WEST MAUI — On Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 5 to 6 p.m., join the West Maui Ridge to Reef Initiative partners online for a free presentation, “Who pledges to protect the ocean? The role of place attachment in motivating voluntary commitments and support for conservation among coastal users in West Maui, Hawaii,” presented by Francisca Santana of Stanford University.

What motivates individuals to take pro-environmental action to protect coral reefs and support conservation, such as taking a voluntary pledge? And how might communities effectively promote respectful reef etiquette among coastal users?

Through a partnership with the community group Polanui Hiu, The Nature Conservancy and Stanford University, researchers investigated these questions by surveying ocean users in West Maui.

They will share their findings about the role of place attachment, the differences between resident and visitor perceptions of coral reefs, and how these insights can support future outreach and education efforts.

This event is part of the October-long, all-virtual “Ridge to Reef Rendez-VIEW,” which will include additional evening Zoom presentations on a variety of topics, a month of featuring the Ridge to Reef partners and their work on social media, and the opportunity to win great prizes via an online scavenger hunt and trivia contest. The Trivia Night will be held over Zoom on Friday, Oct. 30, and is modeled after the popular “pub quiz” format, with multiple rounds of questions on a wide range of fun topics.

Participants can form their own teams of 3-5 people in advance or join one when the game gets started. Prizes will be awarded to the winning teams, and a live drawing for more prizes, for those who participate in the Virtual Scavenger Hunt, will happen afterwards. For more information, to register for this presentation or the Trivia Night, and to find the online form for the Virtual Scavenger Hunt, visit West Maui Kumuwai’s website (www.WestMauiKumuwai.org/R2RR2020), Facebook page (www.facebook.com/WestMauiKumuwai), e-mail WestMauiKumuwai@gmail.com or call (808) 283-1631.

Grant support for these events has been provided by the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources and the Doolin Foundation for Biodiversity.