Natural and Cultural Ecosystems

State of Hawai‘i 30 x 30 Watershed Initiative

In partnership with the State of Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources, we are installing protective conservation fences in key watershed areas like Waiawa, O‘ahu and Keawanui, Moloka‘i that will contribute to the State's goal of protecting 30% of high-priority watersheds by 2030. The fences protect intact native forests, which capture and replenish our aquifers and streams. This initiative also protects our threatened and endangered species found nowhere else in the world. The fences on ‘Āina Pauahi contribute 40,059 acres of protected watershed towards the state's 253,000 acre goal. We aim to have 51,000 acres under protection by 2026.

Reviving a native plant once thought extinct

In March 2021, a small population of Delissea argutidentata, a native species considered extinct, was rediscovered on ‘Āina Pauahi in a remote section of mauka Kona on Hawai‘i Island. The native plant was last seen in the area in the early 1970s and was presumed to have been destroyed by cattle and other ungulates. Over the course of a year, and with the support of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Three Mountain Alliance, and the Volcano Rare Plant Facility, we propagated and successfully outplanted 30 keiki from seeds found on the rediscovered plants in order to establish a new protected population.

Wahi Kūpuna Restoration at Kahalu‘u Ma Kai

For years, we have been working to restore the wahi kūpuna at Kahalu‘u Ma Kai, which served as the center for ali‘i learning and is home to five heiau – Hale o Papa, Ke‘ekū, Hāpaiali‘i, Mākole‘ā, and Kapuanoni. Recently, we melded contemporary technology like drones and 3D mapping and ‘ike kūpuna to repair Hāpaiali‘i and Ke‘ekū Heiau, which had been impacted by waves and storms over the years. Click here to learn more about the restoration process of Hāpaiali‘i through this interactive story map.

Partnering with Bishop Museum to steward koehana

We partner with the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum's Department of Anthropology to steward roughly 50,000 koehana (artifacts) collected from KS ‘āina. The partnership involves an internship program that provides students and emerging professionals with hands-on training in artifact curation. Interpretive displays created by the interns have been showcased in the Hawai‘i Hall atrium. Most recently, an exhibit was installed at KS' Hawai‘i campus, focused on evolving fishhook technologies based on koehana from Wai ‘Ahukini located on KS ‘āina in Ka‘ū. In this case, we brought the koehana back home to Hawai‘i Island and provided our haumāna an opportunity to engage with these important cultural objects and celebrate their heritage. To date, 22 interns have completed the Koehana Internship Program, with six interpretive displays being created and displayed at the Museum. This effort has been responsible for the rehousing and inventorying of roughly 25,000 artifacts originating from KS ‘āina across the Pae ‘āina. Learn more about koehana by clicking here.