Maui is highly dependent on tourism as its main economic driver. After the August 2023 wildfires and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Maui and Hawaiʻi’s economic vulnerabilities were clearly shown, as thousands lost their jobs and millions of dollars of daily revenue abruptly halted. Maui must look to alternative economic industries for short-, mid- and long-term recovery and community well-being. Additionally, younger generations often move away from Maui due to lack of job opportunities and high cost of living.
For recovery efforts involving revegetation, landscape restoration and reforestation, for example, Maui lacks sufficient local workforce and capacity for implementation. This recovery project would address the need to train a local workforce for natural resources restoration and maintenance work for recovery, as well as generate long-term job opportunities in alternative economic industries such as agriculture, conservation and natural resources management.

This project includes development of an environmentally conscious green workforce and creation of green job opportunities for a sustainable Hawaiʻi and Maui—to provide economic opportunities for local people to stay and live in Maui while also restoring the environment. Key goals of this project include diversification of economy, beyond tourism, towards a circular sustainable economy; return of thriving agriculture industry to Lahaina; increase accessibility and create jobs in conservation, agriculture, environmental science, regenerative tourism, and climate change resilience; create educational programming, career pathways, and mentorship programs for youth to transition from elementary to high school, to college, to careers; create a workforce of local people who can do the natural resources restoration work and maintenance for Lahaina and Maui in the coming years; and create regenerative pono tourism practices through programming, incentives, education, and policy.