Study debunks long-held myth of Native Hawaiians causing waterbird extinctions

New research at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa found no scientific evidence that indigenous people over-hunted waterbird species to extinction.

The study that challenges a 50-year-old narrative about Hawaiʻi’s native birds was published in the journal Ecosphere, debunking the long-held myth.

Instead, authors suggest a new theory: the birds died out because of a combination of climate change, invasive species and changes in how the land was used — most of which happened either prior to Polynesian arrival or after the suppression of indigenous stewardship.

The study also notes that now-endangered waterbirds were probably most abundant just before Europeans arrived, when wetland management was a core aspect of Native Hawaiian society.

“So much of science is biased by the notion that humans are inevitable agents of ecocide, and we destroy nature wherever we go,” said associated professor at Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology and co-author of the new paper in a release about the study. “This idea has shaped the dominant narrative in conservation … . Even where there is zero scientific evidence to support it, the myth of Hawaiians hunting birds to extinctions took root in Hawaiʻi and for decades has been taught as if it was a scientific fact.”

The new study not only dispels the myth, it also contributes to a growing body of evidence that indigenous stewardship represents the best ways for native birds to thrive in a world where humans are not going away.

Existing evidence is re-examined without the bias that the discipline has increasingly been criticized for — the idea that people are separate from and inherently bad for nature.

The research provides a more nuanced understanding of history, paving the way for an increasingly robust approach to conservation research.

“Science has matured to a point where graduate students are being trained to challenge its own long-standing world view,” said lead author of the study Kristen Harmon in the release. “Our interpretation of historical ecology — how ecological systems change over time — influences our approaches to solving global-scale ecological problems.”

Harmon — who recently earned a PhD from the University of Hawaiʻi College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management — added that bringing together information from different disciplines and knowledge systems can yield a more accurate picture of reality, which is ultimately the goal of every scientist.

The study’s conclusions are expected to help transform conservation actions in Hawaiʻi, particularly for the recovery of endangered waterbird populations such as ʻalae ʻula and ʻaeʻo.

“Recent studies support what Hawaiians have always known — that restoration of loʻi [wetland agro-ecosystems] is critically important to bring these waterbirds into abundance again,” said associate professor Melissa Price, who oversees the Wildlife Ecology Lab at College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, in the release. “If we wish to transform our islands from the ‘Extinction Capital of the World’ into the ‘Recovery Capital of the World,’ we need to restore relationships between nature and communities.”

This new understanding could help change how these birds are protected and mend long-standing disagreements in the community.

Ulalia Woodside Lee, who was not a part of this research project, offered some reflections as the Hawai‘i and Palmyra executive director for The Nature Conservancy.

“For generations, Native Hawaiians have been criticized for causing the extinctions of our precious native birds,” Lee said in the release. “This has contributed to a breakdown in trust between the Hawaiian community and conservationists, and the exclusion of Native Hawaiians from important conservation decisions.”

Lee added that the new study will help the community move past those untruths for a brighter future, where native species thrive.