By Kalena Blakemore, OHA Legacy Land Agent
Welina mai from the verdant lowland rainforest of Wao Kele o Puna Forest Reserve (WKOP), located on Moku o Keawe, Puna, in the ahupuaʻa of Kaʻohe and Waiakahiula.
This 25,856-acre watershed and rare seed and plant kīpuka on the slopes of Kīlauea’s lower East Rift Zone represents 90% of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ (OHA) Legacy Land holdings. A myriad of management operations are required for this ʻāina, from protecting rare endangered species, hosting community engagement days, and improving our access into this majestic reserve.
Close-ups of the extremely rare ha‘iwale nānāwale. To help it along, the Volcano Rare Plant Facility is propagating a founder population of the plant. – Photos: Kalena Blakemore
Since our last article in the September 2023 issue of Ka Wai Ola, OHA’s Legacy Land Program (LLP) has utilized its U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service grant award of $231,000 to execute the construction and ongoing maintenance of a 17-acre ungulate-proof fence unit to shelter a threatened and endangered plant species, haʻiwale nānāwale (Cyrtandra nanawaleensis).
With our fence unit in place, reconnaissance and plant collection soon followed through a collaboration with Hawaiʻi Island Coordinator for the Plant Extinction Prevention Program (PEPP) and Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) Natural Resource Specialist Joshua VanDeMark. PEPP’s expertise and permits allow their staff to survey and carefully collect the fragile leaves of haʻiwale and other rare plants to propagate.
Once our haʻiwale samples were collected, they were transferred to the only place on island authorized to handle such rare and endangered plant species for propagation: the Volcano Rare Plant Facility (VRPF) with experienced research support staffer Jaime Enoka.
Affiliated with UH Mānoa, the VRPF is a propagation center for several rare and difficult-to-grow plant species. Once Enoka has successfully established an abundant founder population of haʻiwale, they can be outplanted back into the reserve and shared with other forest management units within Puna.
DOFAW and our contractor, Forest Solutions Inc., also deployed acoustic sound meters at this treasured site with the hope of collecting data on Hawaiʻi’s native honey creepers, ʻōpeʻaʻpeʻa (Hawaiian hoary bat), and the aʻo (Newell shearwater), previously found breeding in this vicinity.
However, these recordings only identified ʻapapane (Himatione sanguinea) and ʻamakihi (Chlorodrepanis virens) in minimal presence with an abundance of non-native birds. We will be redeploying acoustic sound meters again but at different locations and varied recording times to enhance our data collection.
Future projects include the development of a weed management plan around our threatened and endangered plant population which, unfortunately, share their home with invasive plants intertwined throughout our fragile founder population of haʻiwale.
With an entry point formally established, we can now access the area for enhanced management operations. This summer, our forest interns set up vegetation monitoring points within the unit to measure restoration success and invasive species removal. In addition, they have also collected several pounds of ʻukiʻuki (Dianella sandwicense) and ʻōhelo (Vaccinium calycinum) seeds from within the unit for future propagating and outplanting back to the reserve.
Access is one of our greatest challenges to managing this rainforest due to its size and location.
Situated in the center of Puna, WKOP is the heart of the district and either surrounded by subdivisions of private residential communities or remote rainforests and lava flows. The reserve is vast with limited pedestrian and vehicle access – often requiring helicopter transport as a last resort to remote areas for reconnaissance surveys.
During recent surveys, we came upon a crater that revealed maiʻa (banana), tī, and olonā (Touchardia latifolia). This was an exciting observation for all of us who descended deep into the forest crater and soaked by the rain, to be surrounded by these mea kanu (cultivated plants) so far away from contemporary residential homes.
These plants tell a story of our ʻŌiwi traversing the ʻāina from ma uka to ma kai and leaving remnants in temporary habitation sites with cultural plants we still use today for tools, food, and medicine. Reconnaissance surveys provide and enrich our understanding of this ʻāina that we can later share in forest and cultural restoration efforts within our community.
LLP and Forest Solutions Inc., welcome and host local school groups, hula hālau and university students to facilitate Hawaiian place-based learning in the forest and on the lava lands for kilo and forest stewardship activities.
Often, a visit to WKOP is a first-time experience for our keiki to see the ʻāina that provides their drinking water source and harbors our native forest plants and birds. A hosted huakaʻi in the reserve also includes reciprocity of mālama ʻāina to deepen our pilina with papa honua.
The conservation zone, protective subzone category of land use for WKOP adds to the challenges for access and for the programs we endeavor to develop.
LLP, with support from state and federal agencies is currently seeking opportunities to expand WKOP access through adjoining land parcels. By securing improved and reliable access into the reserve, we can enhance our management operations and opportunities for increasing food, agroforestry and educational programs in Puna.
, located on Moku o Keawe, Puna, in the ahupuaʻa of Kaʻohe and Waiakahiula.){kind=link}