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In July of 2009, Congress (through NOAA’s Restoration Center) provided $3.4 million via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to The Nature Conservancy to address the threat of marine invasive species in Maunalua Bay on Oahu, Hawaii to stimulate the economy. The Nature Conservancy worked in collaboration with Mālama Maunalua and local business Pono Pacific to successfully scale up a community-based effort and take the first critical step in restoring a once-healthy and productive Bay.

The Maunalua Bay Reef Restoration Project, or “The Great Huki” Project had three distinct yet interdependent goals:

  1. To remove a significant section of the densest distribution areas of invasive alien algae in Maunalua Bay as a first, critical step toward ecological restoration of coral reef and seagrass beds;
  2. To create employment and stimulate emergent ‘blue-green’ enterprises on Oahu; and
  3. To build sufficient community capacity in the Bay that will result in expanded and sustained local reef management efforts. Each goal has an associated set of objectives.

By the numbers

  • 23 acres
    of reef ecosystem cleared of invasive alien algae
  • 75 jobs
    created or retained
  • 4 million dollars
    dedicated to addressing the threat of invasive alien algae in Maunalua Bay
  • 3 million pounds
    of invasive alien algae removed
  • 100% of invasive algae composted
    for five local farmers
  • 3,000 community members
    who volunteered
  • 12 schools engaged
    to participate
  • 8 local businesses
    engaged to participate
  • 7,000 total volunteer hours
    by the community
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