The Hawai‘i Land Trust, a Hawaiʻi 501(c)3 nonprofit that protects, stewards, and works to connect people to the lands that sustain Hawaiʻi, has partnered with the University of Hawai‘i Maui College on a new environmental stewards leadership program.
The Ahupua‘a Stewards Leadership Program’s first session started June 8, 2021, and runs through July 29, 2021, offering a first-of-its-kind hands-on experience for high school students on Maui to develop and implement environmental decisions informed by ahupua‘a systems. Originally designed for 24 students, COVID restrictions allowed for 12 students ages 15-18 years old to participate in the twice-weekly classes, which include in-person sessions at the UHMC Kahului campus and field trips to Hawai‘i Land Trust and conservation partner sites on Maui.
Learning Endeavors offering summer camps for Maui youth
By Staff | May 28, 2021
Keiki will investigate the great outdoors on Maui during the Citizen Science Summer Camps.
WAILUKU Learning Endeavors is offering its Citizen Science Summer Camp with sessions in June for ages 8-12 and in July for ages 10-14. Campers investigate the great outdoors on the island of Maui, including forests, tide pools and wetlands. Each session engages youth in hands-on science and art projects, with culminating performances on the final day. The June Session will take place from June 7-10 at various locations each day from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Frozen in Time
An ancient crustacean could hold the key to restoring the endemic plant species in Waiheâe Refuge â and protecting Maui against climate change.
April 26, 2021
Story by Lara McGlashan
The Waiheâe Coastal Dunes and Wetlands Refuge consists of 277 acres of protected wetlands, dunes, marine shoreline, reef systems and riparian habitat. It was once inhabited by two thriving ancient villages, Kapoho and Kapokea, and the acreage features an extensive inland fishpond as well as several heiau (sacred sites). The Hawaiian Islands Land Trust is actively restoring critical native habitat while preserving the areaâs rich archaeological and cultural history.
For The Maui News
An adult iiwi feeds on a Lobelia grayana in Waikamoi Preserve. These native plants and birds evolved together, increasing the survival success of both species – the tubular shape of the plant’s flowers perfectly matches the curvature of the bird’s bill, providing food for the iiwi and pollination for the lobelia. FOREST AND KIM STARR photo
Hawaii is the most isolated landmass on the planet. Because of this, plants and animals that arrived here millions of years ago have made extraordinary evolutionary adaptations, resulting in unique native species found nowhere else in the world. One example is the relationship between Hawaiian lobelia plant species with native forest birds like the iiwi. The plant and bird evolved together – the tubular shape of the plant’s flowers perfectly matches the curvature of the bird’s bill, providing food for the iiwi and pollination for the lobelia. There are many examples of these specific connections in a native fores
In the Realm Between Ao and PÅ
A full-moon hike through the Waiheâe coastal dunes offers an entry into the land of wandering.
April 7, 2020
Story by Judy Edwards | Photography by Bryan Berkowitz
Ecologist Scott Fisher leads full-moon hikes in the Waiheâe dunes several times a year, offering a wealth of information about Hawaiâi along the way. Here he stands close to the oceanâs edge, in low dunes where the native plant naupaka grows.
The magical hour in which the moon rises has always been a favorite time of day for me. It is a period when linear time and concrete reality feel just a little bit shiftedâand that, really, is the point of the full-moon hike I am about to embark on: to bring all of us who are here for the hike into an in-between-ish state of mind.