#MAUI HAWAII

[probablyasocialecologist]

Kaniela Ing said Lahaina’s pre-colonial history is particularly important for people to know—not just for the sake of Lahaina’s Native residents, but because it reveals the deeply unnatural roots of this so-called “natural” disaster. After all, he noted, Lahaina used to be a wetland. It was only because of colonization and climate change that it became a tinderbox. “Lahaina wasn’t always a dry, fire-prone region. It was very wet and lush, historically. Boats would circle the famous Waiola Church. Lahaina was also the breeding place of aquaculture. It had some of the world's first and most innovative systems of fish ponds. ”But at the dawn of the 18th century, sugar barons arrived and illicitly diverted the water to irrigate the lands they had stolen. (Note: 18th century European sugar and pineapple barons also brought invasive grasses, Wired reports, which now cover 26 percent of Hawaii and become “explosive” fuel for wildfires.) “Today, descendants from those same barons amass fast profits from controlling our irrigation, our land use, and political influence. Alexander and Baldwin are two big missionary families of the original oligarchs, and they’re currently the largest landowners on Maui. That’s the name of their corporation and they’re one of the top political donors here today. “So on one hand, the climate emergency caused this. On the other, it’s also that history of colonial greed that made Lahaina the dry place that it is."

[deputing]

[micahsolusod]

Absolutely crushed by the news coming out of Maui right now. Intense brushfires have scorched the island forcing residents to evacuate. There have been several deaths and no power on the West side of the island.

Here are a few local charities that are accepting donations (UPDATED 08/1//2023):

Maui Rapid Response is a citizen-based disaster response team. They are posting lists of needs on their Instagram account. https://www.instagram.com/mauirapidresponse/

The Maui Humane Society is asking to help foster any animals in distress. They are also accepting pet food, litter, kennels, and donations. www.mauihumanesociety.org

Global Giving has partners on the ground helping survivors access food, shelter, and other emergency services. https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/hawaii-wildfire-relief-fund/

World Central Kitchen has teams on Maui offering food and water to evacuees and first responders. https://wck.org/

Maui Strong Fund is currently being used to support communities affected by the wildfires on Maui. https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong

New Life Kahaku is a local non-profit is accepting donations for food and supplies. www.newlifekahuku.com

[reality-detective]

There are some really SCARY developments happening out of Lahaina, that are being totally IGNORED. 🚨🚨🚨

It’s obvious there is an intentional MEDIA BLACKOUT taking place around the whole region.

Even more than this, there are “special police” in the form of foreign vehicles that wouldn’t normally be used as police cars along with NG, stopping people.

On top of that, there is a blacked out fence that is being erected around the whole parameter.

There is a MAJOR COVER UP taking place there. 🤔

[starlightshadowsworld]

The fucking audacity.

The disgust that I feel hearing people hear about what's happening in Hawaii.

That Maui is on fire.

And their first response is to fret over their holiday plans.

Or their rental houses.

And not for the safety and the lives of its citizens.

Native Hawaians have been telling ya'll to stay away.

Because your tourism is destroying their land.

And the fact you people are bitching and crying that "you have no right to stop us from going to our land."

That land is stolen property.

And the fact you don't care that your actions have caused all of this.

Is disgusting and you should be ashamed.

[zackkcore]

It was pretty awesome seeing these big guys! Even tho I couldn’t get close it was so cool! Thanks to my Sigma 60-600mm haha!

[aleapintoreverie]

ik this not an art account but i watched moana 2 today and i couldn’t help but imagine (and paint) her as a surfer —

shark maui

and a moment of silence for hei hei

[frekshoo]

Keoneʻōʻio Lava Fields

[spikes-123]

sunsets in Maui

[mtnviewphotos]

Mama’s Beach, Paia, Hawaii

[puddininthework]

I visited an aquarium and saw them. I couldn’t buy the plushie cuz I had no space in my bags for two 4ft eels😔 Azul was hiding so no photos of him.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Research by Clay Trauernicht, a fire specialist at the University of Hawaii, and others has shown that the scale and frequency of wildfires have been increasing across in Hawaii from the early 1900s to the 2010s. The researchers also identified a major culprit: non-native plants. “Wildfires were most frequent in developed areas, but most areas burned occurred in dry non-native grasslands and shrublands that currently compose 24 percent of Hawaii’s total land cover,” the researchers wrote. “These grass-dominated landscapes allow wildfires to propagate rapidly.” The non-native grasses were brought to Hawaii by cattle ranchers in the 19th century, University of California Santa Barbara ecologist Carla D’Antonio told me. “They were selected because they were drought tolerant.” They are also invasive. The abandoned sugar and pineapple farms across the state are quickly taken over by non-native grasses. “When the land gets abandoned, the grasses are the first invaders. All you need is a little drought to have a flammable landscape.” Maui is currently in a drought. The grasses are an especially potent fuel, D'Antonio explained, because they grow quickly when it rains and then stick around, deeply rooted into the soil, as dry, dead organic matter, becoming a “standing layer of very ignitable fuel.” Then after a fire, these non-native plants tend to do better than native ones, thus increasing future fire risk. Fire “has generally been shown to decrease the abundance of native woody plants because nonnative, invasive, fire-adapted plants out-compete natives for resources in the post-fire environment and tend to dominate post-fire communities,” according to a United States Forest Service review.

[kateftw]

maui | september 2022 | 35mm film

shot by me, kate russell 🎞️

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

First photo thanks to Ann Tanimoto-Johnson! This animal was requested.

[reality-detective]

The Maui people know it wasn't a natural disaster and they won't be silent about it. 🤔

[zackkcore]

This was a really cool part of Maui! We went up twice! Like 15-20 degrees colder up there! Like a whole other island! If anyone has been to the painted hills in Oregon. These hills almost had like the same color or very similar! It was awesome!! I wish I had more endurance & time to go down further! Haha.