The HETF’s engagement vision is to serve as a center for demonstration, education, training, and outreach on tropical forestry, conservation biology, and natural resources research and management. Engagement goals will be accomplished through a stong reliance on partnerships and span six focal areas:
- Formal training for professionals – Provide work experience and professional development in ecology, conservation, and restoration.
- Community outreach – Communicate research findings and management goals, and foster a connection to nature and forest stewardship through engagement activities that involve the public through collaboration with partners including K-12 education partners.
- Cultural training – Exposing researchers, students, and managers to cultural knowledge directed at managing forest and coastal resources, including native Hawaiian perspectives and approaches.
- Demonstration for managers – Delivery of information, tools, and techniques to managers through demonstration research, conservation, and restoration projects.
- Student research – Foster and support undergraduate and graduate level research opportunities and research internships.
- Academic education – Collaborate with universities to integrate college level courses and support courses via state and federal facilities.
Engagement Highlights
7th Annual Biocultural Blitz
The 2024 Biocultural Blitz (BCB), is an ʻāina based field trip that brings together 250 fourth graders from North Kona and South Kohala, on Hawaiʻi Island. This event aims to inspire and engage students from the local area and connect them to Puʻuwaʻawaʻa, one of the last intact dryland forest systems in Hawaiʻi. March 2024 marked the 7th anniversary of the BCB event and was the first year back in person since Covid. The BCB is a fast paced event where students visit 8 stations throughout the day for only 10 minutes at a time. At these stations, students learned through ʻāina based activities such as hula and oli, interactive games about invasive vs native plants, and examples of healthy ecosystems. Stations were run by partners and community leaders whose work is connected to the ahupuaʻa of Puʻuwaʻawaʻa. Activities reinforced the curriculum that the students learned in their classrooms leading up to the event. After a day of learning and being outside, each student earned an Every Kid Outdoors pass, granting them free access to federal parks for an entire year. This event would not be possible without the collaborative efforts of the Hawaiʻi Experimental Tropical Forest (HETF), Pilina ʻĀina, and the Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) Nāpuʻu Conservation Project and all the dedicated volunteers.
16th Annual Run for the Dry Forest
2023 marked the 16th annual Run for the Dry Forest (RDF) at Puʻuwaʻawaʻa. The RDF is a collaborative event, hosted by the Hawaiʻi State Division of Forestry and Wildlife, the USDA Forest Service, and the Akaka Foundation for Tropical Forests. Runners celebrated and contributed to the conservation of the incredibly endangered Hawaiian Dry Forest while competing in a 5k or 10k run. Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a is a state-managed area that is one of very few intact examples of a Hawaiian dryland forest. Global estimates show tropical dry forests have been reduced to less than 10% of their previous coverage. Today, the main threats to Hawaiʻi’s dry forests include invasive alien weeds, wildfires, and non-native feral ungulates. Every year, a special native dry forest species is highlighted, and this year featured Honohono, a woody shrub that is a part of the mint family. While lacking the typical mint flavor in its fuzzy leaves, Honohono has striking, fragrant white flowers. With a commitment to sustainability, the race committee decided to make RDF 2023 a “cupless” event. Participants not only received the usual race shirt with the featured plant but also a reusable race cup to use for future races. Many thanks to the 312 race participants this year who helped to raise almost $14,000 that will be utilized to support natural resource conservation and management of related projects in Puʻuwaʻawaʻa and the adjacent Puʻu Anahulu. RDF also had an array of family-friendly activities, including the ¼-mile Keiki Dash, educational booths, and a silent auction with items from local businesses.
Kaiāulu Puʻuwaʻawaʻa Community-Based Subsistence Forest Area
Kaiāulu Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a Community-Based Subsistence Forest Area (or Kaiāulu Puʻuwaʻawaʻa) is a community-based partnership, led by Native Hawaiian lineal descendants of the Kekahawaiʻole region of Kona ʻĀkau (Puʻuanahulu, Puʻuwaʻawaʻa and Kaʻūpūlehu), focused on rebuilding stewardship-focused relationships with Puʻuwaʻawaʻa through the biocultural restoration of 84-acres of rangeland on the summit of the Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a cinder cone. Recognizing the need for mālama ʻāina kūpuna (stewardship of ancestral land), Kaiāulu Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a emerged in 2018 to support Native Hawaiian lineal descendants of Pu‘uwa‘awa‘a in their efforts to reconnect with their mālama ʻāina heritage.As the first community-based subsistence forest area on state-administered lands in Hawaiʻi, and an important experiment in the restoration and stewardship of dryland forest, Kaiāulu Puʻuwaʻawaʻa is actively preserving a stewardship-driven way of life for lineal descendants of Puʻuwaʻawaʻa. These efforts have moved beyond conventional (agency-designed) ecological restoration to include multi-generational cultural practices that are being revitalized in Puʻuwaʻawaʻa. Kaiāulu Puʻuwaʻawaʻa serves as a model for community-led and Native Hawaiian-informed stewardship, where ecological restoration and cultural revitalization are integrated.
