Managing Environmental Diversity for Sustainable Human Communities: Lessons from East Maui, Hawai‘i, USA

Kipuka  are the isolated pockets of biological diversity that remain after lava flow events engulf surrounding vegetation from which ecological succession is initiated by the fauna and flora seed bank. McGregor (1995:196) suggests that rural communities “may be regarded as cultural  kipuka  from which native Hawaiian culture can be regenerated and revitalized in the contemporary setting”. East Maui is a location that has survived the “onslaught of post-statehood [1959] development” and is considered one of the remaining cultural  kipuka  in the Hawaiian Islands. As such, conservation of biological diversity and preservation of cultural practices and lifestyles are essential for maintaining and reestablishing the unique aspects of environmental diversity in the Hawaiian Islands.