Last month, during the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ (OHA) annual neighbor island visit to Maui, my fellow trustees and I had the honor of touring the Waiheʻe Coastal Dunes and Wetlands Refuge.
While the thrill of riding in an ATV was an unforgettable experience, it was not the adrenaline that left the deepest impression; it was witnessing the integration of contemporary science and engineering with traditional Native Hawaiian stewardship practices. This synthesis is revitalizing the land and ecosystems of Waiheʻe, enriching the local community, and reawakening the flow of life-giving water to wetlands that have long been dry.
Our tour was led by Hawaiʻi Land Trust (HILT) educator and steward Kiaʻi Collier. “We are moving into functionality and regenerative resourcing,” he said. “It’s even more than sustainable; sustainable is breaking even.”
His words struck me. In our current climate, both environmental and political, the goal should not merely be to sustain what we have, but to restore, to regenerate, and to uplift. What is happening in Waiheʻe is a shining example of that vision in action.
One of the most inspiring projects Kiaʻi showed us was the restoration of the Waiheʻe loko iʻa. In the 1800s, the fishpond had dried up and fallen into disuse. But thanks to the efforts of Kiaʻi and a dedicated network of volunteers, new piping has been installed to once again channel water from the Waiheʻe River to the fishpond. This effort is reawakening a traditional Hawaiian food system that once sustained entire communities.
As the HILT team integrates modern science into restoring historical landmarks, they stay committed to cultural sensitivity. When laying down new infrastructure, they take care to catalog known burial spaces and reroute development plans to minimize disruption to these sacred sites. This process of conscious alteration proves that respecting the iwi kūpuna can go hand in hand with forward progress.
“With projects like this, it [allows] people to give back, to do aloha ʻāina if they can’t do that in their own space,” Kiaʻi shared. “It also gives a sense of empowerment to Kānaka, especially when they…do cultural protocols, work with pōhaku, [and] work on a site that our kūpuna used to use.”
It is a model of how Hawaiian values of aloha ʻāina and mālama iwi can coexist with technological innovation. It reminds us that advancement need not come at the expense of our cultural heritage.
Kiaʻi emphasized that “being a part of the restoration…really gives people a sense of empowerment.” In doing so, they are not only protecting our land and water for future generations but also reaffirming our people’s resilience, ingenuity, and deep spiritual connection to ʻāina. Waiheʻe is a beacon of what is possible when tradition and innovation walk hand in hand.
What I witnessed at Waiheʻe was a vision of the future rooted in the wisdom of the past. I am deeply moved and encouraged to see how Hawaiians today are living out their legacy as masters of sustainable harvest, environmental stewardship, and the careful cultivation of natural resources.
