Maui Diaries - Day 13: Challenging Restoration

Paul Sturm and Wesley Crile sit upon bare soil and assess the fire damage.

Oct 13th, 2020

Remember that wildfire we mentioned in Maui Diaries - Day 3? Well, it turns out that fire happened on one of our potential project sites which we visited today, along the ridgeline of the Honokowai Valley. Though fire is a natural phenomenon in many ecosystems, this is not the case on Maui. Fire hazards are a relatively new issue, made worse by what our local partners are experiencing as extended dry seasons coupled with rising temperatures. If the forests were healthy and the soil was sufficiently moist, perhaps these fires would not be such a problem. However, many areas have suffered major declines in soil health and biodiversity over the years. Erosion is a major issue due to a lack of organic matter and native vegetation; and across the island, native trees are hard to come by, while invasives such as eucalyptus and strawberry guava grow like weeds.

So, what exactly happened to the native landscape of Maui? In this particular location, the culprit is one hundred years of pineapple farming. Both pineapple and sugarcane were major export crops in the 1900s; they dominated the agriculture market, taking up thousands of acres of what we can only assume used to be native forests. When the pineapple and sugarcane land was decommissioned, this land was left fallow, depleted of nutrients and organic matter, and lacking the vitality needed to restore itself to a natural, pre-farming condition. Today, in these areas you can clearly see remnants of the black plastic drip-tape and scraps the farmers used in irrigation and weed control. As we walked up the ridge, this plastic was sticking up out of the red, sandy ground in every direction.

Adding to the plastic gloom was the fact that this landscape had been ravaged by fire a few weeks before. The barely-there topsoil was covered in a thin layer of black charcoal, and burnt, small trees lacking vegetation dotted the landscape. It became even spookier as we came across various burnt objects, from bicycles, to Jeeps, an old television, and even the pipes from the nearby reservoir. It was a wasteland.

Burnt jeep at the top of the ridge.

We spent hours on the ridge, brainstorming methods to restore this drastically degraded landscape to somewhat natural conditions. It was difficult for some to conceptualize how this wasteland could possibly be rejuvenated, having been subject to 100 years of pineapple farming and now, wildfires. But deep down we all know the inherent resilience of nature, especially given proper attention and management. It is our dream, and that of many organizations on-island, to establish native or at least non-invasive vegetation along these steep slopes to serve as a gulch buffer. This ecosystem would protect the stream below from excessive sediment input, since tree roots and vegetative barriers hold soil which is otherwise exposed to erosion. We would also alter the hydrology such that water can infiltrate into the landscape, rather than flowing over the mountain in one spot (an artifact of the pineapple days, since these plants require low amounts of water). Of course, this landscape could also provide habitat for birds, pollinators and other native wildlife, which is much needed as development continues and climatic conditions become more extreme.

Wesley Crile dreaming up a solution to restore this degraded landscape.

The landscapes all across Maui, from the shorelines to the mountaintops, have been so drastically altered by development, invasive plants and animals, and agriculture that it is near impossible to understand what the “native” landscape actually looked like; let alone how we would get it there. What we do know is that nature left alone typically finds the most efficient way to restore itself to equilibrium. That equilibrium may not always end up exactly how it used to be, prior to human disturbance or management; however, we are confident that given the right amount of attention, expertise, funding*, and time, these landscapes can be restored to a healthy state for future generations to enjoy.

*If you are passionate about protecting native landscapes from climate change and human impacts, consider donating to Ridge to Reefs today. We really appreciate your support!