At the Intersection of Resident, Research and Recreation Stakeholder
Interests: The Hawaiian Islands as a Sustainable Tourism Destination

Dr. John Cusick
Assistant Specialist
UHM Environmental Center
jcus...@hawaii.edu
Holmes Hall 244
Thursday, October 29, 2009
4:30 – 5:30 pm

Resident communities, protected area management, and the tourism
industry stakeholders demonstrate that evolving relationships are
complex webs of competing and cooperating interests. The geographic
isolation of the Hawaiian Islands makes travel to and from primary
markets in North America and Asia unsustainable. However, partnerships
have brought about and nurtured the perpetuation of culture and the
conservation of biodiversity as stakeholders recognize shared benefits
that still attract large numbers of visitors. A sustainability
framework for tourism suggests a reappraisal of how to nurture, not
alter, Hawai‘i’s environmental diversity. This presentation will
review the results of two events in 2009 that brought stakeholders
together to discuss the following questions: What does sustainable
tourism look like in Hawai‘i?; What are the challenges to reach that
goal?; and What roles do individuals and organizations play to achieve
the goal of sustainability for the Hawaiian Islands?

About the speaker: Dr. Cusick coordinates the Environmental Studies
undergraduate degree and certificate programs and is faculty advisor
for the Ecology Club, which is supported by the Ecological Society of
America Strategies for Ecology Education, Development, and
Sustainability (SEED) program. His research interests in the area of
human-environment relationships focus on places designated protected
area status, with an emphasis on World Heritage sites, where the
interests of residents, conservation research and tourism merge. He
was an East-West Center Degree Fellow and his dissertation compared
protected areas on the islands of Maui and Yakushima, Japan. He is a
member of the IUCN World Commissions on Protected Areas and Ecosystem
Management and the UHM Center for Okinawan Studies, and has conducted
fieldwork related to sustainable development in the Hawaiian Islands,
Japan, New Zealand, North America, and Latin America. In 2009, he
organized curriculum and field study programs on Maui and California
for an East-West Center environmental leadership program for
international students.

Video and slides:

Available after the talk at:
<http://reis.manoa.hawaii.edu/seminars/sustainable-tourism>