The results produced by the project show that manual removal of the invasive mudweed along with controlled sediment runoff into the bay appears to be a promising restoration technique for Hawaiin coral reef flats. Although recovery of native algae levels will take longer than 19 months to return, the recovery appears to be on the predicted and desired path to a community composed of more native species than before the A. amadelpha invasion.
The Short-comings:
- “My only “regret” (for lack of better word) was that the project area was too small to make a sweeping change to that area (called Paiko) of the reef” (D.Minton, personal communication, November 13th, 2015).
- The original action plan created by Malama Maunalua in 2009 aimed to implement this strategy across 3 other similar sites, but ultimately only managed to target one. Although proving to be quite successful it is limited in it’s range.
- The measure of success regarding the return of fish populations wasn’t well documented and also did not give any form of metric to value the success or failure. This is most likely due to the broad and extensive Action Plan from 2009.
Successes:
- Malama Maunalua aimed to have this project backed with strong community support and that was evidently clear. Even before Malama Maunalua intervened members of the community as well as schools were already focused on the problem. The awareness of the issue was well-known throughout the community, 80% of the respondents whom were aware of the project participated in the removal event (Kittinger et al., 2013).
- Removed mudweed had an immediate use in the agricultural field, it was reported that the removed mudweed was able to save farmers hundreds of dollars per month in soil media (Kittinger et al., 2013).
- High schools and businesses in the bay area reached out to Malama Maunalua to become involved as they saw it as an opportunity for team-building as well as a learning experience (Kittinger et al., 2013).