Fwd: Fwd: Request for testimony on SB3323 (hearing Wed 2/11 at 3:00 pm)
jim albertini
FYI from Nedi McKnight
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| Subject: | Fwd: Request for testimony on SB3323 (hearing Wed 2/11 at 3:00 pm) |
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| Date: | Tue, 10 Feb 2026 10:12:16 +1300 |
| From: | Nedi McKnight <nedimc...@gmail.com> |
| To: | jim albertini <jimalb...@gmail.com> |
When many of us are feeling overwhelmed or unsure where our voices can really matter, it helps to remember that there are still beautiful and important things happening close to home.
SB3323 is a landmark bill that offers Hawaiʻi an opportunity to affirm what many here have long known: that our ecosystems are living beings worthy of protection, respect, and a voice. It builds on Hawaiʻi’s already-strong environmental and public trust laws, aligns with the ahupuaʻa system and ʻike kupuna, and creates a way to stand up for coral reefs and watersheds that cannot speak for themselves, but sustain all of us.
I want to share some important background on this bill, with deep gratitude and credit to Travis Liggett, who worked tirelessly to draft the Nā ʻĀina no Iʻa Act and has generously shared this explanation.
The Nā ʻĀina no Iʻa Act is named after “Auntie Nani” Verdel Berg, the late ancestral heiress to the ahupuaʻa in Kipahulu, East Maui, a place of deep cultural and spiritual significance where priests once traveled to gather holy water for ceremony. The “Lands for Fish” concept reflects the intrinsic connection between land and ocean (between watershed and reef) as a single living system connected by the movement and life of wai.
This Rights for Nature legislation is intended to create a parallel, citizen-led path of enforcement that complements and reinforces existing regulatory frameworks. By granting legal standing to ecosystem persons, the bill allows ordinary people to seek court action to restore harm to living ecosystems, rather than relying solely on agency processes. It is meant as a pathway for direct action by the people, in service of restoration and justice.
The NĀNI Act itself is a grassroots effort. It was drafted by a private citizen with no formal legal background, informed through conversations with community members and shaped with guidance from a wide range of experts, including ecosystem personhood lawyers, a former Hawaiʻi Deputy Attorney General for wastewater, water quality scientists, Native Hawaiian practitioners, limu restoration experts, and everyday people from across Maui. At its heart, it enables humans to serve as a voice for ecosystems and opens a pathway for Kanaka Maoli youth, through a next friend, to help protect and restore these living systems.
Hawaiʻi has long been a place where values turn into action, and where leadership can ripple far beyond our shores. This is one of those moments.
SB3323 will be heard this Wednesday, 2/11 at 3:00 pm, and I humbly ask you to consider submitting testimony if this resonates with you, or sharing this with others who may feel called to do so.
Bill and hearing details are here:
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=3323&year=2026
Please note that testimony is due no later than 3 hours before the hearing.
For those who would like to learn more or reach out
directly, here is Travis Liggettʻs email.
Email: travis....@gmail.com
Me ke aloha,
Nedi & Jeff McKnight