Ocean conservation groups on Kauaʻi working to recruit younger people to the cause

For World Oceans Day, conservation leaders and community members who care about the ocean came from across Kaua’i to the Outrigger Kaua’i Beach Resort in Līhuʻe a week ago to spread public awareness about the challenges of a healthy sea.

But visibly missing were a strong representation of teenagers and young adults, which also is the case for much of Kaua’i’s conservation scene. 

“Most of our volunteers are senior citizens,” said Tom Woods of Reef Guardians. “We’re so fortunate to have them, but we would also like to have more young people involved.” 

Reef Guardian, a conservation organization spearheaded by Woods and Robin Mazor, is focused on stream water testing and educational outreach. They offer a children’s education program, Coral Reef Camp, which takes local keiki ages 8 to 13 to reefs off of ‘Anini and Poi’pu beaches to learn about the importance of marine ecosystems. 

While keiki learn all about ocean creatures and marine conservation while attending Coral Reef Camp, Woods said there are limited opportunities for them to protect the ocean as they get older. 

While young people have the desire and direction for ocean conservation, Woods believes a lack of funding and support prevents many from signing up to participate in their initiative.

“It’s so expensive to live here, and young people simply don’t have the time to volunteer,” he said. 

The Kauaʻi festival for World Oceans Day, an international celebration of ocean conservation held annually on June 8, kicked off with a community beach clean-up at Nukoli’i beach. It was followed by a lively event featuring local music, food stalls, a silent auction and vendor booths representing conservation nonprofits and local environmental businesses. 

While many young keiki enjoyed the games and festivities such as ocean debris art-making stations and plastic ball toss games made from recycled fishing traps, the festival had noticeably low engagement from Kaua’i’s local Gen Z and Millennials.

Tim Leichliter, the head organizer of the Kaua’i festival and co-founder of the environmental non-profit Ho’omalu Ke Kai, said he also would like to better reach Kaua’i’s disengaged youth.

“It all comes down to funding,” he said. “Ideally, we would love to be able to pay interns or part-time staff. Young people are already working three jobs to pay for the high rent and cost of living on our beautiful island. It’s only right that we pay them for their valuable time and contributions to something as crucial as ocean conservation.”

According to Leichliter, Kaua’i is in desperate need of trained conservation staff. Kaua’i only has a handful of trained scientific divers. They have surveyed just about 10 to 15% of Kaua’i’s coral reefs. Without these surveys, he said, it’s nearly impossible to get an adequate read on the health of Kaua’i’s ocean. 

Leichliter notes that the cost of scuba certification is a barrier to many of Kaua’i’s youth who are looking to advance their careers in ocean protection. A basic open water scuba certification course costs about $650 at local dive shops, and additional scientific certifications can tack on hundreds more. 

“If local youth want to come and give back, they should have the opportunity to be able to do so,” Leichliter said. 

Leichliter and Captain Tara Leota of Kauaʻi Ocean Awareness have been working on a solution to help connect passionate young people from low income backgrounds with ocean conservation opportunities on Kaua’i through a scholarship program called The Green Diver Initiative that offers free scuba instruction and certification.

Young divers can help “repay” the cost of their training by volunteering their time sorting ocean plastic for Ho’omalu Ke Kai’s Marine Debris Upcycling program. It is Kaua’i’s only plastic recycling facility that transforms recovered ocean debris into usable items like building materials. 

Leota said she hopes to get more funding to expand both the scholarship program and the Marine Debris Upcycling program. 

While this initiative addresses some of the financial barriers to conservation action, Leota said there are ample opportunities to support ocean conservation that are not overly time-intensive or costly.

“If you love the ocean, there’s always some way to help,” she said. 

These include beach clean-ups, said Barbara Weidner of Surfrider Foundation.

The organization deploys rescue teams that haul away discarded fishing nets and other marine debris. In 2024, more than 162,900 pounds of debris was removed from the ocean, according to Surfrider’s statistics. 

Both Ho’omalu Ke Kai and Surfrider Foundation host regular beach clean-ups that are open to the public. 

Ho’omalu Ke Kai also has set up a permanent beach clean-up station at Nukoli’i beach where members of the public are encouraged to use the provided nets and buckets to spearhead their own clean-up missions. 

Leichliter hopes to expand these self clean-up stations at beaches all over Kaua’i to help encourage beachgoers to do their part to protect Kaua’i’s ocean for generations to come.