Ecosystem Services Valuation for Hawaii’s Largest Private Landowner

Kamehameha Schools

SIG Provides Comprehensive Ecosystem Services Integration

SIG worked with Hawaii’s largest private landowner to integrate the ecosystem services framework into their land management planning. SIG developed a custom ecosystem service typology, undertook an extensive literature review on ecosystem service research and valuation in Hawaii, convened several stakeholder workshops, mapped key ecosystem service-providing landscapes, modeled the connections between landscapes and beneficiaries, reviewed potential strategies for developing ecosystem markets including forest carbon projects, identified high-priority management strategies, and helped develop a system of indicators for landscape health and management interventions.

Ecosystem Services Difficult to Quantify

While much is known about the dynamics of Hawaiian ecosystems, only a relatively small number of studies specifically address ecosystem services. This lack of knowledge made it challenging for Kamehameha Schools to evaluate the ecosystem services flowing from their lands to participate in ecosystem service markets.

Connecting with Tradition

With 364,000 acres under stewardship, Kamehameha Schools’ ʻāina (traditional lands in which humans are a part of the land with a duty to care for it) is a unified portfolio spread across several Hawaiian islands devoted to agriculture, conservation, commercial activities, residential use, and education. The ʻāina concept is central to Kamehameha Schools’ mission of helping students deepen their connection to culture and land. The mission explicitly connects tradition with modern tools and approaches to equip students of Hawaiian ancestry with the skills to be leaders in their communities. These lands are also used to help generate revenue to support the School’s mission.

SIG’s Expertise, Implemented

Spatial Informatics Group conducted a series of interviews with Kamehameha Schools land managers as well as stakeholder workshops in Honolulu and Hilo. The objective was to highlight crucial ecosystem services relevant to Kamehameha Schools lands, identify threats to these services, and identify effective management strategies to ensure priority services’ sustainability.

Based on this input, SIG developed a custom ecosystem service categorization scheme for Kamehameha Schools. The classification comprised 17 services in four categories: Provisioning Services (eg food and water), Regulating Services (eg carbon storage), Habitat/Supporting Services (eg genetic diversity), and Cultural Services (eg tourism).

SIG also conducted several case studies in which it used GIS to analyze how certain ecosystem services benefit spatially-connected beneficiaries. For instance, we identified the number and value of structures in an Oahu neighborhood predicted to benefit from reduced flood risk due to intact and healthy Kamehameha ecosystems upstream. We also identified the number of hotel rooms on the Kona coast that benefit from scenic views of natural landscapes preserved by Kamehameha’s Schools.

Market Opportunities Identified

The analysis led SIG to a set of specific recommendations for Kamehameha Schools lands, including detailed strategic approaches to collecting data and tracking ecosystem indicators within a Triple Bottom Line framework.

SIG also provided a detailed analysis of relevant ecosystem services market opportunities. We considered potential carbon stocks and the resources required for developing a carbon offset project. SIG also looked at the potential for developing revenues for hydrologic services, such as groundwater recharge.