Mālama ʻĀina: Caring for nature
The foundation of nature journaling is careful observation of the world around us. This practice is called kilo in Hawaiian, and it deepens our connection with nature, which then inspires reciprocity and care. Artist, naturalist, and educator John Muir Laws calls this “sustained, compassionate attention.” When we recognize how our lives are interdependent with our natural world, we understand our responsibility to care for the health of our environment in return.
This feeling is beautifully expressed here by native Hawaiian historian and writer, Adam Keawe:
In Hawaiian, a translation of the English word “gratitude” is ho’omaikai, literally meaning to do good. It is not just feeling thanks but working to make things right and be good… We belong not through taking, but through tending, repairing, and returning with care.
@ADAMKEAWE
This is what we mean by Mālama ʻĀina.
mā.lama
nvt. To take care of, tend, attend, preserve, protect, save, maintain, honor*
ʻāina
n. Land, earth.**
(Definitions from https://wehewehe.org/)
Some ways to mālama the ʻāina:
- Honor our islands with creativity and aloha
- Nature journaling to document and share all that we see, learn, and experience
- Learn from local artist Maggie Sutrov as she paints on site with Maui conservation groups, and then leads an art lesson that connects to these special places and how we can care for them.
- Watch John Muir Laws’ video about nature journaling your stewardship activities
- Create and share art about the beauty and challenges facing our islands
- Write poetry or informational essays and articles and get them published
- Nature journaling to document and share all that we see, learn, and experience
- Citizen science
- Can be formal or casual documentation of observations, including your nature journal
- Participate in invasive species reporting and removal
- Learn about Citizen science projects in Hawaii
- Join a global Citizen science project
- Volunteer
- Choose one event from this list of Volunteer opportunities in Hawai’i
- Participate in restoration work in your local area
- Plant native plants
- Pick up trash (especially on our beaches)
- Make your voice heard
- Join your neighborhood board
- Contact to your local representatives about issues you care about
- Teach others to care for nature, too!
- See a list of more ideas from Wild Wonder Foundation:
*Mālama Learning Center has a great page describing what mālama means to them.
**Of course, ʻāina is more than just another word for land, as the traditional Hawaiian relationship to land and place is complex and nuanced. Some people refer to ʻāina as “that which feeds,” referencing not only food (ʻai) but also a spiritual/physical/mental replenishment. Others remind us that ʻāina came into being before kanaka (people), and thus is the eldest ancestor. There are also many ʻōlelo noʻeau (traditional sayings) about the land which are worth knowing and thinking about.
