Ka‘ūpūlehu Dryland Forest site is located in the North Kona District on the island of Hawai‘i and is approximately 10 miles north-northeast of Kailua-Kona. Since 1993, the Hawai‘i Forest Industry Association, HFI’s affiliate, has coordinated the North Kona Dryland Forest Working Group (DFWG), a coalition of landowners, non-profit organizations, government agencies and committed individuals who have been managing the restoration of remnant dryland forests in Ka`upulehu and nearby properties.
Ho‘ola Ka Makana‘a (Healing the Place Budding Out of the Lava) is the Outreach and Education program that provides hand-on forest stewardship opportunities for Hawai‘i Island youth.
Kanu O Ka Aina Charter School with Keoki Carter
HFI received funds to create two interpretive audio signs at the Kalaemanō Interpretive Center, a gateway to exploring the historic and environmental connections of the mauka (mountain) and makai (shoreline) environments of the Ka‘ūpūlehu area.
Ongoing work at Ka‘ūpūlehu fulfills a critical need for a mature tropical dryland forest demonstration site that provides education and inspiration for others. This site is an important model where there are few others.
Project funders include Atherton Family Foundation, Arthur Lawrence Mullaly and Kukio Fund of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, Bill Healy Foundation, Change Happens Foundation, Cooke Foundation, Friends of Hawaii Charities, Hawai‘i Tourism Authority Kūkulu Ola: Living Hawaiian Culture Program, Hawai‘i Forest Industry Association, Kamehameha Schools, and the Office of Innovation and Improvement of the U.S. Department of Education’s Education through Cultural & Historical Organizations (ECHO).
Aupaka o Wao Lama
Aupaka o Wao Lama is a collaborative partnership program among: Kealakehe High and Intermediate School; La‘i ‘Ōpua 2020 Kau I Ka Mālie Cultural Center and Aupaka Ke Kilohana; Salvation Army Family Intervention Services Ke Kama Pono (young men in transition), Hui La‘au Kama‘āina La‘i ‘Ōpua, and Ho‘ola Ka Makana‘ā Ka‘ūpūlehu.
This is a “Learn while doing” place-based stewardship education partnership, integrating cultural ecology, and science ecology. The primary sites of activity are: 1) The community “Piko” area of the native plant Aupaka Preserve, within Hawaiian Homelands of La‘i ‘Ōpua; 2) The L2020 Kau I Ka Mālie Cultural and Technical Center at Kealakehe High School; 3) The cultural ecology outdoor learning site of Ho‘ola Ka Makana‘ā, Ka‘ūpūlehu. Cultural Ecology educators Keoki Apokolani Carter (DOE certified) and Yvonne Yarber Carter are coordinating the experiential learning events and curriculum, along with the HFIA dryland forest restoration team, utilizing a combination of cultural knowledge, place-based activities, curriculum and digital resources. This is being done within the context of sound conservation practices; and homeland cultural ecology values and history. Kealakehe High and Intermediate School students are the haumana of this experiential learning program.
Visit Ka’ahahui ‘O Ka Nāhelehele Dryland Forest Site at http://www.drylandforest.org/ for more information about Hawaii’s dryland forest habitats.
Dryland Forest Brochure 7-2010-HFIA
HFI Malama Wao Lama Laminated Field Guide
More About Ka‘ūpūlehu
Ka`upulehu Brochure
Learn more about the unique ecology, history and culture of the Ka`upulehu, a land division (or ahupua’a) in North Kona
Download the PDF Brochure (3.13 Mb)
