The youngest and largest of the eight main islands, Hawai`i Island is approximately 800,000 years old and was created from five separate shield volcanoes: Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai, Kilauea and Mauna Loa at 13,680 feet. At 60 miles long and 30 miles wide, Mauna Loa makes up half of the entire island. Mauna Loa and Kilauea still remain active.
Hawai`i Island covers 4,038 square miles and is home to 11 out of 13 of the world's climatic zones and all four types of forests: dryland forests, rainforests, upland moist forests and subalpine forests.
Because of the island's size, the aerial view of Hawai`i Island provides a clear example of how topography, weather and climate conditions affect growth on the moist windward and dry leeward sides of the Hawai`i Islands.
For those who would like to learn more about tropical dryland forests, the Hawai`i Forest Industry Association manages outreach programs at Ka'upulehu Dryland Forest. Contact us for more information.
Ka'upulehu Dryland Forest
Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden Bishop Museum
Hawai`i State Parks
Hawai`i National Parks
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge Map
DLNR: State of Hawaii Forest Reserve System Hawai`i Island
United States Geological Survey
U.S. Forest Service
County of Hawai`i
Hawaii Association of Watershed Partnerships
Kohala Watershed Partnership
Three Mountain Alliance
The Nature Conservancy
DOFAW Hawaii Watersheds Q&A
National Weather Service
Earth Observatory: Little Islands Big Wake
Earth Observatory-the Big Island of Hawaii
Hawaii Wood Guild
CTAHR Hawaii Forestry Extension
Hawaii Forest Industry Association
Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
to Overview of the island of Hawai`i Forestry History
