Community groups are trying to preserve more than 640 acres of culturally and historically significant land along the Kohala coast on the north side of Hawaiʻi Island.
For years, the area known as Mahukona has been slated for resort development, but some in the Kohala community have long since hoped for the land’s protection.
Mahukona is located about an hour north of Kailua-Kona on Hawaiʻi Island. The coastal area is just makai of ‘Akoni Pule Highway and has been a popular spot for generations of Kohala families.
“It's a place that has had a long history starting with Polynesian voyagers thousand plus years ago and then transitioning into a place that was used heavily during the sugar plantation days,” said ʻOlu Campbell, president and CEO of the Hawaiʻi Land Trust.
“And then today, really being a gathering place for that community for recreation and fishing and swimming and the continued practice of navigational education," he said.
The cultural significance of Mahukona largely centers around its key location for traditional navigation. The area was a historic training ground for Hawaiian navigators and home to the Koʻa Heiau Holomoana.
Mahukona's landscape also includes about 175 Hawaiian cultural sites such as heiau, burials, housing villages and ancient trails. In more recent history, the area was used as a commercial harbor for the Kohala Sugar Company.
Campbell's organization is working with Nā Kālai Waʻa and members of the Kohala community to raise funds to acquire 642 acres in Mahukona.
“We are about $1.5 million away from reaching that $20 million goal, and that will set us up to acquire the site along with making sure that we are prepared for all the responsibilities that land ownership and land stewardship entails,” Campbell said.
The Hawaiʻi Land Trust and the current landowner entered into a purchase agreement that ends on Dec. 15. The group has until then to reach their $20 million goal.
Campbell said that over the next two months, they hope to raise community engagement and public awareness.
“We’re really trying to make sure people feel like they can find a way to get involved in a way that will be beneficial to that collective effort. Whether that be through a financial donation to help us round out the capital campaign or other types of ways that people can contribute,” Campbell said.
“Obviously that type of community engagement and hopefully support will be something that continues long after the acquisition is done.”
The group is hosting a series of weekly Talk Story sessions at the old Mahukona rail house every Wednesday through Dec. 13 at 9 a.m.
Campbell encourages anyone interested in visiting Mahukona to attend the Talk Story sessions or contact the Hawaiʻi Land Trustprior to arriving. Unmanageable visitor access can be harmful to the cultural, historical, and natural resources of Mahukona.
