*Article* **Na Kilo ¯** ❛ **Aina: Visions of Biocultural Restoration ¯ through Indigenous Relationships between People and Place**

**Kanoe**❛ **ulalani Morishige 1,2,\*, Pelika Andrade 1,3, Pua**❛ **ala Pascua 1,4, Kanoelani Steward 1, Emily Cadiz 1, Lauren Kapono <sup>1</sup> and Uakoko Chong 1,5**


Received: 1 August 2018; Accepted: 5 September 2018; Published: 20 September 2018

**Abstract:** Within the realm of multifaceted biocultural approaches to restoring resource abundance, it is increasingly clear that resource-management strategies must account for equitable outcomes rooted in an understanding that biological and social-ecological systems are one. Here, we present a case study of the Na Kilo ¯ ❛ Aina Program (NKA)—one approach to confront today's complex ¯ social, cultural, and biological management challenges through the lens of biocultural monitoring, community engagement, and capacity building. Through a series of initiatives, including Huli ❛ Ia, Pilinakai, Annual Nohona Camps, and Kuka ¯ ❛ i Laulaha International Exchange Program, NKA aims to empower communities to strengthen reciprocal pilina (relationships) between people and place, and to better understand the realistic social, cultural, and ecological needs to support ❛ aina momona, ¯ a state of thriving, abundant and productive people and places. After 10 years of implementation, NKA has established partnerships with communities, state/federal agencies, and local schools across the Hawaiian Islands to address broader social and cultural behavior changes needed to improve resource management. Ultimately, NKA creates a platform to innovate local management strategies and provides key contributions to guiding broader indigenous-driven approaches to conservation that restore and support resilient social-ecological systems.

**Keywords:** biocultural monitoring; community engagement; community-based management; indigenous knowledge; indigenous science; Hawai❛ i
