Partnering for Resilience: The Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange

Droughts in the Pacific Islands can be extremely severe, causing drinking water shortages, extensive crop damage, and increases in the size, severity, and extent of wildfires that burn incredibly large percentages of island land areas. A recent analysis of historical drought in Hawai‘i found that drought duration, magnitude, and frequency have all increased significantly, consistent with trends found in other Pacific Islands. While land managers are tasked with utilizing the “best available science”, they often are confronted with data products that are difficult to access and there is no facilitated communication process with researchers to meet the needs of resource managers.

The Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange (PDKE) was established in 2019 to facilitate drought knowledge exchange and enable collaborative relationships among drought stakeholders in Hawai‘i and in Pacific Island Nations and territories. We use an iterative approach to co-produce site-specific, customized drought data and products based on the needs of our partners, including factsheets and decision support tools. Through active engagement between researchers and end users, we strive to make drought and climate data products more accessible to managers for drought planning and management.

Since the pilot phase in 2019, the PDKE has expanded to work with over 130 partners across Hawai‘i and Guam, and has begun building relationships in other Pacific Islands. The PDKE has worked with partners across various sectors, including natural resource management, water resource management, and ranching. The PDKE is governed by a stewardship team and regularly seeks input from an advisory council and steering committee through quarterly and annual meetings. The PDKE has co-developed numerous products, including site-specific climate portfolios and a decision support dashboard for ranchers. PDKE output products have been used by partners in various capacities, including in funding proposals, climate change education, and management activity planning. The PDKE can serve as a model for how a successful knowledge exchange process can improve drought management and planning.