New monthly initiative to cultivate reciprocal relationships between people, ʻāina
Kūkūau ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Mālama ʻĀina Days is fostering community connection with Hilo's native lowland wet forest through immersive ʻāina-based education.
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A statewide nonprofit land trust is fostering a reciprocal relationship between people and land with monthly volunteer days.
Hawaiʻi Land Trust has initiated Kūkūau ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Mālama ʻĀina Days at Kūkūau Community Forest every third Saturday of the month. This land-based educational initiative is designed to reconnect community members with the lowland wet forest of Hilo through the foundation of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language).
Kūkūau Community Forest is a 1,600-acre unimproved koa and ʻōhiʻa forest in Hilo that was donated to the Hawaiʻi Island Land Trust for protection from development in 2019.
Active native forest management requires constant monitoring and removal of invasive species, fencing for ungulate control, gathering seeds of native plants, growing native plants from seeds and cuttings, typically in a greenhouse, and planting native species. Regular monitoring and documentation of native species’ use of the native forest habitat is also needed.
Hawaiʻi Island Land Trust’s Kūkūau Stewardship and ʻĀina-Based Community Programs will create a sanctuary for Kūkūau’s native plants and animals, preserve and revive the function of ancient cultural practices and protocols, and increase Hawaiʻi’s resilience to the effects of climate change.
Over the past several years, the land trust has been preparing Kūkūau Community Forest to host community organizations, creating a staging area to care for the land, and building a fence to protect the native forest.
Once the land trust built kauhale (shelter) on two 20-foot shipping containers and created an access road, it could then host volunteer workdays, educational forest walks, and field trips for local schools.
The Kūkūau ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Mālama ʻĀina Days will use ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi as the foundational lens for understanding native forest ecology, watershed protection, seasonal cycles, and both tangible and intangible values of the forest.
Participants must be 16 years old and older. All levels of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi speakers are welcome.
According to the Hawaiʻi Land Trust, allowing the public to spend time at, learn from, and care for the Kūkūau Forest is expected to inspire community stewardship of the forest, which could extend to other lands as well.
“Having our community as well as others build value for our watersheds that are our backyard builds a connection of kānaka (people) to ʻāina (land),” said Ulumauahi Keali‘ikanaka‘oleohaililani, educator and steward of Kūkūau. “This reciprocity process creates an avenue for people to understand why our forests are so critical to our lives.”
Kūkūau ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Mālama ʻĀina will begin at 8 a.m. every third Saturday of each month. To see the complete schedule and register for the program, visit the Hawaiʻi Island Land Trust website.
