STAND. COM. REP. NO. 990
Honolulu, Hawaii
S.D. 1
President of the Senate
Thirty-First State Legislature
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.R. No. 60 entitled:
"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THAT THE YEAR 2022 BE DESIGNATED AS THE YEAR OF THE LIMU,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to request that the year 2022 be designated as the Year of the Limu.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Malama Pupukea-Waimea, Kua‘āina Ulu ‘Auamo (KUA), Reef Power LLC, the Kawaihapai Ohana, Ke Kula Nui o Waimanalo, and seventeen individuals.
Your Committee finds that limu is found throughout the Hawaiian islands and forms a critical cultural and ecological piece of Hawaii's oceanscape. Limu serves as the primary food and shelter for herbivorous fish and is the foundation of the food chain, helps to filter runoff, and provides necessary protection and food for juvenile fish. Some limu also have high medicinal and ceremonial value. Currently, as the climate crisis looms ahead, non-native algae proliferate, and urbanization pressures increase, pollution and diversion of upland stream flows, the degradation of reefs, and changes to the hydrology and degradation in sand movement have compromised conditions of limu gathering. The loss of native limu runs parallel with the loss of Hawaiian cultural practices and loss of ancestral knowledge; limu knowledge and practices are still maintained, primarily in rural areas of the State, but the scarcity of this once-abundant resource has made it difficult for practitioners to pass on their knowledge.
However, your Committee finds that despite these obstacles to growing limu, there are several limu restoration projects throughout the State to preserve limu cultivation knowledge, reestablish limu abundance, and grow a network of limu practitioners. The "Year of the Limu" would uplift the work and passion of the cultural practitioners who have worked tirelessly to revitalize limu and provide opportunities to increase awareness and education of Hawaii's residents of the environmental and cultural significance of limu.
Your Committee has
amended this measure by:
(1) Recognizing
the achievements of kupuna whose academic and community efforts to revitalize
limu practice perpetuated the deeper socio-cultural tie that bind limu to the State;
(2) Acknowledging
community efforts, like those of the Limu Hui of the Kua‘āina
Ulu ‘Auamo (KUA) and the Waimanalo
Limu Hui, for their ongoing efforts in propagating limu species;
(3) Adding
the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Chairperson of the
Board of Directors of KUA, and Limu Hui Coordinator for KUA as recipients for
the certified copies of this resolution; and
(4) Making
technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 60, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 60, S.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Environment,
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________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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