ORIGINAL ARTICLE Restoring ecosystems, restoring community: socioeconomic and cultural dimensions of a community-based coral reef restoration project John N. Kittinger • Trisann M. Bambico • Dwayne Minton • Alyssa Miller • Manuel Mejia • Nahaku Kalei • Bradley Wong • Edward W. Glazier Received: 13 June 2013 / Accepted: 11 December 2013 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 Abstract Environmental restoration projects are com- monly touted for their ecological positives, but such pro- jects can also provide significant socioeconomic and cultural benefits to local communities. We assessed the social dimensions of a large-scale coral reef restoration project in Maunalua Bay, O‘ahu, where [ 1.32 million kg of invasive marine macroalgae was removed from 11 hectares (90,000 m 2 ; 23 acres) of impacted coral reef in an urbanized setting. We interviewed 131 community stake- holders and analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data to assess human uses of the environment, assess percep- tions of environmental health, and characterize social dimensions (?/-) associated with the invasive algae removal effort. Results indicate substantial direct economic benefits, including the creation of more than 60? jobs, benefiting more than 250 individuals and 81 households. The project helped develop a skilled workforce in a local business dedicated to environmental restoration and increased the capacity of community organizations to address other threats to reefs and watersheds. Other major benefits include revitalization of Native Hawaiian cultural practices and traditions and the successful use of harvested invasive algae as compost by local farmers. Our results show the project heightened community awareness and a broader sense of stewardship in the area, creating enabling conditions for collective community action. Our findings show that restoration projects that explicitly incorporate efforts to build community awareness, involvement, and a shared responsibility for a site may ultimately create the long-term capacity for sustainable stewardship programs. We conclude by discussing lessons learned for engaging productively with communities in environmental restora- tion and stewardship, which remains a central focus in conservation worldwide. Keywords Coral reefs Á Restoration Á Community-based conservation Á Ecosystem services Introduction Coral reef ecosystems worldwide have suffered from the cumulative impacts of human activities, resulting in long- term declines (Pandolfi et al. 2003; Wilkinson 2008) that compromise the ability of reefs to provide important societal benefits (Moberg and Folke 1999; Norstro ¨m et al. 2008; Nystro ¨ m et al. 2008). Anthropogenic impacts include local stressors such as overfishing, land-based pollution, invasive species introductions, and global stressors such as climate change. These proximate human impacts are driven by underlying or distal factors such as changes in Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10113-013-0572-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. J. N. Kittinger Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, 99 Pacific Street, Suite 555E, Monterey, CA 93949, USA J. N. Kittinger (&) Á T. M. Bambico Á E. W. Glazier Impact Assessment, Inc., Pacific Islands Office, Honolulu, HI, USA e-mail: jkittinger@gmail.com D. Minton Á M. Mejia Á N. Kalei Á B. Wong The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i, 923 Nu‘uanu Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96817, USA A. Miller Ma ¯lama Maunalua, 377 Keahole Street, Suite E-209, Honolulu, HI 96825, USA 123 Reg Environ Change DOI 10.1007/s10113-013-0572-x