By Staff Reports
(HONOLULU)—The board of directors of Mālama Maunalua, an organization dedicated to restoring the health of Maunalua Bay, has named marine conservation expert Frazer McGilvray as its new executive director.
“Frazer’s leadership is a coup for Mālama Maunalua, taking us to a new level as we prepare to launch a sweeping, multi-year marine plan that will map out a vibrant future for Maunalua Bay,” said Jennifer Taylor, board president.
McGilvray is an internationally renowned marine natural resource management professional with more than 25 years of experience. Having worked throughout East Asia and the Indo-Pacific, he has extensive knowledge on marine resource management across several continents. He has worked on local projects and those that span multiple countries, and has advised and helped to shape government policy in many countries improving fisheries management, coral reef resilience and increased food security and economic benefits.
McGilvray was most recently the administrator of the Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR), Hawaii Department of Land & Natural Resources (DLNR), where he oversaw management, conservation and restoration of the state’s unique aquatic resources and ecosystems. He was instrumental in bringing community-based management back to Hawaii, beginning with a major success in Haena on Kauai last year.By law the community now manages six miles of its own coastline.
Photo by Jesse Yonover.
Prior to DAR, he was with Conservation International (CI), a worldwide organization that applies innovations in science, economics, policy and community participation to protect the Earth’s key marine ecosystems. His work included establishing the Seascapes Approach, a new context for large-scale marine management, funded with a $26 million donation (then the largest-ever private donation towards marine conservation). While with the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) in the U.K., he implemented the UK’s first national beach clean-up campaign, with 3,000 volunteers to clean 160 beaches. Three years later he orchestrated the International Coastal Clean-up with MCS Hong Kong.
Of his return to the nonprofit sector to helm Mālama Maunalua, McGilvray said, “The timing is perfect. There is a coming together of minds around the critical need for a new plan for the common good, and widespread agreement that Mālama Maunalua is the organization to lead the way. I look forward to engaging the many stakeholders in creating a pathway for the full-scale ecological bounce back of Maunalua Bay.”
Mālama Maunalua is a community-driven non-profit organization committed to restoring the health of Maunalua Bay, the seven square miles of coastal waters from Kῡpikipikiō (Black Point) to Kawaihoa (Portlock Point). To date, priorities have included removing invasive alien algae, reducing the run-off of sediment and pollutants from the land into the Bay and increasing marine life. Volunteer board members are Jennifer Taylor, (president), Carol Wilcox (vice president & secretary), Jean T. Tsukamoto (treasurer), Mitch D’Olier, Amy Monk, Michael Pietsch, Dr. Leighton Taylor and Laura Thompson. Information: (808) 395-5050; www.malamamaunalua.org.