'Aohe hana nui ke alu ia - No task is too big when done together by all As a child, my life revolved around the ocean. My first memories are of almost weekly beach days with my parents on the North Shore of O’ahu, splashing in the waves, shoreline fishing, and discovering the aquatic wonders of each tide pool and coral formation I could find. Growing up, my aquatic biologist father took me fishing as soon as I was old enough to hold my own pole and my fondest childhood memories are of hiking and fishing with my parents along the shorelines and streams of O’ahu. My dad always said the ocean runs in our blood and spent hours teaching us about the plants and animals that make up those ecosystems. Through his teachings, I was introduced to the ideas of resource management and sustainability at a very young age, understanding that kuleana (responsibility) for conservation lies with each individual’s choices. As I grew older, I always returned to the ocean as my connection to home, manifesting it with a love for outrigger canoe paddling, freediving, a brief foray into surfing, and stand-up paddle boarding. These activities, especially participating with my outrigger canoe club, reinforced the importance of the Hawaiian cultural values instilled in me as a child, and challenged me to serious contemplation of marine studies as a vocation. It was there that my journey towards conservation in the Hawaiian Islands and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, first began. Extending to the north of Kaua’i, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) was established with the hopes of ensuring continued conservation management of natural resources found in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. PMNM is the largest marine protected area in the United States, covering nearly 600,000 square miles, providing a critical site for ecological research for Hawai’i and throughout world. The tiny islands and atolls that encompass Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument are known as the Kūpuna (ancestral) Islands, and referred to in the Kumulipo, the Hawaiian creation chant, as the birthplace of life. The spiritual mana found in PMNM is unlike anywhere else, but its uniqueness also makes it vulnerable. PMNM's remote location and lack of human habitation have provided protection for its endemic and endangered inhabitants, but PMNM faces the threats of marine debris, population decline of threatened and endangered seabirds, fish, and marine mammals, and estuary and coastal ecosystem degradation. The health of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument’s ecosystems and Hawai’i fisheries rely on the migration of fish from the main Hawaiian Islands, protection of the ocean, and the restoration of healthy watersheds and coastal ecosystems. The more I experience and appreciate the unique natural resources of Hawai’i, the more important it becomes for me, and for all of us in Hawai’i and beyond, to have an active role in protecting the resources we share. Like many communities around the world, Hawai’i’s people depend on the ocean for their way of life, and we recognize that the oceans touch and affect so many different shores and people. In sharing Hawai’i’s cultural connection to nature and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, I aspire to return the people of Hawai’i to our stewardship kuleana, provide a wahi ho’omaka (foundation) for others striving to make a positive impact, and challenge people in all communities to initiate active participation in conservation of their most beloved places. Regardless of government, country, or politics, we can become the catalyst for the changes we desire; it is our kuleana to generations to come.