What are the Climate Forums?
Hawai'i Climate Forum Report
June 7-8, 2017
East-West Center
University of Hawai’i at Manoa
by Patricia Fifita and Clay Trauernicht
The intent of the Hawaii Extension Climate Forum was to engage Cooperative Extension faculty in critical dialogue about the impacts of climate change on agriculture and natural resources in Hawaii and the potential opportunities to integrate climate adaptation and mitigation into extension programming. The two-day event was in response to capacity building needs identified by Hawaii and Pacific Island participants at the SW Extension Climate Change Conference held December 2016 in Tucson, Arizona funded by a USDA-NIFA grant and the USDA Climate Hubs.
The central aims of the forum were to:
- Develop foundational knowledge of regional climate change science
- Identify locally relevant strategies for climate adaptation and communication
- Identify how climate-related information and tools can be integrated into Cooperative Extension programs
Challenges Integrating Climate-Related Information into Programs
- Lack of funding, lack of support, apathetic public, public perception
- Time and money
- Funding sources, number of personnel to partner with (share workload)
- Non-clientele related issues outweighing grower ability to focus on climate related practices
- Projects need to show short term outcomes/outputs but issues are long term;
- Building a climate program from scratch may not be adequately rewarded in tenure & promotion process unless “relationship” work is valued.
- Funding for projects and collect information related to climate change and adaptation
- The lack of knowledge or belief in climate change; unwillingness to change
- Data that doesn’t downscale to small island levels.
- Relating climate change to producers that are not yet affected by it.
- Lack of downscaled information; Lack of predictive models
How can the Extension help to Contribute to Climate Adaptation and Mitigation?
Outreach and Education:
- Demonstration, education, research, promotion
- Expand programming to 4-H youth livestock programs
- Educate the public of adverse effects of climate change, increase public knowledge of human activities that accelerate climate change
- Disseminate climate information available on resource distributed at conference
- Have open dialogue with the community so they may be able to ask questions about the negative effect climate change has on our area
Research:
- Explore linkages to nutrition and food, e.g. sensory evaluation of salt tolerant varieties
- Work with tissue culture program to increase salt-tolerant plants
- Lead/participate in needs assessment or vulnerability assessment
- Develop climate change specific publications; capitalize on opportunities to discuss climate change in workshops
- More climate related research
Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices:
- Precision agriculture for water/fertilizer management, utilizing local waste/by products for carbon sequestration & soil amendments, research plant breeding
- Expand workings/field days related to clientele’s ability to adapt to climate change,
- Increase the info provided to clientele about climate and the changes being experienced or to be experienced and its effects on crops grown
- Contribute weather station data
- Base planting recommendation on weather/climate forecasts if available
Resources
Read the Extension Climate Forum for the full report.
For resources specific to climate in Hawai’i, visit the Hawai’i Climate Resources Page.
