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Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll) Friends!
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Supporting wildlife, honoring cultural significance, and those who fought in the Battle of Midway.
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Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument – Where Nature and Culture are One
Papahānaumokuākea spans the Northwestern region of the Hawaiian Islands covering three-quarters of the Hawaiian archipelago and over 582,000 square miles and including Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll). As noted by the Papahānaumokuākea Cultural Working Group, “It is the ancestral homeland of our people, the Kānaka, and the place to which we return when we leave the physical world.” Today Papahānaumokuākea is inscribed as a United Nations World Heritage Site, recognized and valued in the international realm where nature and cultural are one.
February 2025 Stories From Papahānaumokuākea!
Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge lies within one of the most expansive and culturally immersed Marine Protected Areas on Earth known as Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a World Heritage Site encompassing 583,000 square miles of ocean water including islands and atolls of the Northwestern Islands.
Snapshots of the human history of Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll)
Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge / Battle of Midway National Memorial is part of the much larger ecosystem immersed in an extraordinary cultural sea and landscape within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Atoll's Hawaiian name is Kuaihelani meaning the “backbone of the heavens.” Before the recent discovery of Kuaihelani it was given the place name Pihemanu meaning “a loud din of birds.” Kuaihelani is a magical place of stunning natural beauty, abundant wildlife, and monumental history — a place to be cared for (mālama) and preserved into perpetuity. It’s also home to a small community of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service staff, volunteers, and contractors. Click the images below to explore different aspects of life on this special atoll.
