Our Mission
To improve Hawai’i Island’s coastal water quality through science, communication and collaboration to accelerate positive change.
Our Vision
The waters of Moku o Keawe are clean and thriving within communities that honor our interconnectivity with the āina.
Our Foundation
We believe that for conservation to be durable, our interventions must align with the cultural and economic needs of our island community and that we can help empower local business to lead the effort.
Our Values
Hana Kūpono: Demonstrating excellence.
Producing high quality, open source data that is collected through rigorous science, observation and ʻike Hawaiʻi to empower communities to care for the aina.
Hoʻokele: Navigating with intention.
Through strategic and progressive action, we make deliberate and effective choices that guide us toward our goal of improved water quality.
Laulima: Working together.
Valuing our diverse communities to cultivate our individual and collective kuleana for the benefit of future generations.
Hoʻokaʻana: Sharing.
We openly provide access to our work - including protocols, data and organizational processes. In this way, we may learn from one another and expand the scale of our collective efforts for clean waters.
Why Care About Reefs?
Coral reefs are unlike anything else on the planet. In addition to providing valuable habitat for fish and other animals, they are incredibly beautiful, with seemingly infinite structures and growth forms. Some of their common names describe this diversity: staghorn, elkhorn, bird’s nest, brain, finger, mushroom, pillar, lettuce, lobed, and tube, to name just a few. Their intricate crevices and three-dimensional structures shelter many species of fish, marine worms, crustaceans, clams, and many other animals and plants, all of which play a unique and vital role in the coral reef ecosystem.
Coral reefs are an important food source for the people who live near reefs, and, as nurseries, are vital to the world’s fisheries. Many of the compounds now being used in human medicines, including some that treat cancer, are found on coral reefs, with probably many more yet to be discovered. Coral reefs help humans in many other ways too: generating tourist dollars for communities, and—especially important in our changing climate—acting as natural barriers against storm events like hurricanes, typhoons, and even tsunamis. The annual value of the ecosystem services provided by coral reefs to millions of people is estimated to be over $375 billion.