Land degradation; a process of abusing the land through human hands. Land degradation is a common practice around the world by over-constructing the land as a way to make money and is especially common in the Aloha State, Hawaii. But isn’t Hawaii full of lush green landscapes that have never been touched by a machine? Wrong. It is just the opposite of that, the abuse of land is typical because of Hawaii’s booming population due to factors like tourism or military. So, buildings, houses, condos need to be built at a fast pace to support that however it comes at a price, and that cost is huge. It costs Hawaii in three ways: economically, socially, and environmentally.
Firstly, because of the constant land degradation it has a negative impact on Hawaii’s economy. That’s because Hawaii has grown overly dependent on it, due to Hawaii’s overpopulation from factors like tourism or military. With those factors in mind, Hawaii has to create buildings to support it. So, as a result of accommodating to the overpopulation, Hawaii benefits out of that by getting some big bucks for example, "Since 1960, the income generated from tourism has increased well over 2,000% and the trajectory of growth is projected to steadily increase. In 1986 alone, Hawaii experienced about 15% increase in visitors over the year before-or about 5.6 million tourists," (Terry Kelly John Matsuoka 31). However because of those statistics it has led Hawaii to believing that if they continue to degrade the land the economy will succeed but, it has made Hawaii into an undesirable condition, "pricy paradise." To illustrate, a single family house in Hawaii would usually cost around the $700,000 range or sometimes even more expensive, (“Troubles in Hawaii”). Compared to the rest of America this is a huge price gap because, in the Mainland the prices for housing are so much cheaper about $500,000 cheaper (in terms of single family houses). So, why is Hawaii's housing so much more pricier? That's because of land degradation. According to, To-Hawaii.com, "There are several reasons why housing is so expensive in Hawaii. One factor is the limited amount of land onto which the cities could expand. Another reason is the higher construction costs that are due to high shipping and inventory costs of the material and excise taxes among others." And as a result of that, the price for land has never become so worrisome. Not only that, groceries also has a toll on the public, according to the article, “Troubles in Hawaii,” groceries in Hawaii are 30 percent more expensive than Northern America. Reason? It's because of how much resources are being terminated and as an effect there are not enough resources for Hawaii to rely on itself but, on others. According to, Hawaii Seed.org, about 90-95% of the resources we use are from foreign imports. Although this helps with Hawaii's unsustainability it does not fulfill, the citizen's desires because, of a majority of our food are foreign imports it comes at a hefty price. That's because, these resources have a high tax and must always be on the shelf ready to be bought. And because of that, the groceries in Hawaii are expensive all because, of land degradation.
Not only has it hurt Hawaii economically but, socially as well. “These changes have profound effects upon the behavior and practices of Hawaiian people who must look to other means for subsistence,” (scholarworks). Before all of the land abuse, Hawaiians used to live in harmony with the land and sea through a system called Ahupua’a, a subdivision of the mountain to sea but, it wasn’t just a land sector but, a way of life. Through the ahupua’a Hawaiians learned how to live a sustainable life by taking only what is needed and caring for the land, this trait was a part of Hawaii's identity. However, when Hawaii was used for construction purposes everything was lost according to John Matsuoka and Terry Kelly. Once, land degradation came into play in Hawaii, the land disappeared into resorts, apartments, houses, and so did the culture. Land degradation had destroyed their ahupua'a into neighborhoods, resorts, etc and it destroyed an essential part of their culture. As a result of that, it has “left the islanders in a state of boredom and listlessness which has contributed to such social problems as substance abuse, suicide, and a soaring population growth,” (scholarworks). Their values, meanings, purpose of the land was destroyed all because of land degradation. Also, because of their destroyed values many Hawaiians started to ddo substance abuse (alcohol, drug addiction), and it was found that Hawaiians were most exposed to substance abuse followed by, Caucasians, (Marshall, 1979; Native Hawaiian Study Commission, 1983). Besides that, because of the huge reliance on construction to accommodate Hawaii’s main moneymaker, tourism, “The 1980 Census reported 258,000 Hawaii-born persons living in the other 49 states-almost 32% of all Hawaii-born persons. At the same time, more than 55,000 native Hawaiians, or 31% of the nation's total were living on the Mainland,” (John Matsuoka and Terry Kelly 37). This huge migration of Hawaii born people moving to the Mainland is referred as the, “Brain Drain,” because, many adroit people who come from Hawaii move to Mainland for a better shot of getting the job they desire. Not the ones that only offer something related to land degradation plus, the cost of living somewhere else was more affordable than this, “pricy paradise.”
Hawaii, was a place that once was flourishing in natural resources. However, in the modern day with more and more land being used to accommodate overpopulation, it has destroyed natural resources. For example, in April 8, 1987 at the Big Island there was a resort to be built and it was labelled (at the time) the largest hotel (Matsuoka Kelly). With all of its glory being labelled as the “largest hotel,” it was for sure to bring in a lot of wealth to Hawaii however, at the same time it was destroying it. It terminated about 70 percent of the anchialine ponds and rare species of shrimps that were thought to only be found in Hawaii. In addition to that, birds who used to stop midway from their migration to the ponds have vanished. And the amount of species indigenous to Hawaii have not stopped diminishing.According to John Matsuoka and Terry Kelly, ”Hawaii has only 0.2% of the nation's land, but 72.1% of its extinctions and 27% of its rare or endangered species.” This is a huge problem because, this factor contributes to Hawaii’s unsustainability meaning, it can’t rely on itself but, on others. And as mentioned before, because of this fact Hawaii is left in an undesirable condition of a, “pricy paradise.” Besides that, just the fact that Hawaii, with its miniscule land has very limited species compared to America is troublesome. If the situation worsens what will be left of Hawaii might be empty forever. Concluding, Hawaii’s environment, as of now is in a very troubling situation.
With the constant land degradation Hawaii is at huge risk of losing everything socially, economically, and environmentally. That's because, Hawaii is constantly losing their resources rendering the natives useless to the land causing a void of between the Hawaiians and culture and the effects of that are not so pretty. Also, many of Hawaii’s bright people are not using their talents in the islands where only a minimal amount of their gifts will be put to use so they go, abroad. Not only that, the economy is also having a burden on the public through making them live in a “pricy paradise,” due to its unsustainability. Besides that, all of the native species that made Hawaii what it was is disappearing at a fast rate because, of land degradation. If this problem doesn’t stop now what may be left of Hawaii might disappear forever.
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