Participant-Observation and Pile Sorting: Methods for Eliciting Local Understandings and Valuations of Plants as a First Step Towards Informed Community Participation in Environment and Health Initiatives in Hawai'i

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Semistructured interviews were conducted to explore local, lay perceptions and valuations of native and nonnative flora in order to better understand and anticipate community perceptions of, and potential participation in revegetation or eradication conservation efforts in multiethnic communities of Oahu, Hawai'i. The authors detail the ethnographic procedures used, and what worked and did not work, in catalyzing discussions and gaining an in-depth understanding of peoples' cultural and ecological valuation of plants. The study provided a first step toward the larger initiatives of the Division of Ecology and Health at the University of Hawai'i Medical School that strengthen relationships with (and within) local communities to improve natural and social environments.