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.

Stretching five miles from Kawela Bay to Kahuku Point, the land surrounding the Turtle Bay Resort embraces one of the last undeveloped wild shorelines on O'ahu.

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.

Kauhola Point has been used as a gathering place since ancient times and is still used for camping, fishing, swimming, and surfing.

Kaunāmano means “multitudes are placed here,” reflecting the thriving fishing community that once lived and trained in lua—a traditional Hawaiian martial art— on the southeastern coast of Hawai‘i Island.

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.

The Kona Coast on the island of Hawai'i is the site of the historic battle that led to the end of the traditional kapu religious system in the early 1800s. The Trust for Public Land worked with a local nonprofit organization, the landowner, and the community to preserve this special place for generations to come.

Imagine a 30-plus-mile multiuse path along O‘ahu’s South Shore connecting Waikiki to West O‘ahu that would provide some 600,000 residents with easy access to the island's shorelines and green spaces; a path where hikers, bikers, walkers, and runners could exercise and connect with nature in and around Oʻahu’s urban coastal neighborhoods.

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.

Almost daily, Hawai'i media lament the lack of food security should a disaster strike, while concurrently discussing a new real estate development project, oftentimes on historical agricultural land. Suitable parcels for agriculture are increasingly difficult to find because of competition from development interests and speculators.

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.

O'ahu's verdant Waimea Valley was once the domain of the kahuna, the priest class of ancient Hawai'i. Today, the valley is a living place of refuge, welcoming visitors and local residents to wander its spectacular botanical gardens, encounter native wildlife, and take part in traditional Hawaiian culture. In 2006, The Trust for Public Land helped protect more than a thousand acres surrounding Pu'ukua in Waimea Valley from the threat of development.

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 September 2019, The Trust for Public Land, community organizations, and the City and County of Honolulu announced the addition of a previously privately owned 9.5 acre lot to the City’s Wailupe Nature Preserve. The property serves as the trailhead for the Wailupe Valley Trail and the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve and allows people to connect with Wailupe Valley’s rich history and resources. 

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.