NOAA Habitat Blueprint: West Hawaiʻi Habitat Focus Area - Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System
Original (non-English) name
Acronym
NOAA Habitat Blueprint: West Hawaiʻi Habitat Focus Area - PacIOOS
Citation
Abstract
The NOAA Habitat Blueprint program provides a forward looking framework for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to think and act strategically across programs and with partner organizations to address the growing challenge of coastal and marine habitat loss and degradation. Habitat Focus Areas are targeted places where NOAA is collaborating with communities to measurably improve the environment through NOAA’s mission of science, service, and stewardship. The West Hawaiʻi Habitat Focus Area (HFA) is located on the northwestern coast of the island of Hawaiʻi between Kailapa, which is just north of Kawaihae Harbor, and Makolea Point, which is just south of Kekaha Kai State Park. The focus area incorporates a wide range of ecosystems, from coral reefs to upland forests, in order to comprehensively create a more resilient landscape. Multiple NOAA and state programs have identified West Hawaiʻi as a priority conservation site and numerous organizations are working together to manage and restore it. This area is also home to the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary (HIHWNMS), NOAA Hawaiʻi Island Sentinel Site, National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) Kona Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (KIEA), NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Priority Site, and the Presidential Resilient Lands and Water Initiative.