Te Pu Atitia
The Atitia Center on the southern half of the University of California property on Moorea is operated in collaboration with community-based organization Association Te Pu 'Atiti'a, which aims to inspire, teach, and reconnect Polynesian youth with their biocultural heritage.
The protection of Polynesia's rich heritage is critical for the building of healthy, resilient, and thriving island economies. The Atitia Center helps to build local capacity for transmitting traditional and scientific knowledge in an integrated pedagogical framework.
The Manumanu Project
The Manumanu Project is an educational outreach initiative under UC Berkeley’s Atitia Center, operated in collaboration with the non-profit Te Pu Atitia (whose goal is the preservation of Polynesian biocultural heritage). Manumanu (“insect” in Tahitian) is a 25-year project (2025-2049) that uses insect biodiversity to educate the next generation of Tahitians about the importance of their local ecosystems and to establish permanent science education infrastructure in the K-12 classroom.
Rather than directly targeting policy change, Manumanu aims to foster the spirit of biophilia in young people to grow up to save their natural resources, modeling an approach that can be replicated on other Pacific islands and beyond.
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