Organization

Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo (KUA) means “grassroots growing through shared kuleana (responsibility)” the acronym KUA means backbone. KUA is an organization that supports movements for community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) called into creation in 2011 by a statewide network of grassroots indigenous and local CBNRM efforts and groups called E Alu Pū (“move forward together”). KUA works to empower communities to improve their quality of life through caring for their environmental heritage together to better Hawaiʻi and achieve ‘āina momona— an abundant, productive ecological system that supports community well-being. KUA employs a community‐driven approach that currently supports three statewide networks: E Alu Pū (30+ groups), Hui Mālama Loko Iʻa 60+ traditional Hawaiian fishpond restoration projects and their practitioners and a growing group of limu (native seaweed) practitioners called the Limu Hui.