Makauwahi Cave Reserve
climate challenge: Rising Seas
grant award: $247,500; Year awarded: 2019
Makauwahi Cave Reserve includes the largest limestone cave system in the Hawaiian Islands, with a narrowly endemic fauna of blind cave invertebrates limited exclusively to this system. Native dry forest, coastal shrublands, and freshwater wetlands in the reserve are under direct threat from increasing climate uncertainty around impacts such as record drought, severe hurricanes, periodic flooding, and sea-level rise. This project aims to expand plant restorations to higher adjacent areas, enhance the ability of recently restored areas to withstand climate challenges, and create additional freshwater and brackish wetlands for endangered water bird, invertebrate, and plant species farther inland.