Excerpt and Photo from bigislandnow.com

Ten Kaʻū community residents were recently celebrated at a hō‘ike in Pāhala for completing “Ka‘ū Hoa Pili ‘Āina,” a four-month, ‘āina-based education training program as part of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority’s (HTA) destination management efforts and Hawai‘i Island Community-Based Action Stewardship Program.

“The Ka‘ū community voiced the need to better manage tourism impacts on the natural resources in Punalu‘u through place-based curriculum,” said Mufi Hannemann, HTA Board Chair who spent part of his career working in Pāhala and living in Nāʻālehu. “We thank Ka ‘Ohana O Honu‘apo for facilitating this community effort and the work of these local stewards to ensure the protection and preservation of this special place.”

Facilitated by the non-profit Ka ‘Ohana o Honu‘apo, a resource stewardship organization based in Nā‘ālehu, the “Ka‘ū Hoa Pili ‘Āina” program focused on recruiting and training ten local stewards in the practices of mālama ‘āina built on the foundation of cultural practices and protocols, conservation and biological sciences, and place-based messaging about the Ka‘ū area.