A Global Pandemic's Effects on Waiheʻe

At the beginning of 2020, the Waiheʻe Refuge drew folks to its trails, campgrounds, and shoreline access. People walked, fished, and spent time there. Life was normal as normal could be. But by mid-March, things would become very different. The impact on our lives from a newly spreading virus took us away from that normal. The quickly spreading Coronavirus caused immediate closures of businesses as well as State and County parks and hiking trails. For human-visited natural areas all over the islands this virtual cease in human activity allowed wildlife to return and flourished in numbers not seen before by younger folks. For others, those who have lived many years with Hawaiʻi between their toes, it brought them back to earlier times when the balance was different.

For Waiheʻe Refuge, with health concerns increasing, we paused our weekly volunteer days and camping activities but otherwise permitted access as normal. We chose to keep access open to the public. To provide a place of refuge for individuals and families in need of  some fresh air.

With the public beach parks closed, we soon saw an increase in folks gathering down at the public vehicle access area of the Waiheʻe Refuge at the Kalepa muliwai. Too many, unfortunately, were not following the social distancing guidelines. Faced with this issue we decided for the time being to close vehicle access to that area and push parking back outside the main entrance along Halewaiu Road while leaving foot access open.

We seemed to be assessing new challenges and changes daily during this time. These myriad changes led to interesting outcomes on human usage. While significant change in wildlife at the Refuge has not been reported, we did see a doubling of folks walking our trails and enjoying the expansive natural spaces provided there. With closures of schools, work impacted for so many, and parks closed, people needed some place to go. The Waiheʻe Refuge was there. Protected and managed for public access, it provided the right type of outdoor space for the situation we all faced.

As COVID case counts improved and things reopened we restored vehicle access and have resumed limited camping activity and volunteer opportunities. We will continue to make adjustments which may include reducing access again as our community works together to address our health challenges.

As we now move forward and our reality works through significant change we expect to see a continued increase in interest in spending time out on the land. The forced combination of time and sequestration drives us to seek grand open spaces. 

We invite you out to the experience of the outdoors, we invite you to support this place that filled, and fills, such an important role; a role for our community which could not have been predicted. It is a place of many for many. What other unknowns, abiding their time, might we hold in trust by continuing to treasure it?

— James, Crowe, Land Stewardship Manager