Hawaii

Preserving Hawaii's working agricultural and forest lands for food and energy production.

The remote northern end of the island of Moloka'i offers a modern view of an ancient culture. Local residents began restoring lo'i (terraces) and 'auwai (canals) in 1997, and reintroduced taro to Halawa Valley, which had been grown by the very same system for several hundred years up until the middle of this century.

Shoppers at the Costco store in the town of Hawai‘i Kai in East Honolulu might be surprised to learn that there's an environmental and cultural treasure nearby. The Hāwea heiau complex reflects the land’s cultural history in its ancient walls and petroglyphs, and agricultural terraces.

The Preserve is a lowland diverse forest on the eastern slope of the Wai'anae Mountain Range where 35 threatened and endangered species live, including 16 found nowhere else in the world.

The Trust for Public Land worked with partners to protect the land from development and ensure that the area's natural beauty and cultural sites will be preserved for everyone to enjoy.

Since 2010, the Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center has been stewarding the spring and the archaeological and cultural sites on the property. The Trust for Public Land is now working with the center to permanently protect the site so they can continue to maintain the spring and offer educational opportunities.

The remains of the ancient fishing village of Kauleoli lie just south of Pu‘uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park on the Kona Coast of Hawai‘i Island.

The undeveloped shoreline at Kawa on the island of Hawai'i protects nesting areas for the critically endangered Hawaiian hawksbill turtle.

In May 2012, The Trust for Public Land helped protect 64 acres of coastal wetlands at Ka`ehu Bay, which includes numerous Hawaiian cultural sites including habitation structures, agricultural terraces, former fishponds, and shrines.

Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge has long been considered the best viewing site for Hawai`i's diverse seabird species.  In 1988, TPL helped preserve this critical habitat by 139 acres and transferring the land to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In March 2011, TPL and the State Parks Division protectd 17 acres of privately-owned shoreline within the Lapakahi State Historical Park.

Located on Kaua`i's north shore, just past the community of Hanalei, Lumaha`i has long been the image of a Hawaiian paradise depicted in postcards, photographs, and movies.

One of the last truly open spaces in the urban Honolulu area, the 3,716-acre Moanalua valley narrowly escaped destruction as a potential corridor for the H-3 freeway, and was under threat of residential development for two decades.

The North Shore Greenprint identifies the resources most important to the North Shore and helps guide land conservation efforts.

The Trust for Public Land is working to purchase Pu'ukua, to complete the permanent protection of this sacred landscape in Waimea Valley. Hi'ipaka LLC, a local nonprofit, will own and care for Pu'ukua, as it does the rest of the valley.

Sunset Ranch is a piece of the larger puzzle to "keep the country country" on the North Shore of O'ahu. This project is part of The Trust for Public Land's, the North Shore Community Land Trust's, and many other community members' broader efforts to keep the famed North Shore of O'ahu country through voluntary land conservation.

In 2006, The Trust for Public Land helped the Office of Hawaiian Affairs reacquire the 1,875 acre valley, one of the last intact ahupua'a (traditional mountain to sea land division) on the island of O'ahu with special funding from the US Army.