Apia Arrival & UN Secretary-General Onboard Hōkūleʻa

“We have just one planet home. This is an issue of whether we want to survive as a species or not.”

“Hōkūleʻa, our voyaging canoe, threads together stories of hope as she voyages across the world’s oceans. We are inspired that His Excellency Ban Ki-moon and heads of state for our island nations are coming together on Hōkūleʻa’s deck around shared values of preserving and protecting our oceans,” said Nainoa Thompson, master navigator and president of Polynesian Voyaging Society.

His Excellency Ban Ki-moon presented Thompson and the crew of the Worldwide Voyage with a handwritten message in a bottle that he asked them to carry with them as they circle the globe. The message stated, “I am honored to be a part of Hōkūleʻa’s Worldwide Voyage. I am inspired by its global mission. As you tour the globe, I will work and rally more leaders to our common cause of ushering in a more sustainable future, and a life of dignity for all.”

Today’s sail represents the theme of the Worldwide Voyage, Mālama Honua, or “Care for our Island Earth.” The ongoing United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing States focuses on island nations that are particularly vulnerable to climate change and the challenges that face our oceans.

“People often say we are in the same boat,” Ban Ki-moon said during the conference, “I would say we are all on the same small island on the same small planet Earth; this is like a small boat in the universe.”

On the same afternoon of the UN Secretary-General sail, Polynesian Voyaging Society leaders at home in Hawaiʻi took part in a Pillars of Peace dialogue about climate change hosted by the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a panelist at the event and a former guest aboard Hōkūleʻa, emphasized to participants, “We have just one planet home. This is an issue of whether we want to survive as a species or not.”

“Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia are taking a positive message around the globe about the need to care for each other, our oceans, and earth at a critical time in history,” said Polynesian Voyaging Society Chairman, Neil Hannahs. “Their dedicated crew at sea and on land are asserting that traditional island cultures have a great deal of wisdom about how to care for each other and our limited resources.”

After the Sāmoa conference, Hōkūleʻa and her sister canoe Hikianalia continue their sail across Earth’s oceans to grow the global movement toward a more sustainable world. The Worldwide Voyage, sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines, will cover 47,000 nautical miles, 85 ports and 26 countries, including 12 of UNESCO’s Marine World Heritage sites, through June 2017.