reef with which they were familiar. At the following meetings, citizens were asked what they thought needed to be done, Cappelle said.

"It was hard. The meetings could get pretty contentious, but more often than not they ended constructively," she said. "I think the meetings worked because underneath everyone had the core belief that the corals are important and that we needed to do something to protect them."

Cappelle said the assessments of the reefs by the scientists and the community were "pretty right on. There was some bias, such as fishermen who said over-fishing was not a problem when the scientists were saying it was, but in general the two sides were seeing the same things."

She said in a few cases, the citizens had a better idea of what was happening to an area. She noted the best assessment they received was from a "woman who had been keeping a database for 20 years on the three spots she took visitors to every day. No one was more knowledgeable about those three sites than she."

The biggest differences Cappelle noted were in what the communities thought needed to be done. On the island of Maui, the residents began planning educational events, while other islands worked more on monitoring issues. "They decided where they wanted to go, and then our job was to help them move in that direction. Whatever fit the group is what they took off on," she said.

Citizens were invited to submit education projects to HCZM, Cappelle said. The agency used a small grant to fund seven projects, which included signage for an area of the reef being damaged by snorkelers, an in-flight movie to be shown to tourists as they arrive at the islands, and a monitoring program for school children on Kauai.

"The initiative has been important for several reasons," Cappelle said. "From the coastal management perspective, we have gotten out the message that the reefs are important culturally, economically, and environmentally. The long-term benefit is that the community is continuing to have a strong voice. The success of the Coral Reef Initiative hinges on its ability to reflect the values and needs of the community."

Cappelle added, "As a result of the initiative, scientists are paying more attention to what the community wants, and they have shifted their thinking about using volunteers to monitor the reefs. The scientists, coastal managers, and the community are working together."

For more information on Hawaii's Coral Reef Initiative, contact Claire Cappelle at (808) 587-2880, or e-mail her at jccappel@dbedt.hawaii.gov.