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Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative (HCRI)

This project began in 1998 and ended in 2014

The Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative (HCRI) research cooperative includes county, state, and federal agencies; community-based organizations; and the private sector working together to expand and coordinate monitoring and research activities to preserve Hawaii’s coral reef ecosystems. Their efforts are providing resource managers with information they need to efficiently manage and protect Hawaii’s coral reefs.

Why We Care
The HCRI was established in 1998 to help mitigate major threats to Hawaii's coral reef ecosystems through research and monitoring. The initiative, in turn, has provided resource managers with data on the most effective and efficient ways to mitigate, and possibly reverse, the degradation of coastal resources, and it serves as a foundation for a myriad of outreach and education efforts.

What We Have Accomplished
Since its inception in 1998, the our efforts have yielded:

  • Over 75 management-directed research and monitoring projects
  • More than 258 briefings and reports to resource managers
  • Over 100 scientific research papers and technical reports
  • Approximately 80 newspaper and magazine articles about the program and its findings
  • Over 137 graduate and undergraduate students supported on research projects and internships
  • More than 22 technical and scientific research and monitoring workshops
  • At least 18 major community or industry events, reaching over 25,000 adults and children
  • A six-unit marine science curriculum for Hawaii students.

Building on this knowledge, HCRI’s management committee embraced an integrated watershed management approach in FY2007 and began working in collaboration with community and government agencies in specific watersheds. As a result, direct scientific and management support for ecosystem- and community-based marine resource stewardship programs have been added to translate valuable output from this program into improved management of Hawaii’s coral resources and to support strengthening of partnerships.

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