Hawaiʻi Receives $1.9 Million in Federal Funds for Coastal Resilience on Molokaʻi

Hawaiʻi received a nearly $1.9 million federal grant to restore native ecosystems and construct strategic firebreaks on Molokaʻi. File photo courtesy: Maui Electric.

Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaiʻi) announced that Hawaiʻi will receive more than $2 million in federal grant funds from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2020 National Coastal Resilience Fund.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife received nearly $1.9 million to build community resiliency by restoring native ecosystems and constructing strategic firebreaks on Molokaʻi.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa received $337,037 to create a living shoreline project in American Samoa that will protect critical infrastructure, improve water quality by increasing filtration, and enhance biodiversity.

Hanalei Watershed Hui received $250,000 to address flooding in Hanalei Basin and to begin designing mitigation strategies on Kauaʻi.

“Island communities in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region continue to experience more frequent and extreme weather events due to climate change,” Sen. Hirono said. “Investments in natural infrastructure are critical in helping to mitigate adverse impacts from climate change. This funding will contribute to increased resiliency across the islands by helping communities protect our eroding shorelines, conserve our coastal and marine ecosystems, mitigate wildfires and preserve our biodiversity.”

Sen. Hirono has consistently supported funding for the National Coastal Resilience Fund and is a longtime champion for directing federal resources to help protect Hawaiʻi’s unique biodiversity. She has introduced a variety of bills to support biodiversity, including:

• S. 2384, the Botanical Sciences and Native Plant Materials Research, Restoration, and Promotion Act
• S. 3117, the Extinction Prevention Act
• S. 2429, the Restoring Resilient Reefs Act of 2019
• S. 1922, the Coral Sustainability Through Innovation Act of 2019.