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Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series by longtime coastal policy expert Douglas Tom. Here is part I and part III.

The single most important natural attribute of an insular area, the ocean is now more important to Hawaii’s present and future.

It is the legacy we inherited from the kupuna that will be handed over to future generations.

Throughout history, the ocean and its resources have assuaged our subsistence, recreational, economic, cultural, spiritual, and inspirational needs.

For many, being in or near the ocean is still a powerful attraction.

The ocean profoundly influenced my physical, cultural, and spiritual development. As a Pacific islander, born and bred in Hawaii, nurtured by a lifetime of learning from kupuna, and embraced by the spirit of e malama pono, I see Hawaii as part of a larger ecosystem and everything in the islands interwoven in a tapestry connecting ocean, air, and land resources with people.

I also see the land as an extension of the ocean and vice versa, an interrelationship difficult to articulate but deeply felt.

Suffice to say, we remain on our islands because the interconnection of ocean and land is important to our way of life. Despite changes in island living due to complexities of growth and development, the ocean’s importance has never waned.

In fact, many will argue that it is more conspicuous. After all, its health and vibrancy are the foundation for quality of life in Hawaii. Economically, the success of our tourist industry is predicated on the magnetic attraction of our beaches and clean coastal waters. These features are also important to island living.

When I imagine what the future of our beloved Hawaii might be, I shudder to think about the kind of Hawaii the children and their children might inherit because of our unwillingness to care for the ocean.

Our generation owes them a clean, healthy, and productive ocean that will shape the environmental, economic, social, and cultural fabrics of the islands and patterns for their inhabitation, sustenance, work, play, and inspiration.

We would do well to always remember the often used phrase that “we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”

If we abandon this pledge to the keiki, our island future is in jeopardy. Political, government, and commercial inertia is perpetuating narrow views and pursuits without considering important interrelationships of the broader ecosystem.

If there is to be a better future, the inertia must be replaced by visionary planning and action by a political, government, commercial, and community partnership aimed at healing and sustaining the ocean’s health. Otherwise, we will be stranded at the bus stop to forever wait for the last bus that has already departed.

Our Island Ecosystems Under Assault

There is no shortage of studies and reports about climate change and its implications, but none has excited government, business, and public action to lessen the impacts and achieve protection and wise use of the ocean and its resources.

With the understanding that insular environments are extremely susceptible to the life-altering effects of climate change, why are the scientific data and effects of the phenomenon ignored? Because Hawaii imports much of its food, the effects will be felt more quickly and acutely than on the continent, and this is good reason for us to press for solutions to deal with the phenomenon.

Ocean acidification has enormous adverse implications for habitats and species in island ecosystems. The millions of tons of carbon dioxide dumped into the ocean annually are degrading water quality.

Moreover, the melting of ice caps, ice sheets, and glaciers is infusing toxic methane into the ocean and further degrading water quality. How severe and long lasting these negative effects will be can be controlled to a meaningful extent if our political leaders wished it so and would act immediately.

How will the changes in the marine environment impact our island life? What effects will ocean acidification and temperature warming have on the marine life and their ocean migratory patterns?

How and to what extent will commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing be affected? How will the health and productivity of the coral reefs change? What will happen to the beaches and near shore water quality that sustain our tourist industry?

To what extent will sea level rise occur? How can we avoid harm to life and property from altered oceanic and atmospheric forces? Will future tsunamis, hurricanes, and storms we experience be more intense? What will the impacts be to our potable water sources?

What effects will there be on agricultural crop and livestock production? What are the human health concerns? Many questions need to be addressed collaboratively to assure they are comprehensively understood so real solutions can be designed and pursued. Understanding how the phenomenon will shape our future is vital, but what is more important is to decide how we should address the life altering implications so we may shape our own future.

The importance of rain forests on tropical islands is well established because of extensive educational efforts and persistent public action. In addition to absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and producing oxygen, they sustain life on the planet as important sources of food, fiber, fuel, habitat, and shelter, as well as aesthetic enjoyment. If a similar campaign for protecting and wisely using the ocean and its resources is undertaken, perhaps we could see similar success for the ocean’s health and productivity.

Assertions based on the scientific studies of the world’s leading scientists that the ocean’s phytoplankton is the most important organism on Earth are well documented. Phytoplankton, as primary producers in the marine food web, is a sustaining source for marine life and also responsible for producing, in a similar manner as rain forests, 70 to 80 percent of the oxygen we breathe.

If the ocean’s health is not restored, we can expect both subtle and major impacts on the health and distribution of phytoplankton with the resulting consequences on the planet’s capacity to sustain healthy marine ecosystems and maintain our quality of life in the islands.

As a state of blended cultures, Hawaii cannot afford to leave planning for its future in the hands of others who are neither as knowledgeable about, nor as inclined to take into account the “local” worldview and environmental ethic that evolved in the years following western contact.

Hawaii citizens would be remiss if they place the future of their ocean and marine resources (and the keiki) in the hands of “outsiders.”

The importance of understanding and respecting cultures cannot be understated nor overlooked in developing the strategy and policies required to act in a way that is consistent with the values and needs of a community and sense of place.

Failing in this regard, the islands would again be viewed in the same fashion by the federal government as its sister states on the continental U.S. and subjected to the “one size fits all” mindset that ignores the realities, values, and needs of citizens living on islands in the middle of the Pacific, over 5,000 miles from Washington, D.C.

The recently released ocean plan by the White House’s National Ocean Council is a perfect example of a federal initiative that fell short in enfranchising Hawaii and other U.S. Pacific Islands as players in developing national ocean policy.

If you don’t know where you want to go, any road will take you there.

For us to move forward, we should have as a public goal a prescriptive, living ocean plan that offers the senses of purpose, place, and direction.

Otherwise, it will be business as usual on the road to nowhere. A broader vision provides single topic planning with proper direction and contributes to synergism. A revolutionary way of thinking and acting, it is a critical and daunting challenge if Hawaii’s preferred future is to become reality.

The vision of a healthy and productive ocean is the real hope for coping with the complexities of the future. Although a collaborative ocean resources management plan was developed by a partnership of government and the Coastal Zone Management citizen advisory group, it seems to have faded into obscurity.

Considering the issues of a growing global population that will impact Hawaii, isn’t it logical for that ocean planning initiative to be a front-and-center priority? Can there be any doubt of the need to enhance the ocean’s health and productivity?

The most fundamental of needs — vision — is the context for goals and objectives and provides the purposes for action, direction, and partnerships.

It is also the framework for judging good and bad. With a clear and acceptable vision, it is possible to have effective planning that incorporates the senses of purpose, place, and direction. Vision serves also in developing the yardstick for gauging progress and provides predictability and accountability, all qualities important to judicious governance.

Contrary to present practice, vision should be the determinant of government’s role, its programs, and actions, enhanced or tempered by available fiscal resources. In other words, the rightful role of government is to serve as a catalyst for attaining the visionary goals.

About the author: Retiree Douglas Tom was the first elected chair of the Ocean Policy Committee of the Coastal States Organization, an organization of coastal state governors.

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