ABOUT PDKE
The Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange (PDKE) seeks to facilitate drought knowledge exchange and enable collaborative relationships among drought stakeholders in Hawai‘i and in Pacific Island Nations. We work to co-produce site-specific, customized drought data and products based on the needs of our manager partners. Through active engagement between researchers and managers, we strive to make drought and climate data products more accessible to managers for drought planning and management.
Climate change, climate variability, and drought (CCVD) will exert a growing impact on landscapes, watersheds, and nearshore areas in the Pacific Islands. 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.
To address this gap, we established the PDKE to explore knowledge co-production among researchers and resource managers with the goal of expanding the utility of drought-related information for end users. Through information, training, and tools, we aim to support:
- Easier access to information sources
- Better and more comprehensive information
- Improved technical assistance
- A more collaborative information transfer environment
The first two phases of the PDKE have worked with a small number of pilot partners to explore knowledge co-production, assess drought-related management needs, and co-produce site-specific climate and drought products, including factsheets and portfolios using available data (now automated). These phases have successfully demonstrated how this knowledge exchange process can improve drought management and planning in the Pacific.