Preserving native habitat, cultural legacy of Maunawili Valley

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A group of nonprofits are asking the public to help support efforts to return Maunawili Valley to community care.

Dean Wilhelm, co-executive director of Ho’okuaaina, Reyna Ramolete Hayashi, aloha aina project manager at Trust for Public Land, and Kaleo Wong, executive director of Kauluakalana, joined HNN’s Sunrise to talk about more than a decade of work by Hui Maunawili–Kawainui, a coalition of nonprofits and generational ohana to purchase and protect more than 1,000 acres on windward Oahu to benefit the community.

“Our Hoihoi Maunawili fundraising campaign is four nonprofits working together to raise $500,000 for the future stewardship of the land. The nonprofit partners are Kauluakalana, Ho’okua’aina, Hawaii Land Trust, and Trust for Public Land,” Hayashi said.

Nonprofit leaders say Hoihoi Maunawili is working with the current landowner, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, to transfer stewardship of the land.

“These lands include the most fertile growing soil in all Hawaii, important cultural sites, and freshwater streams and springs that will be forever protected. Capital funds have been secured to purchase the land,” Hayashi said.

“This land has sustained generations. By returning it to the community and restoring it for shared use and cultural renewal, we will safeguard resources for future generations and increase our community’s resilience,” Wilhelm said.

“Until the 1960s, this land was very productive. It was the ‘Breadbasket of Oahu.’ Alii specifically would ask for kalo grown on these lands. This effort seeks to return it to its former abundance, ultimately improving local food security and water security through community-led agriculture that strengthens Hawaii food systems and creates green jobs for a sustainable local economy.”

“Buying and protecting the land is only the beginning,” Wong said. “In this season of giving, we are asking the community to join us in this movement to restore water, food, culture and community in Maunawili.”

To donate and learn more, visit hoihoimaunawili.org. The public can also support by volunteering or joining a talk story.

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