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This is a part-time consulting role and will last 2 months.

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) has a long-term commitment in Hawaiʻi to support healthy coral reefs through integrated, mauka-to-makai approaches that reduce land-based pollution, strengthen community stewardship, and improve the resilience of reef-dependent social and ecological systems. CORAL’s Hawaiʻi strategy currently centers on two connected priorities: advancing watershed and wastewater solutions, and strengthening protected areas and community-based marine management.

As CORAL’s Hawaiʻi portfolio evolves, the organization is shifting from primarily project-level implementation toward a more catalytic role that connects science, partnerships, policy pathways, and investment to enable broader systems change. This includes sustained engagement in statewide wastewater coordination, attention to watershed-scale sediment reduction through land use and management, and exploring how CORAL can more deeply engage in policy processes to shape and influence reef-positive conservation outcomes beyond individual sites.

Purpose

To provide targeted research, scoping, and analysis to help CORAL maintain momentum while refining its strategic opportunities in the fields of (1) protected area management effectiveness and (2) sedimentation.

Objective

Produce analyses that identify where and how CORAL can add value in community-supported protected area management and stewardship and sedimentation mitigation across Hawai’i.

Scope of Work

Protected Areas and Community Stewardship Scoping

Conduct a strategic assessment of marine stewardship and governance in Hawaiʻi, aligned with CORAL’s Hawaiʻi strategy and reef resilience priorities.

The consultant will:

  • Summarize major marine governance and stewardship models (state-led MPAs/OECMs, community-based subsistence fisheries areas, Indigenous initiatives, co-management, large-scale area governance).
  • Assess how Native Hawaiian stewardship principles and Indigenous governance approaches are incorporated into marine management and community leadership.
  • Review evidence on ecological, social, cultural, and stewardship outcomes, highlighting success factors and common governance challenges.
  • Identify key rightsholders, stakeholders, partnerships, funding mechanisms, and policy frameworks shaping marine stewardship outcomes.
  • Diagnose barriers and opportunities for effective management (governance, participation, funding, monitoring, enforcement, policy).
  • Recommend practical opportunities and engagement pathways where CORAL can partner, add technical and facilitation value, leverage financing, or act at a systems level—complementing, not duplicating, existing efforts.

Key Research Themes

  • Governance models: authorities, accountability, and decision-making structures across major models.
  • Indigenous management: integration of Native Hawaiian stewardship, co-management/co-governance, and Indigenous-led management examples.
  • Community involvement: mechanisms for participation, trust, legitimacy, and compliance.
  • Effectiveness: arrangements demonstrating positive outcomes vs. governance or implementation failures.
  • MPA/OECM landscape: existing and proposed sites, management entities, effectiveness, and conservation intent.

Sedimentation in Hawaiian Coastal Waters

Conduct a strategic scoping assessment of sedimentation, focusing on watershed-scale drivers, priority geographies, reef impacts, and alignment with CORAL’s ridge-to-reef strategy.

The consultant will:

  • Prepare a situational analysis of sedimentation drivers, current conditions, and reef health implications across Maui Nui.
  • Summarize current initiatives, key actors, major landowners/managers, and relevant regulatory and policy frameworks for sediment management.
  • Identify land use, water resource, conservation, and coastal management frameworks influencing sediment generation and restoration.
  • Assess gaps and opportunities in the existing sediment reduction and watershed management landscape, including ridge-to-reef initiatives.
  • Recommend practical partnership, financing, policy, and systems-change opportunities where CORAL can catalyze watershed-scale sediment reduction and reef resilience, with emphasis on South Molokaʻi.

Key Research Themes

  • Sediment drivers and reef impacts: high-contribution watersheds, land uses, and practices.
  • Governance and management: policies, institutions, and collaborative models shaping watershed outcomes.
  • Current efforts and global lessons: current initiatives in Maui Nui, plus global ridge-to-reef or sediment reduction examples with measurable ecological and social outcomes.
  • Partnerships, finance, and systems change: key organizations, landowners, decision-makers, and financing or policy levers for scaling impact.
  • Strategic opportunity for CORAL: highest-leverage roles for CORAL in watershed-scale sediment reduction and reef resilience

Expected Deliverables

Protected Areas & Stewardship Scoping Package

  • Scoping memo (10-15 pages with executive summary, key maps, and tables) on protected areas and community stewardship: current efforts, key actors, major strengths and gaps, and potential value-add roles for CORAL.

Hawai’i Sedimentation Scoping Package

  • Sedimentation situational analysis outlining key drivers, actors, policy context, high-risk geographies, and practical entry points for CORAL.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit the following in a single PDF file by email to humanresources@coral.org, with the subject line “Hawaiʻi Conservation Opportunity Scoping Consultant”:

  • A one-page cover letter outlining relevant experience and motivation for this consultancy.​
  • A current CV (maximum 3 pages), including contact details for two professional references.​

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until July 22, 2026. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

The Coral Reef Alliance is committed to workforce diversity. Qualified applicants will receive full consideration without regard to age, race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, health status, or national origin.