Mālama ʻĀina: Caring for nature
Nature journaling deepens our relationship with the natural world through close observation. As we begin to notice how deeply our lives are interwoven with our environment, we develop a sense of gratitude and responsibility. We want to care for the land that sustains us. Artist, naturalist, and educator John Muir Laws calls this experience “sustained, compassionate attention.”
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/)
*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.
Some ways to mālama the ʻāina:
- Honor our islands with creativity and aloha
- Nature journal 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 journal to document and share all that we see, learn, and experience
- Volunteer
- Choose an event from this list of Volunteer opportunities in Hawai’i
- Participate in restoration work in your local area
- 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
- Plant native plants
- Follow the rules of the honorable harvest when gathering from nature:
- Video with Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Picking flowers, fruits, as well collecting seashells, driftwood, etc are covered by Hawaii state law here: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/faqs/is-picking-wildflowers-legal-or-appropriate-in-a-state-park/
- 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:
